May 6, 1996... The greenlight for Godzilla may have been given. Word has surfaced that indeed the team of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich have signed a deal to write, produce and direct the new film version, targeted for a summer 1998 release date. [Scoop forwarded by Diane; orginally appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.]
May 22, 1996... A rumor comes to us saying that recent ads for 'Electricimage', a 3-D animation program listed "Godzilla 1996" as one of the films utilizing the software. This has not been confirmed. [Scoop submitted anonymously.]
October 15, 1996... Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin have started development of the screenplay for the new Godzilla. The two will fly down to Mexico to hammer out the story and script (a la Independence Day) this fall. While speaking to Variety, Devlin said that their version of Godzilla will look different and will update the character. The budget for the film is estimated at $90 million, and the show is scheduled for a summer 1998 release. [Scoop sent in by Cory.]
October 15, 1996... This fellow reports that "his friend" Patrick Tatopoulos will design the new Godzillla for the Devlin and Emmerich production. [Scoop reported by 'The Skywalker Connection'; watch out for big green feet.]
December 26, 1996... In an interview with Jada Pinkett in the December 8th New Jersey Star-Ledger, the actress mentions that her next role will be in Godzilla. No further information was provided. [Scoop trampled to death by 'Big G'.]
January 6, 1997... Whispers have been heard already that the man set to score the flick is regular Emmerich/Devlin alumni David Arnold. [Scoop furnished by James Furlong.]
February 4, 1997... Another scooper has told us that Patrick Tatopoulos' effects crew are presently designing the new look for the big green fella. [Scoop sent in by 'Orion Quest'.]
February 18, 1997... Rumors are swirling around that Matthew Broderick is front-line for the lead role. [Scoop sent in by Christian.]
March 23, 1997... Matthew Broderick may be on the verge of being annouced as this film's leading man. [Scoop furnished 'LMBInc'.]
March 27, 1997... Hawaii may be one of the locales Godzilla decides to stomp on. This from a scooper who caught it on a local Hawaiian television show. [Thanks to 'Big G'.]
We've heard that the green guy may be stomping through three American cities all in an effort to settle down and spread his roots...if ya know what we mean.
March 28, 1997... A person who claims to have seen Patrick Tatopolous' designs for the new improved Godzilla says his work will put him 'on the map'. [Scoop brought to us by 'Loki, King of Danes'.]
March 30, 1997... Hank Azaria has been signed for the role of Animal, a New York City cameraman who chronicles Godzilla's rampage. [Info provided by 'H.B.', Sefster, 'B.O.', Todd Dupler, Christian, Joe Hanna, Aram Zamgochian, 'Sherlock', Jeff, Frankie and Bob. T.]
Second unit photography begins in New York City in April. Shots of the Empire State building, the World Trade Center and Central Park will be filmed. [Scoop sent in by 'Maverick', Joe Hanna and 'widgett'.]
We're sent an anonymous letter telling us that Matthew Broderick will sign opposite Jada Pinkett for $5 mil. [Sent in anonymously.]
According to this fan, Centropolis' web site (www.centropolis.com) has announced that Broderick has signed on. [Scoop sent in by 'Kajufan'.]
April 3, 1997... Tomoyuki Tanaka, father of the Godzilla movies, died April 2/97. He was 86. [Information sent in by only *one* person - Christian.]
May 4, 1997... This reader reports that the designs for Godzilla that they saw were "less than impressive". "Fans who are expecting to see a suped up version of the traditional design are going to be sorely dissapointed. Basically, Roland and Dean have opted for something more 'realistic' so, basically, what it is right now is a mutated lizard." [Scoop filed by 'Rev. Applewhite'.]
Another scooper reports that early designs show the big guy as a quadraped. [Scoop sent anonymously.]
Production of a concrete platform that provides a 'spectacular' view of New York City's skyline has begun. 'Ground 0' has heard from friends on the set that they plan to shoot for six months in N.Y.C. [Info submitted by 'Grifter' and 'ground 0'.]
