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{{ | {{Infobox Film Unmade | ||
|type1 =??? | |type1 =??? | ||
|type2 =Fire | |type2 =Fire | ||
|image =Godzilla 1994 Concept 2.jpg | |image =Godzilla 1994 Concept 2.jpg | ||
|caption =Godzilla 1994 concept art | |caption =Godzilla 1994 concept art | ||
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|dt =''Godzilla'' (1994 film) | |dt =''Godzilla'' (1994 film) | ||
|alternatetitles =''Godzilla vs. The Gryphon'',<br>''American Godzilla'', ''Godzilla 1994'' | |alternatetitles =''Godzilla vs. The Gryphon'',<br>''American Godzilla'', ''Godzilla 1994'' | ||
|planned =[[1994]] | |planned =[[1992]]-[[1995]] | ||
|replaced =[[ | |intendedrelease =[[1994]], [[1996]] | ||
|replaced =[[GODZILLA (1998 film)|''GODZILLA'' (1998)]] | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''''Godzilla''''' {{Nihongo|ゴジラ|Gojira}} is an unmade [[United States|American]] [[Godzilla (franchise)|Godzilla]] [[:Category:Godzilla Films|film]]. The predecessor to TriStar Pictures' [[ | '''''Godzilla''''' {{Nihongo|ゴジラ|Gojira}} is an unmade [[United States|American]] [[Godzilla (franchise)|Godzilla]] [[:Category:Godzilla Films|film]]. The predecessor to TriStar Pictures' [[GODZILLA (1998 film)|1998 Godzilla film]], it was written in 1994 by [[Terry Rossio]] and Ted Elliot and revised by Don Macpherson in 1995, with a planned 1996 release date. Jan De Bont was attached to direct. Todd Tennant and Elden Ardiente completed a [[Godzilla '94|graphic novel]] adaptation of Rossio and Elliot's script, commissioned by Rossio, in 2015.<ref name="godzilla-movies.com">[http://www.godzilla-movies.com/topic/38715 Godzilla 94 Graphic Novel - Godzilla Forum]</ref> It was released for free on Kaijuphile.com starting November 22, 2018.<ref name="americankaiju.kaijuphile.com">[http://americankaiju.kaijuphile.com/american-godzilla94/#graphic-novel/page/1]</ref> | ||
{{TOC}} | {{TOC}} | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
In [[1992]], [[Toho]] sold the rights to produce an American [[Godzilla (franchise)|Godzilla]] film to [[Sony|Sony Pictures Entertainment]], who assigned the project to its newly-acquired subsidiary | In [[1992]], [[Toho]] sold the rights to produce an American [[Godzilla (franchise)|Godzilla]] film to [[Sony|Sony Pictures Entertainment]], who assigned the project to its newly-acquired subsidiary [[TriStar Pictures]]. Terry Rossio and Ted Eliott were brought in to write a script for the film, which was completed in [[1994]].<ref name="Terry Interview">[http://www.wordplayer.com/archives/GODZILLA.intro.html Wordplayer.com's Terry Rossio interview]</ref><ref name="Screenplay">[http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/GODZILLA.TXT Screenplay]</ref> TriStar was satisfied enough with the screenplay to begin searching for directors. The screenplay caught the attention of director Jan De Bont after he had just finished directing the hit film ''Speed''. Sony hired him, but studio and director soon came to blows over the budget. Sony estimated that Rossio and Elliot's script would cost an unacceptable $140-180 million; even after they revised it, the projected budget only fell to $120 million. De Bont thought that it could be done for $100 million, but could never come to an agreement; additionally, he felt the studio was using the situation to cram its own ideas into the script. He left ''Godzilla'' on December 26, 1994, sending the project into development hell. Various writers were brought in to perform rewrites to try and reduce the budget, but the difficulties scared away several potential directors. | ||
Eventually, TriStar approached the ''Independence Day'' team of [[Roland Emmerich]] and Dean Devlin, who had previously declined the project when it was pitched to them years before. This time however, Emmerich and Devlin accepted the project on the condition they could discard the original script and handle the film however they wanted. They were complimentary of the original draft, and said it showed them that a film could be made, but concluded "It wasn't a story we wanted to tell." They kept some elements from the original script, but changed most. Emmerich and Devlin brought in designer Patrick Tatopoulos to redesign the titular character as a more fast and agile creature based more heavily on dinosaurs. When the film and its [[Godzilla | Eventually, TriStar approached the ''Independence Day'' team of [[Roland Emmerich]] and [[Dean Devlin]], who had previously declined the project when it was pitched to them years before. This time however, Emmerich and