20 facts you might not know about 'Godzilla'

Toho is the Japanese studio behind the original Godzilla films, and when Sony producers Cary Woods and Robert Fried wanted to do an American version, they needed Toho to sign off. They did…but they didn’t let go of their protectiveness of the character. To get the rights, Toho sent Sony a list of rules regarding how they could treat Godzilla. This included a four-page, single-spaced memo listing the physical requirements for Godzilla.

When TriStar, a subsidiary of Sony, announced they had the rights to Godzilla, they went big. In fact, they announced a trilogy of films right out of the gate, with plans to “remain true” to the original series.

The first screenwriters on Godzilla were Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. This was in 1993. Then, in 1994, Jan de Bont was hired as the director. This was right after he had made a splash with his directorial debut Speed.

Columbia had passed on a Godzilla movie, fearing it would be too campy. Elliott and Rossio were determined to avoid that. Their script was a “legitimate science fiction story.” They were inspired by Moby Dıck, wanting Godzilla to be more like a vicious animal and less intelligent than in the later Toho films.

Godzilla being the project of nuclear testing is tied to the character. It’s in his bones. However, de Bont decided he wanted to throw that out the window. Instead, he changed the script so that Godzilla was created by the Atlantians — yes of Atlantis — and he was to fight an alien monster called The Gryphon.

De Bont wanted a budget of $100 million to $120 million for his Godzilla. However, TriStar refused to sign off on that. Instead of sticking around, de Bont left the project, and that was the end of Elliott and Rossio’s version of the screenplay as well.

After about 18 months in the wilderness, Godzilla found a new director in Roland Emmerich, who was about to have his massive blockbuster Independence Day hit theaters. Emmerich and his producing partner Dean Devlin agreed to work on the project, but only if they could do it entirely their own way. The two wrote their own version of the screenplay, as Emmerich called the Rossio and Elliott script “something I never would have done.”

Remember that four-page memo about how Godzilla had to look? Yeah, Emmerich didn’t care about that. He decided that he wanted to completely remake Godzilla because he thought the Toho version “didn’t make sense.” 

Considering that Toho had to sign off on the movie for them to use Godzilla, that was risky. Emmerich had production designer Patrick Tatopoulos create concept art, and even a model, to show to Toho. When Toho saw the design, they were reportedly speechless and asked if they could meet again the next day. Emmerich says he was sure that the movie was going to be nixed, but Toho gave him the green light.

Here’s the thing about Emmerich and Devlin’s version of Godzilla: The movie didn’t have a green light. Technically speaking, the director and producer were working on spec. They did have a clause in their deal that they would get the rights if TriStar didn’t approve the film, but Emmerich and Devlin were actually working on a movie they didn’t know would ever be made.

Emmerich wanted his Godzilla to be a bit more realistic, so he wanted to get rid of the “atomic breath” associated with the character. Instead, Godzilla was going to have “power breath,” which is to say he could just simply breath really, really hard. However, fans heard about that due to a leak and became outraged. Emmerich and Devlin then split the difference, creating instances where Godzilla’s breath could mix with fire to create a flamethrower effect.

The Mayor of New York in the film is named Mayor Ebert, and his assistant is named Gene. Mayor Ebert also has a “thumbs up” campaign slogan. Ebert and Gene are, indeed, included in the film in an effort to lampoon Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. The two had given a thumbs down to Emmerich’s movies Stargate and Independence Day, and Emmerich was poking fun at them to get a bit of revenge.

Were Emmerich and Devlin big Simpsons fans? They did cast three different voice actors from the show in the film. Hank Azaria has the biggest role in the film, but Harry Shearer and Nancy Cartwright are both in the movie as well.

The film is called Godzilla, and when people go to see a movie like that they hope to see Godzilla. Granted, any fan of Godzilla knows that there is a lot of time in any given Godzilla movie where he’s not on screen. Godzilla is particularly on the low side, though. The monster only appears on screen for a little under 11 minutes. Given the run time, that's about eight percent of the film.

The Godzilla soundtrack was one of those ‘90s soundtracks that actually hit with people. It also featured quite the eclectic group of musicians, including Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, Foo Fighters, and The Wallflowers doing a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes.” However, the biggest hit was Puffy Daddy’s song “Come with Me,” which brought on Jimmy Page to recreate his riff from Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.” That song hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The soundtrack, meanwhile, peaked at No. 2 on the album charts.

TriStar was hoping to set a Memorial Day weekend record with Godzilla, and while it made $55.7 million over that four-day weekend, that was below expectations. In fact, the film only finished ninth in the domestic box office for 1998. However, the international market helped salvage things. Thanks to $242.7 million made in the rest of the world, Godzilla finished third in the worldwide box office, making the movie a financial success.

Audiences by and large didn’t enjoy Godzilla, a movie that does not have a strong reputation these days. Critics were particularly harsh on it as well. That, of course, includes Siskel and Ebert. However, the two didn’t mind being made fun of in the movie. No, their issue was that Emmerich didn’t go far enough, as they expressed disappointment they hadn’t been squashed or eaten. Both gave the movie a thumbs down, of course, and Siskel put it on his list of the worst films from 1998.

Devlin has said that he and Emmerich screwed up Godzilla, blaming the film’s failure with critics and audiences on the script. Emmerich has said that he regretted how rushed the production was, but he has also said that the movie is better than people give it credit for. However, and this may speak to the primary issue with the movie, Emmerich admitted he was never a Godzilla fan, calling the Toho movies the kind of film you go with your friends to laugh at.

In spite of the chilly reception to Godzilla, the plans for a trilogy continued. A treatment was written for a sequel where one of Godzilla’s spawn would fight a giant insect in Sydney, Australia. However, after the relative disappointment of the first film, TriStar wanted to slash the budget. Emmerich left the project, and TriStar abandoned it.

While the sequels didn’t get made, Godzilla didn’t die entirely. Godzilla: The Series debuted on Fox Kids in 1998 and ran until 2000. In this animated program, the character of Dr. Nick Tatopoulos (named in honor of the production designer) finds the surviving egg. That hatchling then imprints on him and grows to become a protector of humanity.

Toho had been planning to reboot Godzilla in 2005, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the character. Then, Godzilla dropped in America. Japanese fans of the character then began to advocate for a new film from Toho that brought back the character as they knew him. Hearing this, Toho decided to leap into action. They released Godzilla 2000 in 1999, rebooting the character directly in the wake of the American film.