Maria Pitillo is in final talks to play the female lead. She'll play an aspiring TV reporter who reunites with her old scientist boyfriend, Matthew Broderick. [Scoops sent in by 'H.B.', Joe Hanna, 'Fireball' and anonymously.]
May 13, 1997... Cool 'zilla news:
This fellow's cousin reported to him this tale. While filming Godzilla in Jersey City, a small twister ripped thru and messed up the set. While the crew were cleaning up, some reporters came to shoot the area. The actors were dressed up in army uniforms, so that confused the reporters, who thought it was the real army called in to help assist. The reporters were set straight when the actors told them to, the words of the scooper, "shoo". The crew also got the storm in Jersey City on camera, as well as a lightning bolt that hit the World Trade Center. It just might make it to the theater... [Scoop sent in by 'Gojira X'.]
Michael Lerner joins Godzilla in New York. [Reported by Christian, 'widgett', Joe Hanna, 'frankie' .]
Accroding to Hank Azaria, "If we think we saw mass destruction in ID4, wait till Godzilla lets loose in NY..." Also, word has it that there are already talks for a sequel. [Reported by Christian.]
"Anyway, yesterday (may 12th) I heard in the newspaper that there was supposedly filming going on for the new Godzilla movie. After the Knicks game that I went to that night I decided to go and check it out.
"There was definitely filming going on there were movie lights everywhere, for at least two miles all the way down 5th avenue in NYC. But the most interesting things were a couple dozen army tanks, tanks with missle launchers on top, hummers, medical trucks and a bunch of extras dressed up in army fatigues with bazookas and rifles. In a nearby parking lot I also saw smashed cars on the back of a truck, and the most interesting was big sheets of rubber fish about 8 of them that looked like they were going to be put in the back of these yellow cargo trucks that were around.
"After waiting around for a while they started filming a scene where tanks and cargo trucks were driving up 5th avenue. After that there was another scene (right next to the flat iron building in NYC) where a bunch of army guys were pulling up to a blocked off area like they were going to dump something into it (all those fish?). While they were pulling up to this area other army guys were unloading small cylinder type things right next to it (explosives?).
"In all I thought this was pretty cool seeing this movie being filmed, I've never seen anything like it. It was also cool seeing a bunch of army guys and tanks driving around New York I hope I never see that again unless they are filming Independance Day II." [Reported by our man on the street 'Double L Seven'.]
Filming took place in Jersey City for 3 days. Once, the crew was filming a rain/storm scene on May 6,1997 when real life imitated art. Filming had to cease for a few minutes while the production took cover from severe winds and rain. [Sent in by "Jiffy" and anonymously.
May 18, 1997... Sean Jordan, the writer/creator for the superb on-line 'zine ZENtertainment sent us some additional information regarding the actors' characters. Matthew Broderick portrays a scientist tracking Godzilla during his rampage; Jean Reno will play an 'insurance investigator' who has ulterior motives for following the green guy; Hank Azaria plays a cameraman; Arabella Field will be his wife; Harry Shearer plays a pompous TV reporter; Maria Pitillo plays a young reporter who's also the ex of Broderick's character; and Michael Lerner plays the mayor of New York. [Thanks to ZENtertainment for the info!]
May 27, 1997... This NYC bike courier contacted us to give us his report. The set is reminiscent of Independence Day in that there is a mass exodus of New York. Emmerich is creating the atmosphere of destruction by always having it "rainy and smoky" when Godzilla is around ("I learned this the hard way by constantly being underneath the sprinkler," the unfortunate scooper added.) [Scoop sent in anonymously.]
