Gareth Edwards: How soon Production for Godzilla Sequel begins Depends on China

Talisman-you kind of beat me to the punch with a similar sentiment. We must have been writing at the same time:-)

I was also going to get to the excuses stuff, but you said it just the way I would have.

The amount of comments on this topic prove the problem with this film. You could look at it as a sample group reflecting the larger public. Even Godzilla fans can't all agree that this was a great film. If many of us don't think it was that great, what makes anyone think the broader public would think better of it? We, the hardcore fans, are willing to look past some imperfection for some good ol' Godzilla fun. We have for years dealt with some strange or uninspired stories, sub par effects, and even peer ridicule. What do we have to gain from having a negative view of this film other than just being honest?

Clearly, the public lost it's taste for this movie. I don't see how this can be argued. Without tossing out all the data like DESTROYAH-X(he's done as good a job as anyone could hope for,) you can still see that while Godzilla is no flop, it's not a monster hit either. Why? Simple. It doesn't offer that much. Very little in the way of compeling characters, good, original storytelling, or SMASH AND BASH action. The most it can boast is a sampling of great effects and it's basic story is somewhat easy to follow. I know you don't all share this opinion, but clearly, much of the public does. I have no doubt that if Gareth would have created a real spectacle, while maintaining even the mediocre story he(and the writers) gave us, this movie would have crushed the box office. The public was begging for it.

@Something real-Your first paragraph to GorillaGodzilla gave me real good chuckle. Thanks!

ThePike,

Agreed also. It was not a flop by any means, but, certainly not what could have been. The positive here is that there is still interest in Godzilla. Loads of people are willing to suspend belief and watch Godzilla. That is a positive. I think we all can agree that a major blockbuster can't be a TOHO movie. It has to move toward the times etc.

You know, I also detected a change in how Edwards would respond in interviews. Early, very early on in 2011 or close to that, he was saying about "not screwing it up" "getting it right" and talking of the fans etc.

Then more recently he started saying things like this film was not just for the fans, and it was a movie he made for himself etc. I always found his subtle change unsettling. I get the feeling that if he strikes it big with the next Star Wars standalone film, he will be off doing those movies. So time will tell what will happen.

Headstarts don't mean jack if it's immediately met with what many BO sites were projecting to be the highest-grossing movie of the year with a genre that has much more mass appeal than giant monster films. Superhero films have much more domestic and worldwide appeal than giant monster films, this is common knowledge, and BTW, Talisman, no, you're wrong, this was never the most anticipated movie of the year, many BO sites were projecting DOFP as the highest-grossing movie of the year before it came out, and it came out just 1 week after this movie, and it was then met with another high-grossing movie, Malficent ($69 mil OW) on top of that. X-Men, meanwhile, has had Malficent to worry about (which opened to $20 mil less than X-Men the week before, $30 mil including the 4 day MM weekend) and hasn't been faced with any major blockbusters since then (not sure if 22JS counts as a "major" blockbuster). Look at TASM2's weekly grosses once its competition arose, it's sales plummeted like a rock once it was front-loaded as I pointed out.

Besides, Destroyah-X, your argument wouldn't explain the undeserved success of Seltzer and Friedberg (Seltzberg)'s POS "movies" (which aren't even movies at all, they're just badly drawn out references to other, far better and funnier movies), same with your argument about the Transformers movies making over $1 billion each. Seltzberg's "movies" all likewise make plenty of $$$ at the BO, and I don't think anybody would argue that they're well-received by the general public. In fact, user and critic scores say they're (rightfully) the most hated "movies" of all time. Look around, nobody except the 10-12 year olds they're marketed to likes these "movies".

Destroyahx- saying someone is a kid is the most overused insult of all time, I thought I was having a conversation with a grown up. Why our ypu saying, "our dear friend here" who else is in your party? Guys it comes down to one thing Godzilla. I thoroughly enjoyed the film you may have not. It's ok I get your opinion the movie had some flaws. But this is just one film of the new era, cut it some slack ok xD. Give Gareth a chance he Is a new director cut HIM some slack. Let's see how the sequel is and talk about this conversation again ok? Alright.

something real- you are so right we are all GOdzilla fans and that's what matters. You and me thought the movie was great, but that's are opinion and everyone has their own.

The difference between the Transformer movies, the friedberg and seltzer(not that these truly make that much money to be in this category) is that those movies all advertised what they gave. Every transformer trailer shows robots and explosions so going into the movies that's what people expected. You can tell someone all you want, "oh transformer's characters are a joke and the story is nonexistant" but they won't care they obviously knew from the trailer it was just action. The Godzilla trailers and director interviews didn't show a human drama with some Godzilla it showed Godzilla and scenes that make him the focal point. So when people went and saw the movie and saw that wasn't what it was sales dropped. I hate to say it but a braindead monster mash would probably have done better financially with the marketing the way it was. I'm not saying that's what I want, but there's a happy medium between showing next to nothing and too much. This movie failed at that and by the interviews with Gareth it's clear this is the movie he wanted to make.

