In an unprecedented reason for a rewrite, Warner Bros. has asked for the characters in Gareth Edwards’ upcoming Godzilla project to be made older. The script which was penned by David Callahan, David S. Goyer and Max Borenstein will be rewritten by Drew Pearce – Warner Bros’ wunderkind writer whose work includes the imminent Iron Man 3, Sherlock Holmes 3 and Surf Nazis Must Die 3 (all true except for the last one, but you never know). He’s to deliver the script in four weeks, prior to the start of casting.
Back in July a teaser reel was shown at Comic-Con, which according to spectators was set in the aftermath of a great battle with indications of the romping Godzilla proving loyal to its Japanese roots. We now know the script is not completed, which means that the initial reel could have just been a blueprint mock-up of what Edwards is aiming for with the final product: a darker Godzilla.
WB is said to be happy with the current script and simply wants the characters to be written as older. It’s doubtful they mean octogenarian old but either way it’s a surprise and could mean a film rife with older acting talent (Dame Judi, anyone? Come on, she did Bond. She’s got it).
This marks a departure for monster movies whose leads are often beautiful young people. Perhaps in Edwards’ take they could provide stomping/eating/crocheting fodder for Godzilla. Whatever the reason – they probably have actors already in mind for specific roles – I for one am rather excited.
We’ll see how it turns out when Godzilla stomps into theaters on May 16th, 2014.
Source: The Film Stage
