Posted in: Movies, Recent Updates | Tagged: film, frank darabont, gareth edwards, godzilla, remake

Changing Your View of Godzilla – Frank Darabont Is Writing Up A New Take On The Monster

Adina Miller writes for Bleeding Cool.

Run! It's Godzilla! Well, okay. Maybe not in the exact way you're thinking.

For the most part, that name hasn't been one to strike fear into the hearts of moviegoers. Godzilla has so often been campy, corny, and not terrifying in the slightest. Screenwriter Frank Darabont and director Gareth Edwards are looking to change that.

IO9.com recently had an interview with Darabont. He says:

[Godzilla] 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.

Hard for me to believe that's what the green lizard started out as. Personally when I hear about Godzilla, I think of black-and-white Japanese movies that are very poorly dubbed, instantly making them more of a comedy than a horror film. But hey, it'll definitely be interesting to see a what Darabont has in store for the overgrown reptile.

How exactly he's going to reinvent the creature this is a mystery, though he does say:

We want this to be a terrifying force of nature. And what was really cool, for me, is there was a very compelling human drama that I got to weave into it. It's not that cliched, thinly disguised romance or bromance, or whatever. It's different, it's a different set of circumstances than you're used to seeing.

As we mentioned previously, Godzilla won't be the only monster wreaking havoc in the movie: two other unknown creatures are set to take the screen with our familiar friend. And keeping true to the fact that Godzilla was originally a metaphor for an act of war, the main character, who has yet to be cast, will be a soldier.

Bits have been leaking, but Darabont is at least trying to keep some of the film secret:

What we're trying to do with the new movie is not have it camp, not have it be campy. We're kind of taking a cool new look at it. But with a lot of tradition in the first film.

And while the new Godzilla is a new metaphor, Darabont won't say what for, just agreeing that it's a "contemporary issue."

Currently the movie is in pre-production and set to release in 2014.

Brendon's note: I think Adina needs to do a bit of research. She won't find Godzilla so silly after she goes back to the source…

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!