June 3, 1997... Leading the pack for June '97's Coolest Scoop is this fantastic entry from David M. Case. It's best to let David explain matters in his own words, and then let his pictures do the talking:
"Our office has a perfect view of the mass destruction caused by Godzilla
and the movie crew. Key scenes are being shot in front of the historic
Flatiron building on 23rd between 5th and Broadway. All week long,
traffic was prohibited from entering 22nd to 29th streets during the
night. Giant cranes were hauled in, pouring rain on 5th Ave. A truck
circles around, filling the area with smoke. Director Roland Emmerich is
nowhere to be seen, but his voice carries through the area boosted by an
ultra powerful P.A. system. There is a 20 foot high pile of rubber fish
positioned on the triangle that separates 23rd from 5th and Brdwy. I
believe the fish is bait to lure Godzilla into a trap the army has set
for him. The tanks are wood and fiberglass props mounted on dolly
wagons. There are several piles of rubble and smashed cars on side
streets. I spoke to one of the gaffers who said the movie's budget has
escalated to $150 million. The crew is immense, and the Craft service
table literally goes down half a block. A crew this size shooting in
New York is really staggering to behold."
Click on the larger daylight photograph to see what David means about that large catering truck... [A very, very cool scoop sent in by David M. Case! Watch out for large green feet, bud.]
|
An anonymous source told us earlier this year that, in an earlier draft Emmerich and Devlin were developing, Godzilla would definately be an egg-laying creature. We were told of some of the central story details, but when the other locales the source mentioned were dropped (Hawaii, which seems to be out of the current draft), we figured that there was no need to report possibly inaccurate material. However, in light of the material reported on AiCN, things may have changed back to the former draft outline.
Spoiler alert: if you don't want to be told what may be a major plot point of the new flick, skip the next paragraph. You've been warned.
In the old storyline we were told, Godzilla eventually made its way to the east coast of America, where it began building a nest with materials scavenged from skyscrapers. Once complete, the creature went inside and proceeded to lay several eggs. And when they hatch...well, you get the picture. It seems that the shooting script seems to be closer to the first draft than we thought... [Scoop forwarded by 'widgett'.]
And one last on-site bit of reporting for you disaster buffs...
"I happen to work in the hotel that the entire crew is staying at.....and there are some things I can confirm.
"1 - Storyline - From what I understand, Godzilla is an asexual creature born of the blast at Hiroshima. He is simply a mutant reptile, about 200 feet tall. His appearance is that of a cross between the T-rex of Jurassic Park and the original Godzilla design. (One of the guys in Production managed to show me rough sketches of the creature design!!)
2 - Cast - You pretty much have the entire cast right in the more recent rumors.....minor additions should include Vicki Lewis (broadway and television actress) as Elsie, the paleontologist....
3 - New Rumors - As I spoke to some of the crew, including Ute and Roland Emmerich, I was left with the idea that movie will have a few lose strings...leaving it open for a sequel....the big question mark came when one of the special effects technicians said to me with a smile, 'Isn't one of the new ideas for Godzilla is that he's asexual and can pop off lil' Godzillas at anytime....?' The asexual aspect was confirmed to be true...." [Sent in by 'BarRat'.]
June 17, 1997... TriStar and Toho are waiting for the box office results to see if other monsters will receive their own summer blockbuster makeovers. Advance word has it that the other regulars from the Japanese Godzilla films are being considered as possible adversaries in a sequel to the 1998 release, or the stars in their own spin-off movie. Names being heard include Mothra, Rodan, Ghidra, Anguris, Megalon, Baragon, Varan, the Destroyer and the fellow who's already got a loyal fan base behind him, Gamera. But Gamara is owned by Toho! [Scoop sent in by Jason Martin; extra material provided by 'BStage'.]
July 1, 1997... There'll be a trailer on the Men in Black prints released tomorrow for Godzilla. A group of schoolchildren visiting a museum are looking at a skeleton of a T.Rex...when the foot of Godzilla comes crashing down from above and utterly decimates the Rex. You'll get to see his tail as well, but everything else will be kept secret by Tri-Star until next summer. Uh, Roland, Dean? Next time make the hint a little more subtle, ok? [Sent in by 'widgett', 'deadpool'.]
Over on Roger Ebert's web site, the film reviewer has learned that he's being immortalized in the film. Seems that Ebert gave Emmerich and Devlin's ID4 a less than favourable review, and to thank him the two Godzilla writers have named NYC's mayor (played by Michael Lerner) Ebert. The real Ebert commented that he was honored to have a mayor named after him, even though the monster will probably squish him. Again - guys, look in the dictionary under the word 'subtle', ok? [Scooped by 'alstech'.]
