Legendary Pictures in talks to do new Godzilla movie

[Academia Nut]

Mostly busy with school, TithonousSyndrome has asked me to pass along the news that there are talks about a new American Godzilla movie. Roland Emerich will not be directing and it will not be a sequel to the 1998 Godzilla movie. Other than that, I suppose Godzilla fans can just hold their breathes and see what develops.

55 years and 28 movies later, the Japanese monster Godzilla is looking to make his return to big screens everywhere. Making his first appearance in 1954 (Gojira) Godzilla is a giant monster that lives in the sea that comes from the ocean to feed on mankind. Bloody Disgusting has learned exclusively that Legendary Pictures is looking to do another major movie with the iconic horror monster (they are in early discussions), although there are NO details at this point other than this should be a reboot. In 1998, TriStar Pictures produced a remake set in New York City, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Matthew Broderick. In recent interviews for 2012 Emmerich has said that he's not interested in sequels (even though all of his disaster movies are basically the same). More details as they come in.

[Oskuro]

I hope they learnt the lesson after the original Godzilla kicked the CGI Godzilla's ass in Final Wars.

For those who, like me, are kind of ignorant to the whole Godzilla culture, Cinemassacre's Monster Madness 2 Godzilla-thon will be quite informative. It includes a clip of the aforementioned ass-kicking.

[Lusankya]

Man, I can imagine it blowing.

Why can't Toho just give Ryuuhei Kitamura a blank script and a pile ofof cash and let him do his thang again? That would be the bomb, I tell you. (Of course, I think that most any movie issue could be solved by giving Ryuuhei Kitamura a blank script and a pile of cash, so I may not be the most impartial observer here.)

[Oskuro]

But American audiences need an American film with an American cast and a watered down dumb script so they can identify with it!

Do you want to expose their fragile minds to the horrors of dubbing, or -gasp- subtitles? Have them wrap their minds around the idea that there are other cultures out there with different sensibilities?

The truly patriotic thing to do is remake anything, even if it was just released, into average hollywood mass consumption drivel!

[Ghost Rider]

Man, I can imagine it blowing.

Why can't Toho just give Ryuuhei Kitamura a blank script and a pile ofof cash and let him do his thang again? That would be the bomb, I tell you. (Of course, I think that most any movie issue could be solved by giving Ryuuhei Kitamura a blank script and a pile of cash, so I may not be the most impartial observer here.)

Barring the spam of the idiot before me. The reason is simple. Toho had sworn off Godzilla for 10 after the last movie they made.

So even giving a truckload of money won't make it come faster if they don't want to.

[tezunegari]

This might sound weird and draw some ire towards me but in what way was the first CGI-zilla movie bad?
I did enjoy it when it was released and still do even a whole decade later.
I even like the CGI modell used in the 1998 Hollywood movie.

I will now hide in a nuclear fallout bunker until the flaming is over.

[Tsyroc]

This might sound weird and draw some ire towards me but in what way was the first CGI-zilla movie bad?
I did enjoy it when it was released and still do even a whole decade later.
I even like the CGI modell used in the 1998 Hollywood movie.

I will now hide in a nuclear fallout bunker until the flaming is over.

I don't think it was particularly horrible, although they really blew it with the chick they cast as the reporter and some of the poor attempts at humor, but I think most of the problems have to do with the derivative nature of the whole thing, and because it wasn't anything like the sort of Godzilla movie that most fans of the Japanese franchise wanted.

At the time it came out there was an awful lot of stuff in the movie that was very "Jurassic Park" except bigger/more. Well, there'd already been two Jurassic Park movies and one had been out the year or so before. So in that sense a lot of movie viewers weren't seeing anything new.