Devlin accepted the project on the condition they could discard the original script and handle the film however they wanted. They were complimentary of the original draft, and said it showed them that a film could be made, but concluded "It wasn't a story we wanted to tell." They kept some elements from the original script, but changed most of them. Emmerich and Devlin brought in designer [[Patrick Tatopoulos]] to redesign the titular character as a more fast and agile creature based more heavily on dinosaurs. When the film and its [[Godzilla (TriStar)|new version of Godzilla]] were pitched to Toho, they were initially surprised but ultimately approved it when they contacted Emmerich and said, "Okay, you make [the] new Godzilla; we keep [the] old one."<ref name="Empire C">[http://wikizilla.org/wiki/Godzilla_(2014_film)/Gallery?file=Empire_Godzilla_Page_13C.png Empire Magazine Godzilla 2014 issue page 13C]</ref> While Devlin and Emmerich planned to make ''[[GODZILLA (1998 film)|GODZILLA]]'' for $90 million, their film ended up costing $136-150 million, well within the range that Sony had originally deemed unacceptable. | ||
''GODZILLA'' was eventually released in theaters in May of [[1998]].<ref name="Terry Interview"/> Eliott and Rossio were given story credits in the finished film, as Emmerich and Devlin insisted they never would have been able to make the film without their original script. De Bont was vocally critical of the finished film, blaming Sony for allowing the production to fall so far off course from what he felt Godzilla was all about. Terry Rossio later wrote an essay titled "[http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/wp47.100.Million.Mistake.html The One Hundred Million Dollar Mistake]," in which he argued that the studio's decision to replace the screenplay he and Ted Eliott worked on with Devlin and Emmerich's completely different vision ultimately doomed the production to fail and potentially cost the studio $100,000,000 in box office revenue it could have otherwise earned. | ''GODZILLA'' was eventually released in theaters in May of [[1998]].<ref name="Terry Interview"/> Eliott and Rossio were given story credits in the finished film, as Emmerich and Devlin insisted they never would have been able to make the film without their original script. De Bont was vocally critical of the finished film, blaming Sony for allowing the production to fall so far off course from what he felt Godzilla was all about. Terry Rossio later wrote an essay titled "[http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/wp47.100.Million.Mistake.html The One Hundred Million Dollar Mistake]," in which he argued that the studio's decision to replace the screenplay he and Ted Eliott worked on with Devlin and Emmerich's completely different vision ultimately doomed the production to fail and potentially cost the studio $100,000,000 in box office revenue it could have otherwise earned. | ||
Concept art for the American Godzilla and the [[Gryphon]] was commissioned by Ricardo Delgado in August and September of [[1994]]. Stan Winston Studios was contracted to create the special effects for the film, even producing various maquettes and props for the unmade film. Additionally, a teaser trailer for the 1994 film was released in [[Japan]]. | Concept art for the American Godzilla and the [[Gryphon]] was commissioned by Ricardo Delgado in August and September of [[1994]]. Stan Winston Studios was contracted to create the special effects for the film, even producing various maquettes and props for the unmade film. Additionally, a teaser trailer for the 1994 film was released in [[Japan]]. | ||
==Plot== | |||
{{Stub|section}} | |||
Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot's revised script, dated December 9, 1994, can be read in its entirety [http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/GODZILLA.TXT here]. The official synopsis of Don Macpherson's revised script, dated May 31, 1995, can be read [https://www.scifijapan.com/godzilla-toho/godzilla-unmade-the-history-of-jan-de-bonts-unproduced-tristar-film-part-4-of-4 here].<!-- | |||
In the Arctic Ocean, a group of people are viewing a salvage ship from an old fishing vessel. As divers begin to salvage parts from the wreck, one of the men from the fishing boat notices that background radiation levels are a hundred times more than normal. During a conversation with one another, the people turn their attention back to the shipwreck where the salvage crews are scrambling as a [[wikipedia:Vehicle_horn|Klaxon]] sounds. Suddenly, the [[wikipedia:Geiger counter|Geiger counter]] one of the watching men have been holding squeals with the detection of massive amounts of radiation. As this happens, the sea beneath the salvage ship begins to boil, and the ship explodes, removing huge chunks of ice from the cliffs. As more chunks fall from the ice, a red-black fluid begins to pour from the crack. | |||