Meanwhile, the rumors you've all heard about are true. Taco Bell has nabbed the Godzilla promotion deal for next summer. Armed with a bastion of mexi fries, the US Army should be able to fend off the monster... [Scooped by 'widgett'.]
Maria Pitllo's character in the film is called Audrey and Arabella Field plays Lucy. [Names furnished by 'Nicky the Warlock' and 'primal-scream'.]
July 27, 1997... "The filming of Godzilla is taking up four blocks of new york. They are drenching the streets and wetting everything down because the movie is supoosed to take place in the rain. It has been said that you will not see the whole godzilla himself unless you see the movie, photos, teasers and trailers. The official site is supposed to have a mov. version of the teaser soon. What it really is is an action/horror/thiller. prepare to be terrified." [Sent in by Grant Gilsdorf.]
Dean Devlin said that he and Emmerich want to do what Tim Burton did for Batman: change the tone and seriousness of the film. [Sent in by Nick Corporon.]
"We've been showing the trailers for this in fornt of MIB, and the reaction is great. Audiences are cheering, raising fists in the air, and reacting so strongly you'd think Godzilla '85 didn't exist." [Sent in by 'marchett'.]
August 5, 1997... PROCEED NO FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE! (Really, we mean it.)
'Goober' just hit us with a major whammy. He was in the Sony offices and saw some of the new footage with FX being added, and what he reported should start building the hype for the pic now. But you've been warned - read any further and some of the surprise will be lost.
"I saw the big guy himself at Sony....the new Godzilla is sleeker, darker, and faster....with a longer, slender head, not unlike the original Alien design. Has the three rows of platelets (?) going down its back and tail like the original. Very dark green coloring - almost black - with dark grey and brown highlights. Very cool and definitely slicker than the original stocky version. Great tail action!
"Godzilla lays 150 eggs in Madison Square Garden. At the end, they all hatch! The babies are about seven feet tall and I saw the twenty costumes that they made; (they'll be multiplied into 150 via CG). The legs are triple jointed and the people in the costumes are walking on mini stilts built inside to make this possible. The costumes weigh about a hundred pounds each and they've casted weightlifter-types because of the demanding nature of their use.
"The 'hatching' scene sounds so cool....kinda' a combination of the raptors scene from Jurassic Park crossed with the attack scene in Aliens....very bad for the people trapped inside the Garden!
"One egg doesn't hatch until the very last shot....can you say sequel?!?
"By the way, Godzilla is the result of the French testing those underwater nuclear bombs a few years back in Tahiti/French Indies. That's why Jean Reno is in the movie....he plays the French government baddie responsible for Godzilla's creation." [Mondo scoop sent in by 'Goober' via laptop inside Madison Square Gardens.]
August 12, 1997... We were sent a package of what appears to be the final five pages of the top secret ending to the film. Top secret ending? Waitaminute...there might be something being kept secret in anticipation of the film's release???
Weeeeell, here we are again in the awkward position again of not wanting to blow any major surprises in the film but also wanting to give the reader some inside info. So, Friendly Submitter of the Godzilla Papers, we decided to compromise...
If the climactic fight at the conclusion of the film were compared to the recent Tyson/Holyfield boxing match, and if Godzilla were compared to Evander Holyfield, and New York City was likened to Caesar's Palace...yah, that's right. Hope you've got extensive insurance, buddy.
[Scoop sent in anonymously.]
August 19, 1997... The Godzilla filming is about to move to Universal Studios Hollywood. The work being done in preparation can be viewed if you go on the Universal tram ride, this scooper tells us. "Near the end of the ride there is a HUGE backdrop (between The Lost World set and Dante's Peak attraction). The background has been repainted and hundreds of people are quickly dressing up the set for filming preparations. Apparently the tram will go through a major detour once filming begins, so if you live nearby go ASAP as the set is almost complete." [Sent in by 'Titanic'.]