Personally, I think the movie would have worked better if they had distanced it from the Toho Godzilla a little more given the route they had decided to go with. The movie is essentially a remake of the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms with bits of Them mixed in with a sprinkle of the '76 King Kong. So it's essentially a mash up homage to 50s radioactive giant monster movies so go with that. If they had to use the name Godzilla then just make that what people in the film call the monster because what else is the media going to call a giant rampaging reptile with spines on its back? Ditch the Godzilla roar and add a few lines about people calling it Godzilla because in their world they also have the Toho movies and it's just natural for people to call that sort of creature "Godzilla" in some way or another. Even if it's because they carried the name over because the dying, hallucinating, Japanese fisherman kept going on about Gojira.


I think one can also make some arguments that the film's polish was hurt a bit by how full of themselves Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich were when making it. They were "The Shit!" after making Independence Day and that is why they were able to make Godzilla and make it the way they wanted. The problem being that they had been drinking their own cool aid to some extent. Why else does someone think it's a good idea to put the Mayor Ebert stuff in there? There are also some digs at the military because the US Government refused to help them on ID4 because of the mention of Area 51. That lack of military aid seemed to carry over to Godzilla because a lot of the military stuff in that movie is horrible, completely illogical, and sloppily executed/rendered. Why make a supposedly naturalistic "Godzilla" movie and then pooch the details on some of the stuff that the viewers will have real knowledge of?

----

Personally, I would have loved to see the script that Jan DeBont was going to use filmed. It loses the anti-nuke message but keeps pretty much everything that's been cool about the Godzilla movies after the original Gojira. A little tweaking could probably get the anti-nuke message in there somehow but the script had all the rest. Aliens, bad ass nuclear powered fire breathing Godzilla going up against a nightmarish energy shooting alien monster.

The origin in that script might have been a little too close to what the Heisei Gamera series did with Gamera but I think it still would have worked. Plus the premise of the alien probes creating monsters could have been the basis for all sorts of creatures to fight Godzilla in sequel movies.

As it is, I'm thankful for the almost film by Jan DeBont because there was a huge upswing in Godzilla merchandise because of anticipation for that movie. I know there are people who didn't like Trendmasters' classic Godzilla line but I loved it. Up to that point there'd been almost no Godzilla stuff in the US for most of my life. A few cheap rubber G's in the bargain bin here and there, and the Godzilla figure as part of the Shogun Warriors toy line. That was pretty much it unless you happened to go some place where you could fork out the big bucks for stuff imported from Japan.

[Anguirus]

This might sound weird and draw some ire towards me but in what way was the first CGI-zilla movie bad?
I did enjoy it when it was released and still do even a whole decade later.
I even like the CGI modell used in the 1998 Hollywood movie.

I will now hide in a nuclear fallout bunker until the flaming is over.

Don't ever go to kaijuphile.com. I'm fucking serious.

Anyway, what it boils down to is, to most Godzilla fans the American creature is not Godzilla, anymore than would a man without super strength be Superman, or a giant orangutan would be King Kong, or a gay pacifist would be James Bond. It's that fundamental. Godzilla breathes radiation (not the piddly last-minute taxi-singing flames, proper building-melting stuff), he knocks over landmarks in plain view of the public, he's not able to be killed by humanity like a 200 foot inconvenience, and he doesn't run away from a fight. Godzilla has many traits that distinguish him from other giant monsters, and the American creature had...some of them.

That said, MUCH can be forgiven if a good movie is the result, but Godzilla (1998) was not. It had a poor script, derivative action scenes, and forgettable performances even from the more talented members of the cast. Further, Dean Devlin basically sealed his fate among Godzilla fans when, as reactions to his abhorrent mess of a film started rolling in, he had a public bitch-fit, then shut down the official "Godzilla.com" forum when the negative response proved an overwhelming one. Then he made any number of smug little statements about how Godzilla fans were just a bunch of sad shut-ins and he was proud of his work...after his movie's amazing opening weekend had already given way to an utter black hole of ticket sales since the good word-of-mouth was non-existent. Two sequels in the pipeline went straight to development hell, and since Emmerich and Devlin's incompetence had led to the film coming in significantly overbudget (it wound up costing more than Jan de Bont's aborted Godzilla, which actually looked pretty sweet, when it only got greenlit based on undercutting de Bont's requested budget significantly), Sony lost money on Godzilla (1998).

