Godzilla’s Been Stomping Around San Diego For Comic-Con

By Rudie Obias | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

Godzilla WarehouseWith about 10 months before the new Godzilla reboot starts stomping into theaters, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. are already starting to promote the new film. One of the biggest surprises from Legendary’s panel during last year’s San Diego Comic-Con was the brief presentation of Godzilla. Although Godzilla isn’t scheduled for an appearance in the Con’s massive Hall H, Legendary took the opportunity to introduce Gareth Edwards as the film’s new director, reveal a new poster and logo, and showcase a short sizzle reel that captured the dark and gritty tone of the new monster movie. Since Legendary Pictures and Godzilla were a highlight of last year, they will be doubling their efforts and presence for this year’s Comic-Con.

According to El Mayimbe from Latino Review, Legendary Pictures is planning a Godzilla event for Comic-Con’s preview night on Wednesday, July 17. Apparently, they’re planning on having Godzilla himself emerge from the ocean in the bay near Hall H. Already, Legendary Pictures has been converting a warehouse to resemble a battered and beaten building with a few noticeable battle scars from Godzilla.

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Director Gareth Edwards has been very active on social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, giving updates on the film’s progress. This is a practice Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull fully endorses as a way to give fans bits and pieces of a film’s production, rather than completely shutting them out of the process. It’s also a good way to promote a film and tease fans with content. It’s a good move on Legendary’s part, if you ask me.

As for the upcoming reboot, this is the first first U.S.-made Godzilla movie since Roland Emmerich’s film adaptation in 1998. Needless to say, this new film has to be better than that terrible, terrible movie. Godzilla has a long legacy of Japanese and American films, with fans that span over many generations from all around the world. Director Gareth Edwards has a lot of people to please with the new film.

Godzilla features an all-star cast of world-class actors from the indie and foreign film worlds. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) was first cast as the film’s lead, and Elisabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) was later added to the cast. It also includes Ken Watanabe, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston, and Sally Hawkins, with original Godzilla actor Akira Takarada putting in a special cameo appearance.

Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. have yet to release an official synopsis for the new Godzilla reboot, but according to Gareth Edwards, it will be a more realistic approach to the source material. The film’s script has made its way through a lot of hands in Hollywood, including screenwriters Max Borenstein, Drew Pearce, David S. Goyer, David Callaham, and former Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont, who revised the final version of the screenplay a few months ago.

Darabont also called the giant radioactive monster “a force of nature,” so it will be very interesting and exciting to watch on the biggest screen possible. As for Gareth Edwards, he made his directorial debut with the indie sci-fi film Monsters in 2010, so it’s fitting that his follow-up would be another monster movie, but on a much bigger scale. You can watch Monsters on Netflix.

Godzilla will stomp into theaters everywhere on May 16, 2014, in 3D and IMAX.