In a fairly bizarre turn of events, Total Film are reporting that Warner Bros. are going to tackle a new “Godzilla” movie for 2012. Legendary Pictures (a division of Warner) the studio behind “The Hangover” and “The Dark Knight” has secured the rights to the infamous monster. Legendary have been a fairly dependable purveyor of good entertainment for the last few years (“10,000 B.C” and a few other stinkers aside) so the early outlook on this one is promising.

Godzilla’s last prominent outing on US shores was in Roland Emmerich’s 1998 version, a film largely derided by the franchise’s rabid fanbase. Personally “Godzilla 98” is a movie that gets more hate than it deserves (I actually think it’s one of Emmerich’s better productions), but it is undeniably a bloated piece of cheese. The 1998 version also scored below financial expectations despite turning a modest profit, it’s no secret that Tristar were disappointed with the blockbusters $379 million worldwide total; especially given the extraordinary marketing push they made for the feature. Warner is obviously looking to be more successful with the property both financially and critically.

Legendary Pictures president Thomas Tull, had the following to say:

“Our plans are to produce the Godzilla that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop-culturally relevant for as long as it has.”

In terms of creature design it has yet to be announced if the studio will be retaining the 1950’s original look or concocting a totally new Godzilla. It’s probably safe to say that the much maligned 1998 interpretation won’t be a creative influence here. It’s genuinely interesting to have Godzilla back in cinema again, and some of the directorial options are tantalizing. Obviously at this stage no filmmaker has yet to be attached to the project but in terms of dream directors for the gig, I’ve thought up a few. Legendary pictures have close working relationships with both Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan, although the chances of the latter directing a monster mash-up are slim to none. Of course it would be great to see a “Godzilla” movie pitched as a lower key horror flick (albeit a large budget wouldn’t allow it) making me wonder what the beast would feel like being overseen by someone like Eli Roth, Michael Dougherty, David Slade or Neill Blomkamp. Highly unlikely to happen, but hey; it might be more refreshing than another romping stomping slice of big city chaos.

Toho Pictures (the original creators of Godzilla in 1954) have confirmed that they are intrigued as to where their baby is headed in 2012. Hopefully they’re happier with the outcome than they were with Emmerich’s vision; Toho actively slammed that film as a shameful presentation of their big screen icon. I’m pretty fascinated concerning this news, so will try to follow it rigorously, but for now leave your directorial wish-lists and ideas below.

Daniel Kelly