October 13, 1997... This scooper just spoke to someone high up the ladder in the Godzilla production team. Filming has wrapped and they are moving into post-production, so the opening during Memorial weekend '98 should be no problem to reach. According to the source, "the film has all ingredients for THE summer blockbuster 98".
Now for big news scoop #1: there is a commercial for Godzilla that will be especially shot and not just edited with the original footage. It is supposed to be the last commercial that airs on the networks this year (12.31.97, 11.59 PM?).[Sent to us by 'anonymous'.]
A report comes across our desk telling us that there may be some effects trouble on the set. From what the scooper heard from a crew member on the creature effect crew, the babies of Godzilla are amazing to look at and moves very lifelike. But as for the big bad Mama where most of the makeup effects money was spent, "although it looked really nice, it turned out to be a mechanical nightmare, not working or really ever moving all that well. It was said by some other creature crew member it creaked and hissed like an old model T, and will be replaced mostly by CGI effects."
The scooper goes on to report that, on top of everything else, Godzilla designer Patrick Tatopoulos was asking for 2% of all mechandizing royalties. Apparently this has brought about some bad blood between Tatopoulos and Tristar and director Roland Emmerich. [Credit anonymous.]
If you've got the right job, you might be lucky enough to see an picture of the monster months before the rest of us. That's what happened to this scooper, who just participated in a marketing survey which focused on promotional items for the film to be used by Taco Bell. "While the items I looked at were the standard movie hype stuff like collector cups, they did have artists' renditions of the big guy and he really looks like a 90's version of his old self, the scooper reports. [Handed in by 'ATann'.]
"I made it back to Universal Studios on the weekend (long trip from another state) and the tram still goes by the Godzilla set. No one will tell you it is the Godzilla set though as this is suppose to be *secret*. Since my last post, they've added a huge battle ship in front of the sky background. It looks like they are in the heart of filming. Two huge cranes with unique harnesses are being used for something (to imitate the animated Godzilla?) but I couldn't figure out what. I didn't have my camera with me, but since the tram still goes by that area (on weekends, at least), someone with a camera should get a snapshot for posting." [Submitted by 'Titanic'.]
" I saw Godzilla's eye! On the Trendmasters home page they briefly showed Godzilla's new eye behind the Godzilla logo. Trendmasters is making the toys for the movie and I imagine have had the designs for a while since toy development isn't an overnight project. Anyway, because of this I assume the eye they used on the page was the real eye. What does it look like? Well, like an alligator's eye really (I think it is the only reptile that doesn't have the vertical pupil, but I'm not a reptile specialist.) Anyway it has a gold iris with a white circular pupil. I can't really tell but I think that it has the sideways eyelid thing by looking at the corner of the eye. The rest of the eye is pretty much fades into black so you can't really see much except the brow, which looks very alligator-ish with the plated scales and such. I went back to the site today and the image was gone... [Submitted by 'Gojira X'.]
And there may be a new trailer running in front of Starship Troopers. In it, a helicopter searches for the creature. When the 'copter finds what it was looking for...it either gets crushed in Godzilla's fist or swallowed whole. Wonder if the pilots' insurance covers that sort of stuff? [Thanks to 'Captrips67' and anonymous for the tip.]
Ready for big news scoop #2? We received advance word that a book publisher is gearing up for an all-out marketing campaign for movie tie-in items for the film - up to a total of six Godzilla adaptation or spin-off books are in the works. The source was also able to share three things with us, the first two of which we've been able to confirm through outside sources. That means... SPOILER WARNING!
[Thanks to Larry for the info!]
Finally, we've posted up the mysterious 'end pages' sent to us last July for all to read. Our thoughts on the authenticity of these pages appear as well. To view the Godzilla ending we were sent, click here.
