I think were all pretty pleased with Legendary Pictures’ decision to hire Monsters helmer Gareth Edwards to direct their reboot of the Godzilla franchise. After everything the big mutated lizard has gone through, another dumb American version is not what the scaly gentleman needs. While Edwards involvement alone does not necessarily a great monster movie make, we can at least all be assured he’ll bring a touch of class to the proceedings. His hand-crafted effort on Monsters suggests he’ll be coming at this movie with an eye for story, character, and the emotional build-up of the creatures, rather than just the exploitation of spectacle. The man knows how to make a little go a long way.
With all of that in mind, I think many are eager to hear him discuss his approach to the film personally, but at this point it’s too early for Edwards to speak very specifically about the production. So, when he has a conversation with ShockTillYouDrop, he’s not really able to communicate much of substance at present. What he could make clear though, was that he gets it– this can’t suck or we’ll all be really pissed. His delicately chosen words-
“I’m a big fan. I guess I will say I’m highly aware – and everyone involved is incredibly aware – of everyone’s opinions on what this film has to do and what it has to be. And no one will do anything but the right thing. Without addressing anything specific, everyone knows how important is to get it right.”
I’m vaguely reminded of that popular “Everyone chill the fuck out- I got this” meme that has floated around at various times*.
The legit news from the story is that the director will not be sharing in the scripting duties. Beyond that there’s just a little mention of his early experiences with Godzilla watching dubbed versions, but I get the impression he’s trying to dance around saying he didn’t really like them at the time.
” As a kid I wasn’t quite sure about the dubbing, the English-dubbed versions. They threw me for a bit. I love science fiction and, well I call them B movies but they’re not, but I love ’60s and ’70s sci-fi. But these would come on and be dubbed and it would take my kid brain to adjust to the dubbing. It took me some time to get through that.”
We still haven’t gotten a lot of solid information about the remake since Edwards was hired, but it wasn’t that long ago that a producer filled us in on Legendary’s intentions for the project, which includes a 2012 release date. For a film like this that means they’ve got to get started relatively soon, so it shouldn’t be too long before we hear more.
In the meantime, read the CHUD review of Monsters and listen to the CHUD Podcast interview with Edwards on iTunes.
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*Screw it.
11 comments
Maybe it was just the dubbed dialog, but all I ever took away from a Japanese Godzilla movie was skewed more towards the “big fucking monster turns up and stomps on things, optionally aided and abetted by other big fucking monsters, optionally while they all beat the fuck out of each other” than the “story, character, and the emotional build-up of the creatures” side of the equation. Bottom line: it ain’t King Kong, and it ain’t gonna be.
I saw MONSTERS recently. And its already one of my favourite films in 2011. It’s love story at heart and I enjoyed the chemistry between the two leads.
Monsters was shitty. I think Edwards landed this gig because he’s a Brit and the Brits are ruling Hollywood right now. They think Edwards is another Chris Nolan or Duncan Jones, but I doubt it. This reboot could be worse than ‘Zilla 98.
I saw King Kong vs Godzilla in the theater when I was a kid. I saw most of the rest on TV. Boy, I wish there had been a fastforeward button then. They are not good movies, but they were fun as hell.
I want goofy plots, crazy monsters and awesome effects.
If they take it too seriously they will ruin it.
I loved the concept of Monsters, loved the creatures in it, loved the small scale of the story–but I could not get past the dialogue and the acting. Wow, it was rough, and this is coming from someone who was hardwired to love that movie.
Nothing about Monsters said to me ‘this is the guy for Godzilla’ but I’m glad the gig is going to someone with a sense for a personal story and appears less interested in seeing only how much cgi destruction can be wrought.
Gojira is the mold if you want to make a serious monster film. I’m holding on to hope.
I am hoping for a…MONSTER Smash! First, Godzilla…NEEDS to breathe fire. None of the nonsense, of The Big G, not breathing fire because real animals do not do that. Roland Emmerech, should have realized, that Godzilla is not real, and can breathe fire all he wants. Also, I definitel would love to see some of the other monsters in the new US version. MechaGodzilla is my all time favorite. Also, there should be a…Mad Scientist too.
Wait, so, people watch Godzilla movies for story, character, and the emotional build-up of the creatures, rather than just the exploitation of spectacle?
That doesn’t sound right to me, at least, I know I watch them for the exact opposite reason.
Count me as someone not pleased by his hiring as of now. Monsters was boring shiite. I’m sure it was made with the best intentions and everyone gave 110%, but it still was a dull, uninteresting movie. If all involved want to get this right, they should look at the japanese version of Godzilla 1985. That movie was the best attempt to take a product from the atomic horror age, which had mutated into a children’s product, and bring it into the modern age. It’s a little dated these days, but the scope and ambition of it still work. If this reboot is half as interesting as that movie, it will be decent.
Loved Monsters and I am glad to see Gareth get the directors chair. Hope he does wonders for the movie.
Heheh, “Blake”. Edwards is a great choice. The one thing Monsters lacked was the budget to sell those early combat bits.
The original script that Rossio and Elliot wrote back when DeBont was still attached to direct Godzilla was pretty damn solid. I doubt they could do anything with it due to rights and what not, but I think it would be a solid place to start.
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