Meanwhile, Toho Studios didn't spend a cent and raked in millions from the licensing and Japanese distribution rights. However, many high-ranking producers were so appalled by the movie (in Japan, a decent opening weekend fueled by curiosity tanked even HARDER and reaction was almost universally negative) that they rushed the Japanese Godzilla series into a sooner-than-planned 1999 revival. The subsequent six Godzilla movies almost all took a blatant shot at the American Godzilla, culminating in an actual duel between Godzilla and his American counterpart, now added to the Toho monster stable and given the moniker "Zilla," cementing the iguana's status as "Not Godzilla" in the eyes of the studio.

Considering that the current president of Toho Studios, Shogo Tomiyama, was producer of Godzilla movies in the '90s and exec producer at the turn of the century, it's a fair bet that Toho is going to be a bit more careful who they entrust the monster to, even considering the money that stands to be made.

As for the OP, this is a relatively old bit of news and I've not heard an update on it since. Potentially exciting, but I'm pretty skeptical without more info.

[Oskuro]

Barring the spam of the idiot before me.

That spam meant to say in an ironic fashion what James Rolfe says on his review of the 1998 Godzilla movie, that for the sake of marketing, they often do not care enough about the original characters to make a worthwhile addition to the mythos.

I personally enjoyed the 1998 Godzilla movie, but even in my ignorance of the source material back then, I could see how it was not a true Godzilla movie, just a generic monster movie whose monster is called Godzilla. And there's a high chance the same thing might happen yet again, just as it keeps happening with the endless remakes hollywood keeps churning out.

Now, one could say that remakes are meant to update old clasics to current times, but that's bullshit, take for example the 2007 Spanish movie REC, wich was remade into the 2008 piece of shit Quarantine. A remake of a movie released the previous year! Wow! It really needed updating!

So, in a nutshell, if the filmmakers care, or simply 'get' the original material, it might be a decent movie (like G.I.Joe), if they don't, it'll suck and offend fans of the franchise (like Transformers 2).

[Tsyroc]

Don't ever go to kaijuphile.com. I'm fucking serious.

Anyway, what it boils down to is, to most Godzilla fans the American creature is not Godzilla, anymore than would a man without super strength be Superman, or a giant orangutan would be King Kong, or a gay pacifist would be James Bond. It's that fundamental. Godzilla breathes radiation (not the piddly last-minute taxi-singing flames, proper building-melting stuff), he knocks over landmarks in plain view of the public, he's not able to be killed by humanity like a 200 foot inconvenience, and he doesn't run away from a fight. Godzilla has many traits that distinguish him from other giant monsters, and the American creature had...some of them.

That said, MUCH can be forgiven if a good movie is the result, but Godzilla (1998) was not. It had a poor script, derivative action scenes, and forgettable performances even from the more talented members of the cast. Further, Dean Devlin basically sealed his fate among Godzilla fans when, as reactions to his abhorrent mess of a film started rolling in, he had a public bitch-fit, then shut down the official "Godzilla.com" forum when the negative response proved an overwhelming one. Then he made any number of smug little statements about how Godzilla fans were just a bunch of sad shut-ins and he was proud of his work...after his movie's amazing opening weekend had already given way to an utter black hole of ticket sales since the good word-of-mouth was non-existent. Two sequels in the pipeline went straight to development hell, and since Emmerich and Devlin's incompetence had led to the film coming in significantly overbudget (it wound up costing more than Jan de Bont's aborted Godzilla, which actually looked pretty sweet, when it only got greenlit based on undercutting de Bont's requested budget significantly), Sony lost money on Godzilla (1998).

