Godzilla vs. Biollante (ゴジラvsビオランテ, Gojira tai Biorante) is a 1989 Japanese kaiju film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori, with special effects by Koichi Kawakita. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 17th film in the Godzilla franchise and the second film in the franchise's Heisei period. The film stars Kunihiko Mitamura, Yoshiko Tanaka, Masanobu Takashima, Megumi Odaka, Toru Minegishi, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Yoshiko Kuga, Ryunosuke Kaneda and Kōji Takahashi. In the film, Godzilla battles a monster born from the cells of a plant and a woman, as corporations struggle for control over Godzilla cells. The idea originated from a public story-writing contest, and set a trend common to all Heisei era movies, in which Godzilla faces off against opponents capable of metamorphosing into new, progressively more powerful forms.[2] Godzilla vs. Biollante was released theatrically in Japan on December 16, 1989. It received a direct-to-video release in the United States on November 25, 1992 through HBO Video. Although it received generally positive reviews, the film was a disappointment at the Japanese box office.[3][4] In Japan, it was followed by Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah in 1991.