‘Godzilla’s Getting A Frank Darabont Rewrite And Losing Roy Lee And Dan Lin

From Deadline.com

As it stomps its way toward a March production start, Godzilla has two significant developments in the offing. Frank Darabont, who veered into genre territory by launching the AMC series The Walking Dead, has been hired by producer-financier Legendary Pictures to do a final rewrite on the script that was written by The Seventh Son scribe Max Borenstein.

At the same time, Warner Bros-based producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee, who were among the producers who came into Legendary with a Toho rights deal for the iconic reptile, are in a huge battle with the financier-producer. Legendary, which now controls the rights, wants to drop the producers from the film. As it stands right now, the 3D picture will be produced by Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni, along with Brian Rogers, the latter of whom was on the ground floor of the Toho deal. The film will be directed by Monsters helmer Gareth Edwards and has been dated for May 16, 2014 release.

A report on Hitfix.com last night mentioned the exits, and painted it amicably. Actually, it could prove as toxic to Godzilla than the time the fire breather took on the smog monster Hedorah. This one’s going to wind up in the courts, I’m told. My understanding is, Lin and Lee refused to reduce the fees they signed on for when the original deal was made. Legendary brass feel they have the latitude to get rid of them and is doing just that, exercising a pay-or-play clause and paying them upfront money to go away, with no back-end or credit on the film. The potential back-end on a global franchise is where the big bucks are.

I’ve also heard that Legendary cited Lin for mentioning the project in recent interviews to fantasy film blogs, though those comments seemed innocuous to me. This is going to be awkward, because neither guy is insignificant and both of them are lot-based producers at Warner Bros, which has money in Godzilla and will distribute worldwide except for Japan, where Toho Co will do the releasing. I’ve been calling the studio since last night to try and get its position on all this, and they just got back to me and issued a no comment. Neither Legendary nor the ousted producers would comment. Lin, by the way, has 15 years on the Warner Bros lot as an executive and producer, and his latest film, Gangster Squad, gets its premiere this evening.

Update: Mary Parent Boarding ‘Godzilla’
I can understand why Godzilla is trying to shed producers, because there are plenty. Mary Parent is about done with a deal to come aboard on the producer roster. Parent, whose Disruption banner is based at Paramount, takes the job after working closely with Legendary on the Guillermo del Toro-directed Pacific Rim.

Godzilla, Gamera An Artistic Preview

A little preview for next sunday.

CREATURE FEATURE : Gorosaurus

Gorosaurus (ゴロザウルス Gorozaurusu) is a fictional theropod dinosaur created by Toho Studios. He stands 35 meters (105 feet) tall and weighs 8,000 tons in his first appearance. He was an opponent of King Kong in 1967's King Kong Escapes. He later enjoyed a prominent role in 1968's Destroy All Monsters, in which his size was increased to match Godzilla's 50 meter stature. Gorosaurus is a typical giant dinosaur, having no special powers like beams or energy weapons, relying on his strength and athleticism to fight. Gorosaurus' most identifiable fighting move is a flying kick similar to that of a kangaroo.

