Director Gareth Edwards made quite the climb into the public eye in 2010, and he’s beginning 2011 off in epic fashion.
Edwards is know for making the indie alien invasion film, Monsters, which was produced with only a few people on the cast and crew, and with a tiny budget (though bigger than what was once said to be only around $15,000). The movie made the festival rounds and caught a lot of attention for its look and special effects on such a minuscule budget, and now Edwards is getting major attention from bigger studios.
It’s being reported that Edwards is set to lock up a deal with Legendary Pictures, the banner behind The Dark Knight, 300, and Inception, to direct their brand new re-imagining of classic movie beast, Godzilla. Legendary acquired the rights to the famed Japanese creature in 2010 and has since been putting things together with hopes of releasing their movie at some point in 2012. The hiring of Edwards is the first major ingredient, sure to be followed quickly with a writer and various castings.
The only other time that we’ve seen an American production of Godzilla was of course in 1998 with Roland Emmerich’s painful offering.
It should be really interesting to see how this plays out. To have a director who’s coming off an indie monster movie with a micro-budget jump into a major blockbuster production featuring one of the all-time greatest movie monsters ever created? That alone makes the entire project worth keeping an eye on.
You know Legendary along with Warner Brothers — who’s going halfsies on production and financing as part of their deal with the company that will also see them distributing — will be doing everything in their powers to avoid any association with Emmercich’s ’98 flop. That means this movie should have quite the unique look and feel for a Godzilla movie.
As things are so far, do you have any interest in a new Godzilla?
[Source: Heat Vision]
Emmrich’s Godzilla wasn’t a flop. It actually had a huge box office return. It’s just that anyone who seriously hoped for a more serious, dramatic version was completely let down by the silly Matthew Broderick spectacle. The plot was almost as bad as the Toho movies (minus the first one, of course). Something with decent acting and a good plot could be an enormous money maker. The appetite is out there, we just need Hollywood to refrain from spitting the bit for once.
Comment by Des — January 5, 2011 @ 2:29 am
You’re right, it did make a decent amount back. But it was a critical flop; hard to find fans of that one.
Comment by The Movie God — January 5, 2011 @ 2:36 am
I gotta say that I am very interested in a new Godzilla film so long as they keep the monster visually the same. The 98 version wasn’t all that bad but should never have been called Godzilla. If it had a different name I bet it would have faired a little better especially since it looked nothing like the Godzilla we all know and love. I don’t mind the cheesy storylines either. That makes them fun in my opinion and something that the kids will be into. I mean every storyline from all the TOHO films are pretty ridiculous right? But we still love them right? A great story and plot could make for a completely new and highly regarded franchise in the US. Lots of possibilities.
Comment by Alex Rude — January 5, 2011 @ 11:53 am
This guys doesn’t have what it takes to do this. he can do human drama, but the monsters in his movies monsters were nothing more than an after thought. Giant octopi, with less than 5 min of screen time total, big whoop. Cloverfield also crap. If you make giant monster flicks, then show damn things!
Comment by korollocke — January 5, 2011 @ 12:07 pm
I’m very much looking forward to this new incarnation of Godzilla. The concept art looked decent enough at the very least. That being said I am going in with some trepidation considering the last American interpretation, G98 was a horrible flick. Conversely, Godzilla 1989 is a work or art. Additionally, I would rather not see Big-G in NY or CA, we have fifty states people. Surely we can destroy cities that haven’t already been destroyed in movies 5000 times already. That being said, if Godzilla was to destroy Japan again, I have no problems there (barely avoided Stomping Grounds joke).
Comment by DrNecropolis — January 5, 2011 @ 4:12 pm