October 26, 1997... Thanks to reader feedback, the mystery of the five pages that someone claimed as the "secret ending" of Godzilla has been solved. The pages are from the previous 1995 Godzilla draft that was to be directed by Jan De Bont. Whoever modified the script incorporated the characters name from the Emmerich-Devlin script into the except, which led to the confusion. In De Bont's aborted incarnation, Godzilla did fight a creature dubbed the Gryphon; but when De Bont got into budgeting problems with Sony, he left the project. When Emmerich/Devlin came on-board, they threw away all previous scripts and started fresh. [Thanks to these informed patrons: 'slowry', 'Trek30yrs', 'klui', 'schizophrenic_81', 'charola', 'SwampLizard' and our anonymous friends.]
According to the Nancy Cartwright Site (www.kidsister.com), the actress (best known as the voice of Bart Simpson) had a one-day shoot on the film. What makes that interesting is that two other members of the The Simpsons cast (Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria) are also in the film; we wonder if Dan Castellanella, Julie Kavner, or Yeardley Smith may also be hanging out around the set... [Scoop reported anonymously.]
All during November, 1997... We can tell that many of you have seen Starship Troopers, because the amount of scoop feedback we've received about the second Godzilla teaser trailer has been phenominal. As other movie web sites have reported, audience reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, with audiences hooting and hollering at the trailer's conclusion.
Caving into pressure (and to let the other 6 people who haven't seen the trailer know about it), we've posted the best summary of the trailer we've received to date:
"A middle aged man goes fishing (in the rain, as always) at a wharf by the East River while a couple of bums look on and comment that he should catch a cold instead of a fish. He immediately gets a bite while he struggles to pull it up. The line is pulled very quickly and the bums comment that he's caught a big one (ironically, quite literally). The 'fish' is pulling so hard that the fishing rod flies out of his hands and into the river. Then, (scary music begins) a huge wake of water emerges from out of the horizon and just before it crashes into the wharf (and, unfortunately, the old man) it cuts to 'From the Creators of Independence Day'. Then it cuts back to the giant head ripping up the wharf (you can see the ears as well, although the head just looks like a giant hump in the water) and finally crashes into the docking port. Cut to the title screen where the word GODZILLA is formed from a green light (and for those of you that have seen it, that noise in the background is not a ship, it's the big guy's new and improved roar.) The head rises from below the dock in front of the bums (with a fishing boat on his head) and opens it's eye (eye color is gold) and they scream. It then says 'SIZE DOES MATTER' and it ends off with debris being thrown around a NYC street and a fishing boat crashing into a car and saying 'MEMORIAL DAY 1998'. (In that final shot, you can see his foot among the flying debris.)"
The new trailer confirms the earlier reports about the new gecko-like appearance of Godzilla. He's a big overgrown lizard, folks. [Review written by 'VoltCatfish'.]
November 25, 1997... "Concerning the new trailer: What I thought when I saw it? The big lump in the water is not Godzilla's head, the things sticking up in either side are not his ears. Godzilla is swimming like an alligator, tail out behind him and legs beneath him... and the twin things sticking up out on either side of the lump of water are the classic twin plates that adorn Godzilla's back (the ones that lit up before he breathed fire in the original film). Look at the trailer on the official site, you'll notice the three-pointed shape of the objects... I'm bettin' they're his plates. So when we finally see the big one's head, if there are no ears... there's you're explanation." [Thanks to the ever-observant 'Fake Shemp' for the National Geographic color commentary.]
December 3, 1997... One of the old (well, we prefer to call him 'classic') Godzilla trademarks was his fire-breath. In Emmerich's new version there's a sort of homage to the Toho incarnation: Godzilla chews on a gas tanker truck while strolling down the streets of NYC; when he decides he doesn't like the taste of it and spits it out, guess what happens?? [Thanks to our anonymous scooper.]
Dark Horizons scored what may be a major scoop last week: it posted two designs that may be the new Godzilla's look. The beast resembles a komodo dragon more than a guy in a rubber suit, and while we haven't seen the true design, based on our own knowledge of what's been going on behind the scenes, the DH material seems to be pretty accurate to us. [Forwarded by many DH readers; kudos to Garth Franklin for the score.]
