SKREEONK!

In an excellent “introduction to a much larger article” article, the ever-awesome i09 has released some excellent tidbits from the current re-writer of Legendary’s GODZILLA. Yes, the entire film is in jeopardy right now thanks to a multi-faceted producer’s lawsuit – but hey, lets focus on the good news shall we? Frank Darabont (of Walking Dead Fame – terribly talented fellow) had the following to say about his take on the giant gray behemoth:

What I found very interesting about Godzilla is that he 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. Filtered through the very fanciful imaginations of the Japanese perception. And then he became Clifford the Big Red Dog in the subsequent films. He became the mascot of Japan, he became the protector of Japan. Another big ugly monster would show up and he would fight that monster to protect Japan. Which I never really quite understood, the shift.

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. 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. And that’s tremendously exciting as a writer when you’re asked to do something else.

Simeltaneously, genre actor Sam Witwer (Starkiller from the Force Unleashed video game series) asks a damn good question, whilst also revealing a rather shocking tidbit:

Is Godzilla going to represent a different kind of metaphor, something that we’re dealing with as a culture? Because I’m working on a Mothra rewrite right now.

Say whaaa!? I would take this as nothing more than a self-proclamation at this point, though the paths this suggestion takes my imagination down are rather incredible, to say the least. I believe we have nothing more than an actor talking about his own writing project here, but hey – if GODZILLA ends up being successful – who knows? Maybe Witwer could end up pitching his Mothra idea to Legendary, then BOOM. Multi-Faceted Franchise. Or maybe he is just mocking the entire thing – throwing in his own little joke. The ladder seems more likely – and is the main reason Legendary’s GODZILLA needs to happen. If people can take the character seriously again, perhaps people will stop poking so much fun at something that originally started out with a very somber – very serious – message.

Make sure and head over to i09 HERE to read the entire article, which includes Darabont’s answer to Witwer’s question above. Hopefully this entire legal mess will get sorted out, because Darabont really seems to be passionate about this project. If you’re unfamiliar with the legal troubles, check out this article by the LA Times. Be wary, though – the suit is happening for good reason, which makes it hard to shrug off.

Here’s to Hoping we still get a GODZILLA movie in 2014!

Jon @ UnCanny