Meanwhile, researchers Martha and Keith Llewellyn get a call from the government summoning them to the Arctic. As they board a helicopter, their 15-year-old daughter Tina watches their departure. When they arrive in the Arctic in their cold weather gear, Keith is lead down the fissure, where workers in bio-suits are transporting the red-black fluid, revealed to be a sort of [[wikipedia:Amniotic_fluid|amniotic fluid]], while Martha is taken to a building. There is a tremor. As Keith and Tucker, a fellow government worker leading Keith down, make their way deeper through a series of stairs and ladders, they finally end up in a massive cavern, which contains more fluid and a great maw of sharp teeth, scales, and a reptilian eye. Continuing further, it is revealed that the monster is wrapped around the cavern, 247 feet, not including the tail. It is Godzilla. As the tremors continue and steadily get stronger, the group of people are plunged into darkness as the lights are knocked out. As Tucker turns on a flashlight, Godzilla's eye opens, revealing an iris and a slit pupil. As the lights come back on, Keith turns back to the seemingly dormant kaiju, and sees Godzilla begin to move. He tears through the ice with his claws and shakes off chunks with his head and tail, roaring as the cavern crumbles. In a building on the surface, Jill is alerted to the sudden shaking of the building, which grows in strength. Then the room tips, trapping Jill beneath a table and giving her a view of Godzilla rapidly rising past a window. | |||
A short while later, on the Taki Islands of northeastern Japan, a small village is experiencing a storm. On the docks, fishermen are running back to the village. A villager named Junji looks out from his house, and realizes that his boat's line has become disconnected from the dock. He leaves his house and rushes to his boat and begins to make the line. From the ocean a gigantic, jagged dorsal plated form rises up, roaring. As Junji stares up at the monster, a taloned foot slams down onto the water right in front of the dock. The massive creature eats all of the fish left behind in the villagers' escape into their homes. Godzilla continues his advance onto the island, oblivious to the man he has nearly stepped on. As Junji screams for his wife inside the house to run, she cannot hear him, and is crushed along with their home. As Godzilla moves onward, he crushes more houses and levels building with his tail, unknowingly ending more lives. The monster then grabs a heap of trees and proceeds to eat them as well. He lifts his head to the sky and breathes a challenge of roaring fire into the heavens, before lowering down onto all fours and running into the sea with alarming speed. | |||
One year later at a mental institution, two men by the names of Aaron Vaught and Marty Kenoshita are breaking in. They use a jacket to overcome the barbed wire of the concrete wall and climb over, heading to where an older Junji is sitting. As Aaron repeatedly attempts to communicate with the man by talking about the previous events concerning island, Marty translates. Eventually, Aaron mentions a rumor about a giant dragon and convinces Junji that he will believe him, and this sparks a response from Junji. He leads the other two men inside his cottage, where he shows them drawings of a creature he calls Gojira, which Marty translates as Godzilla. Among the drawings, one depicts a gryphon curled into a fetal position beneath a mound of earth, with Godzilla breathing fire onto it. This is what Junji calls the adversary. Suddenly, police burst into the home, and approach Aaron and Marty who back away. The police escort the two trespassers away. | |||
Meanwhile, in Traveller, Utah, animals begin to display strange behaviors as a gleaming object streaks across the sky. The alien probe smashes into Lake Apopka, displacing tons upon tons of water. The lake hisses and boils, releasing a stream of steam hot enough to light surrounding vegetation on fire. In the Arctic Outpost, a pillar of light fires from a crack in the ice slightly distanced from the fissure Godzilla originally crawled out of, followed by a glowing chamber that pushes up and out of the ice. It is shaped like a dome, a series of huge bubbles arranged in the regular/irregular pattern of a Mandlebrot equation. A soldier not too far away alerts all other channels as to what he has seen. Back in Traveller, frogs and fish rain from the sky and telephone wires snap. | |||