December 12, 1997... In a follow-up to the Dark Horizons Godzilla illustrations (which may or may not have been used by Patrick Tatopoulous' Godzilla design team), we received this email from our scooper 'Poster Child', who claims to be working on the next Godzilla poster campaign...
"Godzilla looks very brown, not the dark green as reported earlier. And he doesn't look like any lizard I have ever seen. looks more like the skexies in the movie The Dark Crystal.
"And just to let you in on one of the poster designs that is comming up, so you know I am not making this up, it is a picture of Park Ave. with people running and screaming, and one building is squished, then in the sky you see on of Godzilla's Big eyes...Look for that poster to come in the next 2 or 3 months..." [Thanks to 'Poster Child'.]
January 19, 1998... The latest issue of Sci-Fi Invasion! (hmm...name rings a bell...) has a mini-interview with Godzilla producer Dean Devlin. Devlin told SFI! that he planned (along with director Roland Emmerich) a 3-picture story arc for their Godzilla plans with Sony...and if that a big enough hint for ya that somehow, in some form 'zilla survives this first picture, we suggest professional help. [Scoop brought to our attention by 'Brian281'; originally appeared in Sci-Fi Invasion!]
January 25, 1998... One of Sci-Fi Buzz's story this weekend was about the attempt Sony Pictures is making to keep a total secrecy lid on the new 'zilla's design until the movie's release day. All the companies working on Godzilla-related products can't unveil their designs until the movie's first showing at midnight May 20th. [Thanks to Brian for the scoop.]
February 8, 1998... This scooper writes to us that he seems to recall seeing the recent pictures being advertised in a Westfield Comics order form as being "the ultimate disaster flashlight" -- although the scooper won't swear that he's certain it's the same design. But the image he recalls seeing in the order form was of the "new Godzilla design attacking a Manhattan skyscraper." [Submitted by the appropriately named 'ArcLight'.]
February 9, 1998... Our posting of the mysterious Godzilla images prompts Ain't It Cool News to post their own rebuttal to the pictures. An AICN "in" source reports on the site that the design came from a sculptor residing at Hermosa Beach, CA, who was commissioned to sculpt designs for two different licenses. The AICN source also reports that these images are from "the very same fakes that were sent to Fruit of the Loom," which kind of confuses us. Were these images then an early lizard design of Godzilla, then when the look changed, they were used as 'bait' to figure out where the spy holes were with people privy to the production? We're assuming the latter.
Our source who gave us the images in the first place, Barry Goldberg, commented on the Hermosa Beach connection earlier today, and did indeed confirm that this is where they originally came from, but preferred to keep the origin a secret except to Centropolis, only revealing where the postage stamp containing the design has from, because he didn't "want to get anyone in trouble."
(To which, we'd like to add that Goldberg has told us the design was not sent from the designer of the piece, and who probably doesn't even realize what's become of his work.)
Centropolis spokeperson Josh Gordon denied the images were the real deal to Goldberg, and that the statue was sent out in the last round of 'fake' pictures to determine where leaks originated, and was dissapointed that Goldberg has run the images on his site.
(Of course, the mere fact we're running the images and specialize in lifting the veil [partially, we might add] probably doesn't help our standing with Centropolis...)
Goldberg then offered the option of posting a disclaimer on his site stating that these images were officially denied as the new design of Godzilla, but hasn't heard back from Centropolis as of this date. He also contacted Harry Knowles with the exact same information at the same time he sent it to CA, but never received acknowledgement that Knowles looked at the email.
Who knows if it's a discarded design used to flush out leaks or something close to the real deal? Well, aside from three or four dozen people working at Centropolis and their effects house and maybe a few hundred studio and licencing people, nobody else. But one thing's for sure: we'll all see what Big G looks like come May 20th.
Finally, we're decided to lift out rump off the bench and send an email query off to Mr. Gordon at Centropolis asking for his thoughts on the matter. Hopefully we won't receive a personal call from the other Centropolis representative... y'know, the big, wide and scaly one... [Monster journalism work by Barry Goldberg, with a little munching on the side by Harry Knowles.]
