Thursday, December 20, 2012

Legendary Pictures' Godzilla News

by Armand Vaquer

A little tidbit of news on the Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. production of Godzilla has been posted over at Comic Book Movie.com.
The movie is currently in pre-production and will be approached in a more realistic fashion.
An excerpt of an interview with producer Dan Lin in Collider provided some news:
"We’re planning to film in March. We are in deep pre-production. Gareth [Edwards] has really mapped out his vision for the movie, you saw the teaser, but Gareth—thanks to [Legendary CEO] Thomas Tull’s help—he took over a whole stage on the Warner Brothers lot and not only showed the teaser you saw, he had some models built of Godzilla, he had art decorated all over the soundstage, he had pre-vis of some of the big action sequences in the movie."
Noted G-fan Stan Hyde ought to be ecstatic as Lin indicates the movie may be filmed in his backyard:
"Most likely it's filming in Vancouver."
Their vision of Godzilla will be: What would happen if Godzilla came into our world today? 

The theatrical target date is set for March 16, 2014.

Read more at http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/BatFreak/news/?a=71552#5Dxzou7cWqcbFw4e.99

Monday, December 17, 2012

Haruo Nakajima's 84th Birthday Coming Up

by Armand Vaquer

Above, Haruo Nakajima in 2008.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Haruo "Mr. Godzilla" will be turning 84 this coming January 1.  He was born on January 1, 1929 in Yamagata, Japan.

 As has been a tradition for the past several years, fans wanting to extend their birthday greetings to Mr. Nakajima can post them here in the comments.  I will begin to forward them to his daughter Sonoe on January 1.

Mr. Nakajima will be a special guest at the Mad Monster Party convention this coming March 22-24, 2013 in Charlotte, North Carolina.


If you want to have your birthday greetings sent to Mr. Nakajima, post them here.
"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.