Aaron and Marty are on a jetliner in the lounge, when Special Agent Pike walks into the room. He hands them a thick file labeled St. George Project, which contains photos of Godzilla. Pike explains that the government is offering the men a job. Later, Aaron and Marty follow Pike into the St. George Project situation room, where Marty looks out a large window showing a massive, man-made lake, with Pike explaining that that is where they intend to keep a captured Gojira. At the other end of the room, Jill Llewellyn and a man named Benedek come through the door and are introduced to Vaught and his partner. Jill explains that her husband along with several other people were killed by the monster, and explains that she fully intends to kill it. Jill and a now 16 year old Tina have an argument, and Tina heads into their home. | |||
The probe that has crashed down into Lake Apopka is submerged in a large cavern. Then, suddenly, the alien probe rises out of the water, startling a colony of bats. As the bats attempt to flee, the probe erupts into hundreds of silvery liquid cables which grab the bats and begin to tear apart and reform their bodies. The bats are then sucked into the probe, which forms multiple 5 foot tall [[Probe Bat|Probe Bats]]. The mutant bats begin hunting... | |||
In the Arctic near Godzilla's "womb", Aaron, Jill, Marty, and several others touch down, where they enter the fissure. They enter a perfectly round, greenish cave. It is revealed that the cave is made from organic technology created by an ancient civilization. As the group looks around, they enter a room with more mysterious bio-tech, and are being watched. Whilst the group theorizes Godzilla's origins and relation to the relics, Marty lifts his bio-suit visor and, suddenly, the microbial watcher fires itself into Marty's eye, leading to him acting slightly strange. | |||
Meanwhile, the Probe Bats are ravaging the Utah wild life, killing and maiming many different animals. However, they do not do this for sustenance, and instead begin to merge with the different creatures. | |||
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, three fishing boats are floating on the water. On the horizon, a giant wave of silver is rapidly heading their way. Millions of fish pass by the boats, some tearing nets, in an attempt to flee from Godzilla. As the school passes, the crew of the boats notice three rows of large dorsal plates cresting the water, traveling at a speed of forty knots and creating a tidal wave that decimates the small boats. At the Arctic base, Jill receives a call about the boats in pieces and observes a video of the witnesses describing a giant creature like a dragon. Marty is starting to majorly feel the microbe's effects, collapsing onto the floor. After securing him in a hospital bed, it is revealed that Marty's collar bones are distended in a grotesque manner. Not only that, but the bones in Marty's body are actively moving and being changed. After saying goodbye, Aaron joins Jill, who tells him Godzilla is estimated to arrive in San Francisco. | |||
A cruise liner is floating in the Pacific Ocean. Godzilla's shadowy figure travels beneath the liner, rocking it. Jill and Aaron get out of their transport and onto the Golden Gate Bridge, where Pike tells them a group of battle vessels twenty miles away will soon have sight of the monster. The fleet consists of two destroyers, two frigates, two attack subs, two blue ridge class vessels, two Avenger class warships, and attack helicopters surrounding the arrangement. Aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga, they receive word that their helicopters have spotted the creature. Godzilla's dorsals are locked onto and fired upon by several of the war vessels. Godzilla sinks downwards. On the helicopter that fired the first missile, the pilot is celebrating, when Godzilla suddenly erupts from the water, firing his atomic flame, exploding the chopper. The second helicopter banks away, however the kaiju is watching it. Godzilla suddenly dives forward, grabbing the helicopter out of the sky, and throwing across the water like a skipping stone. At this point the crews begin to resume fire on him, which aggravates Godzilla further. When torpedoes are fired at Godzilla, he slowly turns to glare in fury at the submarine. He