Update on new Godzilla movie…

Updated on September 27, 2010 By Ken Begg 24 Comments

t least Legendary is mouthing the right stuff. They are, as you’d expect, running as fast as possible from the unpopular TriStar reboot of 1998: “In all the conversations we had with Legendary [Pictures], they made it clear that they want to pay homage to the traditional Godzilla character and they did not want to make the same decisions that Sony did which was taking the whole character and…it became more of an iguana-like character, laying eggs,” he explained. “They wanted to go back to the history of the project, but again because it’s a reboot, bring it into the 21st century and do a project that was current and exciting to the audience… Similar to what Legendary did with ‘Batman.’”

That’s producer Brian Rogers speaking, and he continues:  “I think I can safely say that there will be another monster or monsters that Godzilla will fight. I think traditionally those are kind of situations that the fan base wants to see. In the original Sony version, in my opinion, not having another monster that they were fighting, was a drawback and not an asset. And just having Godzilla fight the US army was not in the same spirit of the character.”

Now, in this he is somewhat wrong.  The problem wasn’t that TriStar Godzilla was only fighting the US Military, it was that he/she was running away from the US Military.  Certainly Godzilla needs to fight the military as well as monsters.  Let’s hope they get that.

The question then is, which monster.  Toho has in the past really tried to extort a ton of money for the use of Mothra or Rodan or Ghidrah, which is why they didn’t make it into adaptations like the TriStar movie or the various American comic books based on Godzilla.  On the other hand, Toho isn’t really a film company anymore, and was forced to starting making Godzilla movies again after the failure of the TriStar movie, if only to keep the licenses and merchandising going.  So they might be more open to letting Legendary have more of the monsters if it helps ensure the new movie is more successful.

Anyway, fingers continue to be crossed.  For this and the Captain America, Thor and Avengers movies also due in the new few years.

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  • Ericb

    I’m sure Anguirus would be available at bargain basement fees.

  • jzimbert

    Godzilla vs. Captain America!

  • John Campbell

    Did the X-Men ever fight The Avengers?

    Because Godzilla is afterall a mutant.

  • The Rev.

    Ericb: YOU LEAVE ANGUIRIS ALONE GODDAMMIT.

    The cheap one would be Jet Jaguar anyway. Even King Seesar would go for more, since he actually got a second gig in Final Wars.

  • BeckoningChasm

    I think it would be great if Godzilla fought that knife-headed thing, except I know that’s a Gamera foe and thus not very likely to appear near Godzilla any time soon.

  • Godzilla should take on YOG: MONSTER FROM SPACE. Since all three of the monsters are essentially regular animals, if Toho asks for too much money, you could just tweek the design a little and get away with it.

    Okay, that’s not a good idea. Then go for…Daikaiju Baran!!! Woo Hoo!

  • Elizabeth

    The Rev, I sympathize with your defense of Anguirus, but you have to admit he’s probably got a lot of medical bills — he can’t afford to be choosy, poor fellow. You don’t even want to know what he owes the orthodontist.

  • Rock Baker

    I don’t know if I want to see him fight another monster right off the bat, assuming Legendary is aiming for a sequel/trilogy affair. For this film, we have to go back and re-introduce Godzilla, establish his powers, and watch humanity race against the clock to find a means of defeating him. I honestly think a Godzilla vs the Army movie would be much more fun. If they have to include another monster (or more!) then I fear it becoming Spiderman 3, which was technically a pretty good movie but way too long and complex. I think Legendary should spend this movie establishing Godzilla and wait for a sequel to give him an opponent, otherwise the flick could be too crowded to be watchable. (Oh, I just remembered we’ll have to put up with lightning fast edits and shaking cameras. I’m tired already.)

    If Legendary really wants to distance themselves from TriStar, here’s a free hint: No Cartoons. Give us a critter with solidity and personality, that’s what makes Godzilla work.

  • fish eye no miko

    @BeckoningChasm: You’re referring to Guiron, from the movie with the kids who end up on that other planet, and the Japanese kid is obsessed with traffic accidents (my theory is that his dad died in one). It also features Cornjob, and we get to see Gamera do his gymnastics routine (“That’s Cathy Rigby in that suit.”). I liked Guiron, too. (-:

  • Hey, Anguilas was in Final Wars too, you know. Geeze he doesn’t even get respect from people who are trying to give him respect. *grumpf*

  • lorne leroi

    Godzilla actually did fight the Avengers, in the last issue I think of the Marvel Godzilla comic back when I was a kid in the 70s. I remember Thor and Godzilla playing tug-of-war over the Empire State Building and Yellowjacket and Wasp crawling inside G’s ears to buzz his semicircular canals and give him vertigo…

  • zombiewhacker

    Godzilla vs. Manda. You heard it here first.

  • BeckoningChasm

    Godzilla vs. Guiron. And at the end, the victor would be standing over the body of the vanquished…and we’d zoom out to see Gamera watching this on a TV monitor, tapping his fingers together, and giving s slight smile.

  • Marsden

    I think a giant robot would be cool, like Mazinga or Dangard Ace.

    Ultraman & Godzilla vs. Ghidra and Biolante.

    I don’t know, I’m hoping for tons of action and almost no human characterization, just lots of bashing.

  • Ericb

    The Blob could (b)eat them all.

  • The Rev.

    Sandy: I know he was; but he also had, what, five other appearances (maybe six, if he popped up for a cameo in G’s Revenge), including the honor of being Godzilla’s first opponent? Hell, he’s just behind King Ghidorah for number of appearances, and even has a better win/loss ratio. There is no way he’s bargain basement! I would never disrespect the big A.

    King Seesar only has FW and GvMG, which just barely puts him over Jet Jaguar. I’d put him over Titanosaurus as well, but from what I’ve seen T has a ridiculously large fanbase in G-fandom. I’m betting he could parley that into a bigger appearance fee than the magic robot with the goofy-ass song or the raggedy mirror-eyed fu dog/lion.

  • I think there is a general rule that the smaller the number of appearances, the bigger the fan base. It may not always hold true for Godzilla, but it sure is the case for Star Trek and Star Wars. Look how iconic Bib Fortuna is.

  • Godzilla vs. Manda

    What is that, some kind of half-man, half-panda?

  • David Fullam

    Bleh. Heard it all before and they lied.

  • zombiewhacker

    Dude, Manda is the awesomest, the fiercest, the most-fear-inspiring bad@ss movie monstuh in the history of movie monstuh-dom!

    Runner-up being Mike Wazowski, of course.

  • The Rev.

    Sandy: That does hold true to a certain extent; I know I’m a huge fan of Biollante (1) and Gigan (3). King Seesar appears to be an exception; few people seem to like him all that well.

    He’s in my probably-never-to-be-finished Godzilla movie, though.

  • MarshallDog

    If they can’t get him to fight any of the Toho monsters, maybe Godzilla can just fight the Cloverfield monster.

  • Toby Clark

    I personally thought Emmerich had the right idea in not including another monster for his Godzilla movie. What I want to see for this one though is a reinterpretation of the Dr. Serizawa character in the original.

  • Toby Clark

    If they do make a movie with a second monster, I’d recommend getting Peter Jackson involved and bringing back his King Kong (preferably, Andy Serkis).