Friday, January 14, 2011

Two Godzillas? Rubbish!

by Armand Vaquer


There's an article that appeared in the Pittsburgh Film Industry Examiner website alleging that there may be two Godzilla movies in 2012, one from Toho and the other from Legendary Pictures/Warner Brothers.

This article came to me last night courtesy of Google.

It was written by Fiore Mastracci and it contains so many factual errors that I was just going to ignore it and not post anything here about it. I did post the link to a couple of Godzilla fan forums and the reaction was predictable: universally panned.

The article claimed that Toho "announced" their plan to end Godzilla's "forced retirement" early (i.e., 2012). There's been no such announcement, otherwise we'd have been discussing it for months. Believe me, if there were such an announcement, fans would have been on top of it immediately.

Toho and Legendary Pictures came to an agreement on a new American Godzilla film last year (they had been in negotiations at least since 2009), so Toho wouldn't even consider undercutting the American production with a movie of their own. It doesn't make any business or logical sense.

I am pretty close to some of the Toho executives, and none have given any indication of such a planned Japanese return of the Big G. A fan posted a comment on Mastracci's article asking for the source of this. It will be interesting to see Mastracci's reply.

He even got the good and bad guys wrong in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001).

Mastracci seems to be a nice guy, but, unfortunately, his article is just erroneous.

Sorry, folks, there's nothing to see here. But if you insist, to read the article, go here.

2 comments:

  1. Godzilla "2012" is in rewrite now and isn't due for completion till (see - Godzilla 2014).
    Legendary Pictures /Warner Bros
    So far I only see producers attached. No mention of alternate Japanese version. source: IMDBPro

    T.Reed - Composer

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think only one director that can that can do a awsome Godzilla movie right now and that's Quentin Tarantino! He can pull of a retro, in your face, action movie. Mr Tarantino understands and respects both Japanese and American cinema! Please contact me with your thoughts at redion333@comcast.net johnnygojira

    ReplyDelete

"LEGENDARY PICTURES TO DEVELOP AND PRODUCE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE BASED ON TOHO COMPANY’S ICONIC MONSTER, GODZILLA

Burbank, CA – March 29, 2010 – Legendary Pictures announced today that they will develop and produce a new film based on Toho Company’s famed GODZILLA character. Through the terms of the agreement, Legendary Pictures has acquired the rights to produce a movie inspired by Toho’s Godzilla, a franchise the Japanese company created and has nurtured for over fifty years.

Toho’s GODZILLA franchise boasts one of the most widely recognized film creatures worldwide, resulting in a series of books, television programs, video games and more than 25 films worldwide. Legendary intends to approach the film and its characters in the most authentic manner possible. The company will, in the near future, announce a filmmaker to helm the film for an intended 2012 release. The film will fall under the company’s co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. Toho will distribute the film in Japan."

"Godzilla" is coming back -- this time, with Legendary Pictures taking the lead, co-producing and co-financing with Warner Bros. for release in 2012.

Legendary announced Monday it had obtained rights to the iconic monster character from Japan's Toho Co., which has overseen more than 25 "Godzilla" films. Toho will release the pic in Japan.

Legendary said it's planning to announce a director shortly.

In addition to Legendary, producers on the new film will be Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Brian Rogers. Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira and Doug Davison will exec produce.

"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."

Legendary noted the film will fall under its co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. Legendary's productions with Warners have included "The Dark Knight," "300" and "The Hangover."

Speculation about a new "Godzilla" has been active since last summer. The Bloody Disgusting web site reported in August that the project was in development.