whips around with great speed and charges the sub, however the crew blows the ballasts, evading certain death. This, however, led to the submarine to crash into the second destroyer, capsizing it. Godzilla then, targeting the first destroyer, lazily reaches out and tears open the hull. Then, regarding the damage he's caused, Godzilla breathes another plume of white hot flame into the destroyer, instantly melting its hull and detonating it. Godzilla ignores the rest of the vessels and continues on his previous path to San Francisco. While the group is discussing what they are going to do, Aaron points out that Godzilla didn't truly "breath" fire, as the plume didn't start until a few meters from his mouth. It is explained that this means he's exhaling something so hot its actually ionizing the oxygen molecules. Given this information combined with what else they already knew and have found out, Vaught suggests that Godzilla is something akin to a biological fission reactor. They also figure out that the amniotic fluid was able to contain or subdue the giant lizard, acting like control rods on a nuclear reactor, and formulate a plan around this. | |||
Godzilla is continuing to swim towards the city, but is intercepted by a line of depth charges.--> | |||
==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||
<gallery widths="120" position="center" spacing="small" captionalign="center"> | <gallery widths="120" position="center" spacing="small" captionalign="center"> | ||
GODZILLA_1994_Concept_1.jpg|American [[Godzilla]] concept by Ricardo Delgado | GODZILLA_1994_Concept_1.jpg|American [[Godzilla]] concept by Ricardo Delgado | ||
GODZILLA_1994_Concept_2.jpg|American | GODZILLA_1994_Concept_2.jpg|American Godzilla concept | ||
GODZILLA_1994_Concept_4.jpg|American | GODZILLA_1994_Concept_4.jpg|American Godzilla concept by Ricardo Delgado | ||
GODZILLA_1994_Concept_3.jpg|American | GODZILLA_1994_Concept_3.jpg|American Godzilla concept | ||
Godzilla 1994 Concept 1.jpg|American | Godzilla 1994 Concept 1.jpg|American Godzilla concept | ||
Godzilla 1994 Concept 2.jpg|American | Godzilla 1994 Concept 2.jpg|American Godzilla concept | ||
Jira_94.jpg|American | Jira_94.jpg|American Godzilla concept | ||
Gryphon monster.jpg|The [[Gryphon]] concept | Gryphon monster.jpg|The [[Gryphon]] concept | ||
GODZILLA_1994_Concept_5_Gryphon.jpg|The | GODZILLA_1994_Concept_5_Gryphon.jpg|The Gryphon concept | ||
Gryphon.jpg | |||
Gryphon “attack pose” artwork by Crash McCreery..jpg | |||
Gryphonstoryboard.jpg | |||
Probe-Bat sketch.jpg|Probe-Bat concept | |||
Stan Winston's Godzilla.jpg|Stan Winston's unused Godzilla design | Stan Winston's Godzilla.jpg|Stan Winston's unused Godzilla design | ||
Godzillawinstonschool.jpg | Godzillawinstonschool.jpg | ||
| Line 48: | Line 72: | ||
Godzilla would be director.jpeg| Jan de Bont with Godzilla suit | Godzilla would be director.jpeg| Jan de Bont with Godzilla suit | ||
Ricardo Delgado's Godzilla.jpg|Godzilla design by Ricardo Delgado; sometimes refered to as the "Delgadosaurus" | Ricardo Delgado's Godzilla.jpg|Godzilla design by Ricardo Delgado; sometimes refered to as the "Delgadosaurus" | ||
275056102_4951984628170498_7782756960942173572_n.jpg | |||
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Profiles01.jpg | |||
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275435020 4965274073508220 8862614067773652555 n.jpg | |||
3yKekCy.jpg | |||
C2H8ktFWEAEqiH-.jpg | |||
ProbeBat01.jpg | |||
ProbeBat02.jpg | |||
GryphonConcept1.png | |||
GryphonConcept2.png | |||
GryphonConcept3.png | |||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
==Video== | ==Video== | ||
{{videos| | {{videos| | ||
{{vid|<youtube width="300" height="169"> | {{vid|<youtube width="300" height="169">2aL1bcYsCsY</youtube>|Japanese "''[[Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla|Godzilla 6]]''" and ''[[Godzilla (1996 film)|Godzilla]]'' teaser trailers (1993)}} | ||
}} | }} | ||
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
