Godzilla, King of the Monsters trailer

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Godzilla 2014 Writer Frank Darabont Interview

Recently Godzilla 2014 writer Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption) was interviewed on i09. He promises to return Godzilla to his roots as a terrifying force of nature and gives some tantalizing clues about Legendary's Godzilla reboot film and the story.

In the interview he talks about Godzilla's origins in film, he says:

"What I found very interesting about Godzilla is that he started off definitely as a metaphor for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And some of the atom bomb testing we were doing in the South Pacific in the subsequent years. The giant terrifying force of nature that comes and stomps the shit out of your city, that was Godzilla. Filtered through the very fanciful imaginations of the Japanese perception."

He then says how Godzilla quickly became a protector of Japan fighting other monsters in subsequent films, a change he never understood. (Obviously, he's not a big fan of Godzilla as a series, except for the original.)

He then states that the new film will have a very serious tone and not be "campy".

"We want this to be a terrifying force of nature."

He says his job is introducing a very "compelling" human story in an extreme situation.

However, Godzilla as a metaphor for the atomic bomb is a bit outdated today. When asked if Godzilla would be connected to a contemporary issue, he said yes, but would say no more.

I like Darabont's take on Godzilla, but a few things are misleading and need to be put in perspective. First of all, reading the interview gives the impression he developed the story virtually by himself, but keep in mind, Darabont is the 5th writer to work on the script. It was reported that Max Borenstein, writer #3(Seventh Son),  will receive screen credit for the script with story credit going to David Goyer,#2 (Dark Knight trilogy and Man of Steel). Darabont and Drew Pearce, #4 (Iron Man 3) will share writing credit with Borenstein.

Second, Darabont seems to have a distain for Godzilla fighting other monsters, but Legendary already announced that there will be two more, all new monster co-stars in the film. It seems there will be a lot going on in this movie with introducing Godzilla as a terrifying force of nature in the first half of the film and then changing him to a savior battling two other opponents in the second half, all the while offering a "compelling" human drama. Can Legendary and director Gareth Edwards pull it off?

Overall, his comments are very exciting and make me hopeful for a great film. I still believe that G-fans can be assured that Godzilla 2014 is in the right hands and will deliver.

Also, there was another very interesting tidbit perhaps not so accidentally dropped but fellow interviewee, actor and writer, Sam Witwer who asked about Godzilla's metaphor and said he was currently rewriting Mothra. Mothra! This is the first I've heard of this. Is there also a Mothra reboot in our future? Well, if things go well for Godzilla, I wouldn't be surprised. With Pacific Rim coming out later this year, the writing is on the wall. Giant monster movies are the next big thing in sci-fi and fantasy films.

Visit io9 for the full interview

Legendary's Godzilla will stomp into theaters on May 16. 2014.


 

Godzilla 2014 "Bull Dog" Concept Sketch Art

 
 
 
This is a very cool "Bull Dog" Godzilla concept sketch by Jaroslav Kosmina. This one has distinctly dog-like mammalian features reminiscent of the CG Godzilla cameo in the Japanese drama, "Always". It's rather muscular and top heavy. Not very practical, but I really like this one. He looks really menacing as if he could fight through anything. Notice the size comparison to the car and human at it's feet? What do you think?
 


Monday, January 21, 2013

Godzilla Concept Sculpture and Porcupine Godzilla

 
These concepts go all the way back to 2010 when news first broke of the new Legendary Pictures Godzilla film. The bust may have been an early design that was dropped. I always liked these porcupine Godzilla designs. I think it goes along with the idea that he's a mutation. Regardless of the Legendary logo, these two are fan pictures. Love it!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Fantasy Godzilla Fan Art

This is an interesting image I found labeled Godzilla. I don't know the artist. This one is 4 legged alien Godzilla and reminds me of the monster from the Korean movie, Host or the monster from Relic. Can't say I like this one. Good for something else, no Godzilla.




 

More Larry Quach Godzilla 2014 Concept Art

Here are some ,ore images from Larry Quach's Godzilla project album. He includes 2 human characters.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Official Godzilla 2014 Image

To date, this remains the only official image or design or Godzilla released by Legendary Pictures.
Godzilla 3D will be released May 16, 2014 worldwide.


 

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Godzilla 2014 Released in 3D and Script Credits

A short article from Stereoscopy News cleared up a few things for me.

First, it confirms that the Godzilla 2014 reboot from Legendary Pictures will be released on May 16, 2014 in 2D and 3D formats. I'm assuming it will be shot in 3D, not simply converted.

Second is about the Godzilla 2014 script and writer credits, but first let me recap who the writers have been.
  1. David Callahan (The Expendables)
  2. David Goyer,  July 2011 (Dark Knight, Man of Steel)
  3. Max Borenstein, November 2011 (The Seventh Son)
  4. Drew Pearce, October 2012 (Iron Man 3) (4 week polish)
  5. Frank Darabont, January 2013 (Shawshank Redemption, Walking Dead)
Max Borenstein will be credited as the main screenwriter with Pearce and Darabont sharing writing credits with him. David Goyer will receive screen story credit.

So, it appears Callahan's draft was abandoned and Goyer came up with the main story idea. Later, Borentein wrote the script being used, with Pearce and Darabont editing and fleshing it out.