Meanwhile, Toho Studios didn't spend a cent and raked in millions from the licensing and Japanese distribution rights. However, many high-ranking producers were so appalled by the movie (in Japan, a decent opening weekend fueled by curiosity tanked even HARDER and reaction was almost universally negative) that they rushed the Japanese Godzilla series into a sooner-than-planned 1999 revival. The subsequent six Godzilla movies almost all took a blatant shot at the American Godzilla, culminating in an actual duel between Godzilla and his American counterpart, now added to the Toho monster stable and given the moniker "Zilla," cementing the iguana's status as "Not Godzilla" in the eyes of the studio.

Considering that the current president of Toho Studios, Shogo Tomiyama, was producer of Godzilla movies in the '90s and exec producer at the turn of the century, it's a fair bet that Toho is going to be a bit more careful who they entrust the monster to, even considering the money that stands to be made.

As for the OP, this is a relatively old bit of news and I've not heard an update on it since. Potentially exciting, but I'm pretty skeptical without more info.

Devlin's bitch fit was pretty funny. I remember him resorting to "Well I got my cheque" etc...

Too bad it killed the website. I rather liked it at the time.

The fans on that site really did lay into him with no holds barred. I think he was expecting to pop on there and be welcomed as the man who saved Godzilla.

The fairly recent G-Fan interview with Roland Emmerich about the '98 Godzilla was pretty good. He's rather realistic about the movie and at least some of what they did wrong in making it.

They did come up with a few good ideas that went on to influence the Japanese Godzilla movies that came after it.

[Styphon]

No discussion of what went wrong with the American Godzilla is complete without mentioning the design leak fiasco.

As to the OP... well, if it happens, I hope it doesn't suck.

[Lusankya]

Barring the spam of the idiot before me. The reason is simple. Toho had sworn off Godzilla for 10 after the last movie they made.

Yeah, I heard about that, and to a certain extent I think it's probably good for the franchise, despite my longing for a new real Godzilla film earlier than that, since one awesome movie is better than five mediocre ones.

It's just that I can't imagine an American remake actually being a Godzilla movie. As Anguirus said, Godzilla is a suit monster that breathes radiation and goes around looking for a fight. They could cast the new Godzilla as a llama and have it be more aggressive than the one in the 1998 remake (seriously - that lizard was looking after a clutch of eggs, and was still doing its level best to keep Matthew Broderick alive), and more damage was done to the city by the military response than was done by the monster. There's also a certain element of B-movienes that I always associate with Godzilla too. The rubber suits are iconic by this stage, but I can't imagine any US studio greenlighting that kind of character design.

I guess I could see it possibly being a decent monster movie, but I can't imagine it being Godzilla.

[Tsyroc]

No discussion of what went wrong with the American Godzilla is complete without mentioning the design leak fiasco.

As to the OP... well, if it happens, I hope it doesn't suck.

That was another fun bit with the movie. They kept trying to hide what the new G was going to look like while still having all of this merchandise ready to go on sale as soon as the movie was released.

Funny thing about that image from godzillatemple.com. I have two little rubber figures that look exactly like the leaked image, except with the finished paint job.

Damn, someone should write a book on how they pooched that movie because there is just so much stuff. I'd find it interesting and entertaining, while it could be a "what not to do" for future movie makers.

They did do a good job on the teaser promotions though. The New Year's Eve and the Museum spots were excellent.

[Big Orange]

Putting things in perspective the Summer of 1998 was dominated by pretty derivative, bloated, and boring blockbusters, aside from Godzilla, there was Insurrection, Armageddon, and Lost in Space. Lost in Space was the best out of a bad bunch with its idiosyncratic art direction and Gary Oldman's performance. And the Nostalgia Critic has done a review of Godzilla which I largely agree with (yes Godzilla goes all the way in emulating Jurassic Park, practically step by step, and a 200ft tall monster weighing 500 tons suddenly vanishing is complete bollocks, but I don't see Stargate and Independence Day as that terrible).

[Raxmei]

My main problem with the Zilla movie is its persistent half-assed attempts at comedy. First, it was half-assed. They did enough to break the mood but not enough to make the movie a good comedy. Second, it's part of the movie's general failure to respect its subject.