*Several plot elements from this film appear to have been reused in [[Godzilla (2014 film)|Legendary Pictures' ''Godzilla'']], as in both films, Godzilla is believed to be destined to save the Earth from a far greater threat to it than him (the [[ | *Several plot elements from this film appear to have been reused in [[Godzilla (2014 film)|Legendary Pictures' ''Godzilla'']], as in both films, [[Godzilla (Monsterverse)|Godzilla]] is believed to be destined to save the Earth from a far greater threat to it than him (the [[MUTO]]s and the [[Gryphon]], respectively), both films have Godzilla beheading the enemy monster, and the military believes Godzilla to be the bigger threat in both films until Godzilla defeats the main threat. The only differences are while the Godzilla in this film does seem to deliberately attack human settlements, specifically the Japanese Kuril islands, and decimates the military's forces willingly when attacked, the Godzilla from the new film was never shown deliberately destroying any location that was featured in the movie, and actually avoids conflict with the military, only causing hindrances and damages to the army through collateral damage. | ||
*This film also shares some similarities with the [[1995]] film ''[[Gamera | *This film also shares some similarities with the [[1995]] film ''[[Gamera the Guardian of the Universe]]''. Like Godzilla in this film, [[Gamera]] is said to be a guardian monster genetically engineered by an [[Atlantean|ancient civilization]], and is supposedly destined to save the planet from a different monster, in his case, [[Gyaos]]. Like in this film, the military mistakenly believes Gamera is the larger threat and spends a portion of the film attacking him before ultimately allowing him to battle his enemy. It also ends with Gamera beheading Gyaos and wading out into the ocean. | ||
* | *In a departure from series tradition, the Godzilla in this film is said to be an artificially-created species rather than a naturally born or mutated species. | ||
*Terry Rossio would later be recruited as part of the writers room tasked with creating the story for Legendary's '' | *Terry Rossio would later be recruited as part of the writers' room tasked with creating the story for Legendary's ''Godzilla vs. Kong'' and write the film's screenplay.<ref name="Hollywood Reporter">[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/kong-skull-island-sequel-plans-godzilla-kong-sets-writers-room-984992 'Godzilla vs. Kong' Film Sets Writers Room (Exclusive)]</ref> In that film, Godzilla attacked Kong on all fours, as he briefly does in this script. | ||
==External links== | |||
==External | |||
*[http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2015/06/07/godzilla-unmade-the-history-of-jan-de-bonts-unproduced-tristar-film-complete/ GODZILLA Unmade: The History of Jan De Bont’s Unproduced TriStar Film] - SciFi Japan | *[http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2015/06/07/godzilla-unmade-the-history-of-jan-de-bonts-unproduced-tristar-film-complete/ GODZILLA Unmade: The History of Jan De Bont’s Unproduced TriStar Film] - SciFi Japan | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | {{Reflist}} | ||
{{Unmade}} | {{Unmade}} | ||
{{Comments}} | |||
{{Era|SCR|TOH|FIL|GOD}} | {{Era|SCR|TOH|FIL|GOD}} | ||
[[Category:TriStar Pictures]] | [[Category:TriStar Pictures]] | ||
Latest revision as of 00:31, 3 March 2024
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Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira) is an unmade American Godzilla film. The predecessor to TriStar Pictures' 1998 Godzilla film, it was written in 1994 by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot and revised by Don Macpherson in 1995, with a planned 1996 release date. Jan De Bont was attached to direct. Todd Tennant and Elden Ardiente completed a graphic novel adaptation of Rossio and Elliot's script, commissioned by Rossio, in 2015.[1] It was released for free on Kaijuphile.com starting November 22, 2018.[2]
History
In 1992, Toho sold the rights to produce an American Godzilla film to Sony Pictures Entertainment, who assigned the project to its newly-acquired subsidiary TriStar Pictures. Terry Rossio and Ted Eliott were brought in to write a script for the film, which was completed in 1994.[3][4] TriStar was satisfied enough with the screenplay to begin searching for directors. The screenplay caught the attention of director Jan De Bont after he had just finished directing the hit film Speed. Sony hired him, but studio and director soon came to blows over the budget. Sony estimated that Rossio and Elliot's script would cost an unacceptable $140-180 million; even after they revised it, the projected budget only fell to $120 million. De Bont thought that it could be done for $100 million, but could never come to an agreement; additionally, he felt the studio was using the situation to cram its own ideas into the script. He left Godzilla on December 26, 1994, sending the project into development hell. Various writers were brought in to perform rewrites to try and reduce the budget, but the difficulties scared away several potential directors.