Realizing we just opened up a huge can o' mutated worms (Hey! We just discovered the villain for the Godzilla sequel!), some of you out there have emailed us your thoughts on the pictures...
"That picture of the godzilla statue is very real. He will look just like that in the movie. Except he is a muted green." 'Muted green'...almost sounds like a WCW wrestler... [Courtesy of 'Poster Boy'.]
"Small clarification about the Godzilla pictures:
"Westfield didn't have pictures, but having read their description, that's the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the pics on your page just a few days later.
"It could just be a neat coincidence I suppose, but I'd be willing to put money on the pics being designs for the light.
"An animator's model that doesn't show nearly half of the subject seems odd to me. Sorry for any misunderstanding." ['ArcLight'.]
February 12, 1998... Godzilla producer Dean Devlin contacted CA regarding the 5 mysterious pictures we posted on the 7th. Devlin cleared up some of the controversy surrounding the images: is it or is it not what Godzilla will look like on the screen? Here's his exact words:
"This model was made from the same drawings that Fruit of the Loom had (the ones that leaked out earlier).
" A mold maker who had been hired by two of our merchandizing partners to do design work made that mold from the same fakes we had sent to Fruit of the Loom. Later, when he learned that those were fakes, they tossed out his early molds in favor of the new (real) final drawings. HOWEVER, what he didn't do, which he was supposed to do, was destroy the old molds. Somehow someone got a hold of the early mold and took those photographs."
Devlin's proved himself to be a genre fan and Internet savvy (consider that he took time out to address the issue while promoting his film at NYC's Toy Fare), and if the producer/co-writer of the picture tells us this isn't the final look of the 'zilla, that's good enough for us to accept. Buuuuut (and there's always a but with us, unfortunately)...just how much of a difference between the Godzilla in the images and the Godzilla in the picture will there be? With Sony beginning a massive campaign to build public interest in what the monster will look like, absolutely no images of Godzilla will be released until after the movie's premiere. That means no one is supposed to know what Godzilla will look like in his final form, right?
But still, we're left wondering: from the brief flashes of Godzilla we've seen in the two trailers and one commercial, will there still be a major similarity between the creature on the building and the one coming soon to a theater near you? From the eye glimpsed in the second trailer to the paw and ankle segment seen in the first teaser, there's a similarity between that and the statue's features. But only time will tell if we're close or miles apart in our speculation.
[A big thank you to Dean Devlin for letting CA readers know the official word from Centropolis. If G-Man looks completely different come May 20th, we, uhm, promise to pick up his doo-doo when you take him out for walks.]
March 4, 1998... One of our reader's brother-in-law works as an animator for Sony ImageWorks. Last Friday the crew at IW received a big parcel: it was a kit loaded with film and info needed to create 64 specific CGI shots for the picture that still needed to be done. Most of the work will be for the scenes showing Godzilla's eggs hatching. The scooper also told us what his in-law was an expert in creating digitally, and we've censored that part of the email; if that were revealed, someone would be out of a job. [Sent in a used egg carton by an anonymous individual.]
March 8, 1998... 'Anonymous' whispered to us three items: Godzilla has his 'atomic breath'; he can burrow underground; and the movie is rated PG-13. Don't look at us, 'cuz we don't know if any of 'em are true. (We can confirm Godzilla will be larger than a domestic car [in some scenes. (subject to change)]) [Anonymous.]
And Temple of Godzilla has relocated to new digs. The site is now at the appropriately-named www.stomptokyo.com/godzillatemple and serving patrons now. In an X-Files-like way, the old Temple of Godzilla was abruptly shut down by Geocities with no reason given. On top of that, the site's creator was told there was no record of him ever having an account with the provider. Weird... [Thanks to Barry S. Goldberg for keeping the G-fans on top of things.]
March 15, 1998... 'Anonymous' from March 8th returns to tell us where they heard their information from. The Internet Movie Database says that the picture's certification is PG-13; Dean Devlin confirmed rumors that the big guy burrows underground in early February; and Volker Engel confirmed Godzilla's radioactive breath at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. on March 5. [Anonymous.]