[Oskuro]

To me, that movie had quite the issue: Jean Reno is larger than Godzilla could even be. Even in a mediocre movie like this the man is awesome.

[Anguirus]

I'm open to a CGed Godzilla. Toho has actually CGed a few shots and the most recent (Godzilla cameoed in a Japanese comedy/drama set in 1950s Toho) was actually pretty impressive. It just has to be Godzilla, not some other thing.

[Solauren]

If Godzilla is gonna trash the US again, at least let him be the REAL Godzilla this time.

I want my 100m+ Energy Breathing Nuclear Mutant Dinosaur, dammit!

I wanna see him use his breath weapon to take out tank columns and monuments, while swatting down Stealth Bombers!

Not some giant mutant iguana hidding in Madison Square Garden laying eggs....

[ray245]

I'm open to a CGed Godzilla. Toho has actually CGed a few shots and the most recent (Godzilla cameoed in a Japanese comedy/drama set in 1950s Toho) was actually pretty impressive. It just has to be Godzilla, not some other thing.

This is the video you are talking about?

[Oskuro]

This is the video you are talking about?

Awesome, that's some nice buildup for a giant monster reveal.

[Tsyroc]

It's a rather significant amount of destruction considering there aren't any large buildings being toppled over.

I also like that his heat ray pretty much vaporizes the part of Tokyo Tower it cuts through. No explosion, not melting, just poof it's gone.


I liked the little head shake they had Godzilla do. Something that would have been a huge pain in the ass doing it with animatronics. Not so crazy about the design of his head though. Where the jaw meets his skull reminded me a bit too much of Biolante or Space Godzilla. Otherwise pretty cool. It looks like they went with flat grey on his dorsal spines.

[Molyneux]

This might sound weird and draw some ire towards me but in what way was the first CGI-zilla movie bad?
I did enjoy it when it was released and still do even a whole decade later.
I even like the CGI modell used in the 1998 Hollywood movie.

I will now hide in a nuclear fallout bunker until the flaming is over.

Matthew Broderick always gives a watchable performance, but the writing was pretty awful, especially that scene ripped straight from Jurassic Park.

There were, to my mind, precisely two good things one can say about the original movie. One is Jean Reno. The other is that it led to "Godzilla: the Series", which gave 'Zilla back its invulnerability and fire breath, was animated and written by the same folks behind "MIB: the Series", and had a monster that I'd swear the Cloverfield monster was close to being a ripoff of.

[Majin Gojira]

Matthew Broderick always gives a watchable performance, but the writing was pretty awful, especially that scene ripped straight from Jurassic Park.

There were, to my mind, precisely two good things one can say about the original movie. One is Jean Reno. The other is that it led to "Godzilla: the Series", which gave 'Zilla back its invulnerability and fire breath, was animated and written by the same folks behind "MIB: the Series", and had a monster that I'd swear the Cloverfield monster was close to being a ripoff of.

I bet you're referring to Crestaceous Rex, the monster from the second episode of the series, IIRC.

[Molyneux]

Matthew Broderick always gives a watchable performance, but the writing was pretty awful, especially that scene ripped straight from Jurassic Park.

There were, to my mind, precisely two good things one can say about the original movie. One is Jean Reno. The other is that it led to "Godzilla: the Series", which gave 'Zilla back its invulnerability and fire breath, was animated and written by the same folks behind "MIB: the Series", and had a monster that I'd swear the Cloverfield monster was close to being a ripoff of.

I bet you're referring to Crestaceous Rex, the monster from the second episode of the series, IIRC.

Indeed I am. I think. It's been a long while since I saw the series...I just remember that it was much, much better than the movie.
I was always fond of the American 'Zilla design, though - I love classic Godzilla, but the Leno-chinned one is just neat.

[Enigma]

I wouldn't mind seeing a match up between Godzilla and the Cloverfield monster.

Anyways, if Toho is careful as to who makes another Godzilla movie, then what did Legendary do to get permission?