Eventually, TriStar approached the Independence Day team of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who had previously declined the project when it was pitched to them years before. This time however, Emmerich and Devlin accepted the project on the condition they could discard the original script and handle the film however they wanted. They were complimentary of the original draft, and said it showed them that a film could be made, but concluded "It wasn't a story we wanted to tell." They kept some elements from the original script, but changed most of them. Emmerich and Devlin brought in designer Patrick Tatopoulos to redesign the titular character as a more fast and agile creature based more heavily on dinosaurs. When the film and its new version of Godzilla were pitched to Toho, they were initially surprised but ultimately approved it when they contacted Emmerich and said, "Okay, you make [the] new Godzilla; we keep [the] old one."[5] While Devlin and Emmerich planned to make GODZILLA for $90 million, their film ended up costing $136-150 million, well within the range that Sony had originally deemed unacceptable.
GODZILLA was eventually released in theaters in May of 1998.[3] Eliott and Rossio were given story credits in the finished film, as Emmerich and Devlin insisted they never would have been able to make the film without their original script. De Bont was vocally critical of the finished film, blaming Sony for allowing the production to fall so far off course from what he felt Godzilla was all about. Terry Rossio later wrote an essay titled "The One Hundred Million Dollar Mistake," in which he argued that the studio's decision to replace the screenplay he and Ted Eliott worked on with Devlin and Emmerich's completely different vision ultimately doomed the production to fail and potentially cost the studio $100,000,000 in box office revenue it could have otherwise earned.
Concept art for the American Godzilla and the Gryphon was commissioned by Ricardo Delgado in August and September of 1994. Stan Winston Studios was contracted to create the special effects for the film, even producing various maquettes and props for the unmade film. Additionally, a teaser trailer for the 1994 film was released in Japan.
Plot
Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot's revised script, dated December 9, 1994, can be read in its entirety here. The official synopsis of Don Macpherson's revised script, dated May 31, 1995, can be read here.
Gallery
American Godzilla concept by Ricardo Delgado
American Godzilla concept
American Godzilla concept by Ricardo Delgado
American Godzilla concept
American Godzilla concept
American Godzilla concept
American Godzilla concept
The Gryphon concept
The Gryphon concept
Probe-Bat concept
Stan Winston's unused Godzilla design
Stan Winston's unused Godzilla design head
Stan Winston's Godzilla
Stan Winston's Godzilla
Godzilla design by Jeff Farley
Jan de Bont with Godzilla suit
Godzilla design by Ricardo Delgado; sometimes refered to as the "Delgadosaurus"
Video
|
Trivia
- Several plot elements from this film appear to have been reused in Legendary Pictures' Godzilla, as in both films, Godzilla is believed to be destined to save the Earth from a far greater threat to it than him (the MUTOs and the Gryphon, respectively), both films have Godzilla beheading the enemy monster, and the military believes Godzilla to be the bigger threat in both films until Godzilla defeats the main threat. The only differences are while the Godzilla in this film does seem to deliberately attack human settlements, specifically the Japanese Kuril islands, and decimates the military's forces willingly when attacked, the Godzilla from the new film was never shown deliberately destroying any location that was featured in the movie, and actually avoids conflict with the military, only causing hindrances and damages to the army through collateral damage.
- This film also shares some similarities with the 1995 film Gamera the Guardian of the Universe. Like Godzilla in this film, Gamera is said to be a guardian monster genetically engineered by an ancient civilization, and is supposedly destined to save the planet from a different monster, in his case, Gyaos. Like in this film, the military mistakenly believes Gamera is the larger threat and spends a portion of the film attacking him before ultimately allowing him to battle his enemy. It also ends with Gamera beheading Gyaos and wading out into the ocean.
- In a departure from series tradition, the Godzilla in this film is said to be an artificially-created species rather than a naturally born or mutated species.
- Terry Rossio would later be recruited as part of the writers' room tasked with creating the story for Legendary's Godzilla vs. Kong and write the film's screenplay.[6] In that film, Godzilla attacked Kong on all fours, as he briefly does in this script.
External links
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla (1994 film). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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