Character biography
In King Kong Escapes, Gorosaurus is an inhabitant of Mondo Island, the film's primary setting. He attacks and attempts to devour the leading female character, Susan Watson. King Kong arrives to save her and fights Gorosaurus. Kong eventually breaks the dinosaur's jaws, defeating Gorosaurus. In All Monsters Attack, Gorosaurus appears in the dreams of a young boy. In Godzilla vs. Gigan, Gorosaurus is seen living on Monster Island.
In Destroy All Monsters, Gorosaurus appears on a new island, Monster Island. It is an artificially created environment for the monsters of Earth. He lives with other monsters including Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, Kumonga, Manda, Minilla, Baragon and Varan. A race of aliens called the Kilaaks invades Earth, capturing and establishing mind-control over the monsters. They then release them in cities throughout the world, with Gorosaurus being released in Paris, France. (In both the original and the English dubbed version, Gorosaurus is misidentified as Baragon in the Paris attack. Gorosaurus had to substitute for the digging monster Baragon because the Baragon suit was reworked several times for monsters in the Ultraman series and not usable beyond the glimpse at the end of the film. The scene was scripted with Baragon, and the dialogue was never rerecorded.) However, the humans retaliate and find a way to break the mind control.
The Kilaaks then unleash the space dragon King Ghidorah to kill the Earth monsters. Gorosaurus plays a pivotal role in the battle, as he twice brings down Ghidorah (the only monster who is able to), the first by pulling on his necks until it falls, heralding the turn of the tide of battle to the Earth monsters's side, and second when he used his kangaroo kick to slam Ghidorah to the ground as Godzilla and Anguirus attack two of the heads, leaving Ghidorah helpless and vulnerable. After killing Ghidorah, Gorosaurus and the other Earth monsters return to Monster Island to live in peace.

Powers/Abilities
Aside from the usual tooth and claw, Gorosaurus has been noted for using a "kangaroo kick" against foes like King Kong and King Ghidorah. This is Gorosaurus' most popular trait. Also, in the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters, Gorosaurus is shown with the ability to burrow underground. This is the only incident where this ability is shown.

Trivia
Gorosaurus was strangely shown to be burrowing in Paris in Destroy All Monsters. This role was originally intended for Baragon, however the Baragon suit was on loan to Tsuburaya Productions for use on a television series. Toho instead replaced him with Gorosaurus, having Gorosaurus "borrow" Baragon's burrowing ability. Gorosaurus was even refered to as Baragon.

Gorosaurus' name and appearance is similar to the name of a real dinosaur, Gorgosaurus.
Gorosaurus is one of the three monsters that have "saurus" in their names. The other two are Titanosaurus and Godzillasaurus.

Out of all Toho Monsters, Gorosaurus' roar was originally used by Rodan in one scene of Rodan (1956 film).

Gorosaurus' name is derived from the Japanese word Goro (fifth or approximate) and Greek word Sauros (lizard or reptile), so the name Gorosaurus means "approximate lizard".

Film appearances
King Kong Escapes (1967)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
All Monsters Attack (1969, Stock footage)
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972, Stock Footage)

SATURDAY SHOWCASE : Cool Monster Art

Kaijucast Emergency Broadcast Returns

Mark your calendars and set your computing devices to "listen" because the Kaijucast Emergency Broadcast returns to the internet airwaves on January 13th at 2pm PST!

In addition to the live broadcast, we'll be giving away some awesome Godzilla stuff, talking to some special guests and using a brand new chatroom, More details to follow, dear listeners...

Snow-Zilla

Cool GODZILLA Art

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Haruo Nakajima AKA The Original GODZILLA

Haruo Nakajima (中島 春雄 Nakajima Haruo) (born January 1, 1929 in Yamagata, Japan) is a famous Japanese actor. He is best known for playing Godzilla and is considered by many to be the best suit actor in the long history of the franchise. At the time, Toho's visual effects director, Eiji Tsuburaya considered Nakajima completely invaluable, and was employed to essay the roles of most of the kaiju (Japanese monsters) during his reign as the King of the Monsters (1954–1972). After 23 years, Nakajima retired from suit acting upon completion of Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), when the studio cycled him out of their contract actor system, after Toho had been split into several subsidiaries in 1970. Nakajima was still employed by Toho for several years, and was transferred to a job at Toho's bowling alley, located on the studio lot (now defunct).

Starting in the late 1990s, Nakajima made a series of personal appearances in Chicago, New York City, New Jersey, and Hollywood (in 2000) at various Japanese monster-themed conventions. He appeared at the Monsterpalooza convention in Burbank, California on April 8–10, 2011. His Japanese-language autobiography, 『怪獣人生 元祖ゴジラ俳優・中島春雄』(Monster Life: Haruo Nakajima, The Original Godzilla Actor), published by Yosensha, was released on July 17, 2010.