Leapin’ lizards! Filmmakers for the new “Godzilla” will be taking a different approach with the big green guy. When director Roland Emmerich presented the updated version of the radioactive lizard in 1998, it met with lukewarm reviews and disappointed fans, especially in Godzilla’s native Japan.
Dubbed “Zilla,” the creature appeared again in Toho Studio’s “Godzilla: Final Wars” and proved to be no match for the real Godzilla. Under alien control, Zilla attacks Sydney, Australia, and later battles the original Japanese Godzilla there. He charges at Godzilla and jumps over his atomic blast, but is sent flying by a tail swipe from Godzilla into the Sydney Opera House. Godzilla releases his atomic blast at the famous structure, destroying it and atomizing Zilla in the process. The fight itself lasts 13 seconds, giving Zilla the record of the shortest battle in Final Wars, and one of the shortest defeats in any Godzilla film.
Not content to let monsters stay vaporized, Legendary Pictures along with Toho are taking a crack at bringing Godzilla back to America. This time award-winning British filmmaker Gareth Edwards will be directing with a target release date of May 16th, 2014. Variety recently reported that Legendary Pictures had hired “Iron Man 3″ writer Drew Pearce to polish up the screenplay before casting begins. David Callahan penned the original draft, with David S. Goyer (“The Dark Knight,” “Man of Steel”) and Max Borenstein (“The Seventh Son”) also contributing to the script. Legendary has asked for Pearce to come in because it wants to ‘age up’ the characters so they fit the actors they would like to target.
Gareth Edwards – the man behind 2010′s highly praised “Monsters” – told Total Film about the new Godzilla.
“I’ve never worked this hard, this long and been this emotionally involved in something that’s lasted only a few seconds since the time I lost my virginity! But the reaction has been amazing and I can’t wait for the fans to see our final product.”
Edwards continued.
“I’ve always been interested in Godzilla and the ideas around him. I really wanted to see another Godzilla film and jumped at the opportunity. My main idea was to imagine, ‘If this really happened, what would it be like?’ I want to take a grounded, realistic approach to a Godzilla film.”
A surprise teaser trailer and poster for the film were revealed at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. The fans went wild with excitement after the screening. Riding the wave of enthusiasm, Edwards described how welcomed he felt by the Hollywood set. He said:
“Everyone warns you about working for Hollywood and how you can get treated in a certain way but my experience has been the polar opposite. Thomas Tull (founder of Legendary) has been very supportive.”
Sources: wikipedia, coventrytelegraph, IMDb