Quite a number of scribes for one film, but that's not unusual in Hollywood. Aside from the producer trouble and lawsuit in the news recently, Gareth Edwards has remained the only director and shooting is still scheduled to begin in March 2013, so Legendary better finish this legal trouble and the script and keep on schedule.



 

Friday, January 18, 2013

Godzilla 2014 Reboot Concept Designs

Here are a few Godzilla 2014 concept designs from Larry Quach, fall 2010. These may or not be official images. The album includes designs for 2 other monsters. We know there will be 2 other monsters in the movie. However, the images from the Comic-con teaser trailer showed a giant centipede like monster. These 2 monsters are completely different. One of them reminds me of unused "Gryphon" monster from the 1998 Godzilla movie before it went to Emmerich. These images include 2 human characters. I personally doubt these are official, probably older concepts that were rejected, cool none the less.

See the full album here

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Godzilla 2014 Cast: Aaon Johnson Eyed for Lead


It was reported here before that Legendary Pictures ha been pursuing Henry Cavill (Man of Steel), Scott McNairy (Monsters), and Caleb Landry Jones( X-Men, First Class) for the lead role in their Godzilla 2014 reboot. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Dark Knight Rises) had previously passed on the role. Now, you can add another name to the list. They are now considering Aaron Johnson(Kick-ass, Kick-ass 2). No decisions, yet. As of yet there is no mention of big name, seasoned actors to compliment the cast or a female lead. It remains unclear if Tommy Wiseau(The Room)  and Asian actor Aaron Chang are still attached to the film. More news as t develops.


Godzilla 2014 Teaser Trailer Art

Here's a color rendering of the "thick neck Godzilla"still shot from the Godzilla 2014 teaser trailer from Comic-con. This image comes from Toho Kingdom. Very cool.

 

Godzilla vs. Ultraman Concept Art

Here's a concept of Ultraman and Godzilla. Kind of dorkey Godzilla, though. Watch out, kid!

 

Unofficial Godzilla 2014 Design

Here's a fan made sculpture by Tony McVey. Honestly, I can't say I like this one, too dinosaur like. The king needs to stand tall. Good try, though.

 

Godzilla 2014 Reboot Concept Art Sculpture

Here ae some images of a very cool Godzilla 2014 concept art sculpture. This Godzilla is really spikey. I'm sure not what we will see, but cool none the less.

 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Godzilla 2014 News Roundup

Well, when it rains, it pours. There was quite a lot of news this week about the Legendary Pictures Godzilla 2014 reboot and not necessarily good. It's hard to know where to start.

1. From Hitfix it was announced that 2 co-producers from Warner Bros., Dan Lin and Roy Lee were booted of the picture by legendary over creative and financial differences. The two producers along with others like Brian Rodgers are said to have come to Legendary Pictures with the project in the first place. Rodgers is still safely attached to the project. Later, it was reported in Variety  and Comic Book Movie that Legendary had taken pre-emptive legal action against the producers along with Doug Davison, to prevent the trio from suing the studio and possibly attempting to halt production.
I hope that this legal battle doesn't drag out or delay production because the real losers are the fans.


2. The Godzilla 2014 reboot got a new writer, Frank darabont (Shawshank Redemption and The Walking Dead series) to do the final rewrite. This makes writer number 5 to work on the script. Previous writers included David Callahan(The Expendables) David Boyer(Dark Knight and Man of Steel) and Max Borenstein (Seventh Son). The last writer was Drew Pearce who co-authored Iron Man 3. Pearce's job was to give the script a "4 week polish" and age up the characters. It's not clear why they decided they needed another re-write. But this might come as good news for some as,

 "Darabont's presence tells us one thing: that this movie won't necessarily skimp on character, dialogue and moral complications -- areas in which he specializes -- in favor of wall-to-wall spectacle."

I'm not sure how to feel about the re-writes, I guess Legendary wants to be sure the story is good. Anyway, they better hurry up  if shooting is to begin in March.


MSN Entertainment

Deadline


3. Now the good news. Comic Book Movie reported a short list of actors being considered for the lead role in Legendary's Godzilla. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Dark Knight Rises)was offered but refused. Studio's top choice after that is Henry Cavill (Man of Steel). Creative choices are Scot McNairy (Gareth Edward's Monsters) and Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee in X-Men, First Class). Cavill would be an interesting choice. I'd like to see Superman fight Godzilla. No final word, but shooting starts soon, so we should have a confirmed cast soon.

4. Details about the story have emerged. It was reported by Comic Book Movie that after a Warner Bros. promotional webinar, that some details of Gareth Edwards Godzilla are 100% confirmed:

-The film will feature more than one monster, confirming that two new monsters will also be wreaking havoc – this in addition to the big green guy.

-Warner Bros. made it clear that their interpretation of the material “follows the story of a solider” and is “way different” than the Toho Godzilla films.

The first thing I thought when I heard this was Aaron Eckhart's soldier character in Battle Los Angeles. I hope the story is good, but I also hope not everything is shot from a human perspective like Cloverfield. I expect some good long shots to put Godzilla in perspective. We'll see where all of this news leads. More details as they develop.



 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...