Godzilla stomping back to theaters

[Tribal Warfare]

Godzilla stomping back to theaters via Legendary

By Ace Fernandez
Well, well, well ... look who's getting back in fighting shape.

Everyone's favorite gigantic, havoc-wreaking lizard, Godzilla, is on his way back to the big screen via Legendary Pictures, which has acquired the rights to develop and produce a new feature based on the iconic Toho Co. character. Warner Bros. will co-produce, co-finance and distribute through its deal with Legendary, and Toho will roll out the film in Japan.

Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Brian Rogers are also producing; Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira and Doug Davison will be executive producers on the project.

The last major Godzilla outing, an American, New York-set version from Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, grossed $376 million worldwide in 1998 despite fielding equally major criticism. Toho quickly produced "Godzilla 2000," in which the big beast took on an evil UFO, the following year.

But the Godzilla franchise juggernaut has survived decades of permutations (he first appeared in 1954), dozens of films, books, video games and merchandising tie-ins and seems perpetually ready to rear up again for new audiences.

The new film is shooting for a 2012 release.

"Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be able to create a modern epic based on this long-loved Toho franchise," said Thomas Tull, chairman and CEO of Legendary. "Our plans are to produce the Godzilla that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop culturally relevant for as long as it has."

Added Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, "Godzilla is emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which Warner Bros. and our partners at Legendary are best known."

The two companies have partnered on such global properties as "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight," "Superman Returns" and "The Hangover," which have grossed more than $2 billion worldwide. Together, they have a remake of "Clash of the Titans" stomping into theaters Friday.

[Anyong Bluth]

SXSW promo poster

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth

SXSW promo poster

Ok, I give. I've never heard of SXSW...

[KC_Lee]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Ok, I give. I've never heard of SXSW...

SXSW stands for South By Southwest, huge music fest in Austin, TX.

Love the new poster.

[Lzen]

Ok, so after reading this thread, I decided to check out the original Godzilla, or Gojira (1954). This is the original Japanese one with subtitles. I thought it was a pretty good flick. Very somber and real drama, not camp.

So can someone tell me is the American version of 1956 the same story only with American actors?

[KC_Lee]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Ok, so after reading this thread, I decided to check out the original Godzilla, or Gojira (1954). This is the original Japanese one with subtitles. I thought it was a pretty good flick. Very somber and real drama, not camp.

So can someone tell me is the American version of 1956 the same story only with American actors?

Essentially yes, Raymond Bur (aka Perry Mason), plays an American reporter in Tokyo when Godzilla attacks. Piss poor editing and less somber story. Watch if you want to but you're not missing anything if you don't watch it.

[Rausch]

New interview with Director Edwards.

Describes the lead up to the first reveal of Godzilla in the movie.
Describes the process of developing his (her?) foe/s.
Describes a bit of the theme.
Touches on some of the motivation for Godzilla/the creature/s.
Talks about how this movie relates to the Toho/Japanese G-films.

Probably some light spoilers...

[KC_Lee]

Now news of a new Gamera movie!!

http://robojapan.blogspot.com/2014/0....html?spref=fb

While Legendary Pictures is finishing up on their production of a 60th anniversary Godzilla film here in the states back in Japan Kadokawa studios is in the early stages of production on a 50th anniversary Gamera movie. The plans for this new film were revealed recently when the Japanese retailer Amiami listed an advertisement for the upcoming Summer issue of Newtype magazine that has the exclusive scoop on the details. The issue will reportedly contain storyboard images and other pre-production art. Until now a 50th anniversary Gamera film had been speculated but not confirmed.

In recent years Kadokawa has shown a great interest in resurrecting the fantasy film franchises' of Daiei starting with 2010's 'Daimajin Kanon, a television drama based on the studio's Daimajin trilogy produced in the late 1960s.

