Legendary Pictures' Godzilla has crushed his way through the latest cover of Empire Magazine. Get your first look below at the magazine's take on Gareth Edward's upcoming monster movie.

As you might guess from that Rising Sun-esque background, the film has one foot in Godzilla's traditional Japanese stomping ground, but this monster has a passport and will travel - as those choppers might suggest.

The film boasts an accomplished human cast, including Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and David Straithairn, but it's the main man himself who required most care and attention from the director.

"Trying to get the face right was the main thing," says Edwards. "I guess he's got more of a bear's face, or a dog's. We also used eagle. There's a lot of nobility in an eagle. It made him feel very majestic and noble." Edwards also used London-based motion-capture facility The Imaginarium and its head, one Andy Serkis, on certain sequences to "control the souls" (as Edwards puts it) of his creations.

Godzilla hits screens on May 16, but you can pick up the new issue of Empire this Thursday (February 27) on newsstands.

In addition, Legendary Pictures has unveiled Godzilla's roar! Take a listen to the big guy's battle cry below.