Many fans of the Japanese giant monster genre (kaiju-eiga) consider Kadokawa's three Heisei era (1995 - 1999) to be the best ever produced. That being said the last Gamera movie, the 2006 release 'Gamera: The Brave' failed to recapture that glory. It will be interesting to see just what Kadokawa will have up it's sleeve to try and keep pace with Legendary's 'Godzilla' and the new bread of Kaiju films being produced in Japan as of late.

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by KC_Lee

Now news of a new Gamera movie!!

http://robojapan.blogspot.com/2014/0....html?spref=fb

not a good idea for any major film company to invest in a Gamera movie, because of the lesser known name property.

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by Rausch

New interview with Director Edwards.

Describes the lead up to the first reveal of Godzilla in the movie.
Describes the process of developing his (her?) foe/s.
Describes a bit of the theme.
Touches on some of the motivation for Godzilla/the creature/s.
Talks about how this movie relates to the Toho/Japanese G-films.

Probably some light spoilers...

if it's Roland-esque

[KC_Lee]

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

not a good idea for any major film company to invest in a Gamera movie, because of the lesser known name property.

True, but the Kadokawa Gamera movies of the 90's were some the best kaiju movies ever made. Willing to bet it will only released in Japan, but still a guy can hope.

[Rausch]

And to start off today's G'zilla news a story I've avoided reading.

It's close enough I'll risk it.

*SPOILERS BELOW*

Total Film was lucky enough to be amongst the first people in the world to gaze upon the glory of Gareth Edwards' Godzilla this morning, in the swanky surroundings of the Mayfair Hotel.
http://www.totalfilm.com/news/godzil...otage-reaction

Spoiler!

And what a treat we were in for. We're now going to describe what we saw - but be warned, this comes with a massive SPOILER warning. Because we know that some people can't help themselves, we're not going to give any MEGA SPOILERS away (we saw something wonderful that we won't be ruining here) but if you want to go in completely cold, please ignore the below.
Our favorite section of footage opened with Aaron Taylor-Johnson on a monorail train that has just stopped dead because of a power failure. Just as he's reassuring a young boy that everything's going to be okay, we cut to a party scene on a beach - where it's quickly revealed that everything is decidedly not okay. Not by a long shot.

An explosion in the mountains resonates through the trees, and a siren goes off. A small child watches the waves, and we start to see movement.

Eventually, we see Godzilla's iconic ridges move through the sea - looking for all the world like Jaws' fin, multiplied and super-sized.

A huge tidal wave starts to build, and we follow a crowd as they flee through the city. This sequence is pretty powerful - almost resonant of news footage, reminding us all of the natural disasters we've been forced to to witness in the real world in recent years.

In one incredible shot, we see bodies caught in the water pass by a glass door, shot from the viewpoint of people safe inside. It's sickening to see the bodies tumble past, caught in the current.

Then we cut to the big guy. Godzilla himself. We see his hands - they look fantastic, ridiculously canon - then his broad midriff, then onto his huge tail as it sweeps through the city. Soldiers shoot, but to no avail.

Then, we're back on the train, as the lights go on and it starts to move, and then… we cut this description dead, because something pretty darn mind-blowing happens, and we want you to experience it in the finished feature.

So, we're now going to go to a MISSING REEL... before coming back to reveal that the footage ended on a panning shot of Godzilla, from feet to face and he looks ASTONISHING.

Our jaws dropped, and as the roar hits it's a huge goosebump moment that'll be having audiences whispering "Wow" when the finished film hits.

But that's not all we saw.

At one point in the Q&A, Edwards said he was pleased to have secured sound designer Erik Aadahl, who "Did Transformers with Michael Bay and Tree Of Life with Terrence Malick, which was kind of what we wanted to do with this - a combination of those things."

We'd say they've succeeded. The event opened with an intense sequence centered around Bryan Cranston that featured the sort of powerful emotion you get from the best of Malick, whilst also squeezing in a lot of frantic running / sonic booms.

It opens with Cranston walking through a power plant in a tweed jacket and glasses, being briefed on some huge seismic activity. Then, something hits the plant, setting off a chain reaction and transforming Cranston into an action hero, as he runs to rescue his wife (Juliette Binoche) who's caught in the calamity.

Smoke - turned red by warning lights - envelopes a corridor, as Binoche stumbles to safety.

Sadly, the exit is also the barrier to disaster - and Cranston is forced to - REMEMBER KIDS, THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE - shut the door, essentially killing his wife and creating another major goosebump moment as the smoke covers her.

It's beautifully shot by Edwards, who swoops in on Cranston's desperate face through the porthole of the door as it closes. His reaction is up there with his best work on Breaking Bad, so it may come as a surprise to hear that Edwards hasn't really seen that particular show (though he has caught a few episodes).

"The real reason I wanted to work with Bryan was Malcolm In The Middle and an episode of Airwolf from 1986," he said during the Q&A to big laughs.

Next, we saw Cranston being interrogated following the disaster. It was basically the full footage of that incredible speech we celebrated when we reported on the trailer.

According to Edwards, he'd had lots of fancy shots planned for the sequence, but Cranston's performance was so impressive from the get-go, they went with the first take. We can certainly see why - any Walter White fans in the crowd won't be disappointed by what they experience here.

We saw two more major scenes, both involving soldiers. In one, a small group of US marines are investigating whether a bridge is safe enough to deliver "some important cargo." It's a tense, beautifully shot sequence - and one we can't really go into any more detail on. You'll find out why in May.

We're also hampered by our honor code when it comes to describing the final sequence we saw. It was the full halo jump from the trailer, except here, we saw the soldiers landing in the ruined city instead of just dropping towards it - falling straight into SOMETHING INCREDIBLE YOU'LL THANK US FOR KEEPING A SECRET WE PROMISE.

[Rausch]

Godzilla's second trailer really burned the competition in its first week.

The preview for the reboot of the famous flame-spewing lizard drew 26.3 million YouTube views in its debut, according to technology firm Zefr, which tracks the numbers.
Those first-week numbers crushed the opening weeks of other big-budget movies coming this spring and summer. For example, the Amazing Spider-Man 2's trailer did 19.7 million first-week views, the best among the trio of 2014 Marvel comics-based movies.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...preview-686932

Reporters with the IGN website said they saw the movie and gave a few minor spoilers.

“Godzilla himself is 350 feat high, making him the biggest Godzilla yet seen onscreen,” IGN wirtes. “It’s also about a family that’s torn apart by an apparent natural disaster that took place in Japan 15 years ago,” it continues.

IGN also said that it learned “a plot point that makes the film 400% more awesome, but Gareth swore us all to secrecy so we’re not going to spoil it here.”

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/5465...1954-original/

[Rausch]

And for the few kaiju fans here.

The Art of Japanese Monsters Hardcover Movie Poster Book Coming this May Full Color Reference Guide to Japanese Science Fiction Film Posters and Lobby Cards.

Sean Linkenback, author of the highly-regarded Unauthorized Guide to Godzilla Collectibles, has announced his new hardcover The Art of Japanese Monsters: Godzilla, Gamera and Science Fiction Film Art From Around the World. A complete reference guide to Japanese science fiction film posters from 1954 to present, the book will contain artwork from over 60 different films, including the Godzilla, Gamera, and Mothra series; RODAN, GAPPA, the Majin films, WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS, THE H-MAN, and many more. Over 650 posters and lobby cards from 20 different countries will be featured in full color.

The Art of Japanese Monsters will be available through Diamond Comic Distributors and select bookstores on May 13th, and pre-orders will start shipping May 1st. Signed copies will also be available through the Kaiju Posters Database Facebook page.

The print run will be limited to 1,000 copies.

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/c.../godzillatoho/

[keg in kc]

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Nice.

New images/clips.

I'm geeked about this summer. There's at least 1 movie I want to see every month for the next 5 months...