He constantly compared it to Jaws and Jurassic park, when that's not really fair. When people went and saw Jaws they knew it was about a shark that attacks people, and not showing the shark adds tension and thrill making the movie better, but when people see the name Godzilla they expect to see Godzilla, and see him do things, he's not the same as a shark where less is more. Once he got revealed in the airport scene which was a fair amount into the movie it should have been all out from there but it wasn't. It's clear he still had his other film in mind when he made this movie, but the character he used and the era of big effects we're currently in does not call for his style. He might work well with other movies and there's no question he could be great, but people don't want to leave a Godzilla movie saying, "man can't wait for a few years when the sequel comes out to see more than a few shots of godzilla swimming with cut aways from his fights!"

Point being that the advertising it what did this movie in. The trailers cashed a check the movie couldn't pay and that was the problem and what stopped people from going.

@GorillaGodzilla 

Haha yes, we are cutting it slack. And we are cutting Godzilla some slack too. We are all equally passionate about Godzilla and we want it to do better in the next sequel alrighttttttttttttttt ? :D

@Durp004, @Thepike, @Talisman, @KOldWarkid62 - Thanks for taking the time to respond and for being aware that the signs are clear that Godzilla is indeed not performing at a pace that should have matched its explosive debut. 

Unfortunately, @Kmanx89 appears to be in a state of denial here, and continues to oppose for the sake of opposing. And because he doesn't want to lose out, in the process, he created some myths to satisfy his own arguments along the way. And myths need to be corrected with truths.

Myth #1: Tells people Superhero films have much more domestic and worldwide appeal than giant monster films and that it's common knowledge, but conveniently forgets that there were quite handful of superhero flicks that actually flopped.

Fact: There is no substantiated evidence that tells us a certain genre of film enjoys a broader appeal over another. What you are doing here is selective-picking to support your statement. Suppose I pit Pacific Rim against Green Lantern and release both movies one week apart from each other. Green Lanterns flops. So am I supposed to say Monster flicks have a broader appeal now over Superheroes? Or is it just down to simply because Green Lantern sucks big time? If we go by your logic, considering that Titanic is an all-time Blockbuster, so should I assume that Man-made disaster flicks enjoy a wider appeal to audiences than any other genre? If the formula is that simple, that's great. Let all the movie studios start making Man-made disaster movies from now shall we? Because audiences love them and they are gonna guarantee you box-office success. Bingo!

Myth #2: Tells people Godzilla 2014 was never the most anticipated movie of the year in his defence but forgets to get his facts right. Really? 

Fact: The truth is, in almost every popular movie site, Godzilla sits either near or at the top of the most-anticipated summer movies of 2014. Go Google it. You will be surprised how many movie sites put Godzilla as the most anticipated film, even ahead of X-Men. Heck, even in this forum itself, there are already topics created by members proclaiming that months back. We know what you did there.

Myth #3:  Claims that X-Men was projected to be one of the highest grossing films of the year and then brings in Maleficent as a competitor to X-Men to prove that all films suffer from box-office drops due to competition to support his reasoning for Godzilla's drop against X-Men's debut. 

Fact: The truth is, X-Men was never projected by most box-office sites to be the top earner. In fact, most predictions for X-Men were rather modest, and while they were modest, we could still say X-Men fulfilled these expectations and performed better than expected. But that is not the case for Godzilla and Spider-Man 2. Do you even know how box office projections work here? Let's do some simple math here. For your info, in long range box office projections X-Men DOFP was estimated to make $103 million on its opening 4-day weekend, and an eventual $221 mllion domestically. Despite X-Men making lesser than projected, taking in $90 million in its first weekend, fast forward now, it has already made $208 million at the US box-office, and looks set to hit the $221 million estimate. So is X-Men DOFP performing better than it could? Yes, of course!

Spider-Man 2 was projected to open at $112 million and close off at $265 million. In the end, it didn't make as much when it opened, and is now sitting at $198 million. So is it performing? Hell, No. Not even close. And now we come to Godzilla. This movie was projected to open at a modest $75 million domestically, and guess what? When it crushed the box-office shocking analysts in its opening, projections immediately changed and minimum estimates came up to $235 million. Today where is Godzilla? $192 million in the US. At the current rate Godzilla is making in the US now per day, even if I slap an extra 50-60 days of screening for this movie, it still won't hit $235M. Do you still insist Godzilla is performing acceptably well now? Isn't it obvious you are in a state of denial? Buh. 

Myth #4: Tells us that the undeserved success of Seltzer and Friedberg (Seltzberg)'s POS "movies" which to him aren't even movies at all and are just badly drawn out references to other, far better and funnier movies. Lumps them with the Transformers movies that make over $1 billion each. Says Seltzberg's "movies" all likewise make plenty of money at the Box-office, and doesn't think that anybody would say they're well-received by the general public. Then goes on to say nobody likes movies from the Transformers franchise except the 10-12 year olds they're marketed to.

Fact: You think these movies are bad. - That's your personal opinion and fortunately you don't represent the majority of audiences because the fact that these movies are making a tonne of money here tells us audiences don't think along the same line as you do. And I suspect that's most likely the case for Godzilla to you too. Let's just say you think differently, and I'm sorry but I have to say this: Have you been living in the South Pole and just returned to civilization? I haven't heard of a God-damn person so far who actually isn't excited about catching the Transformers: Age of Extinction this month. And if they aren't, they are most like the minority here because Age of Extinction is on its way to make another cool Billion dollars. :)  Oh, and you were talking about Transformers being kids-material. - Coming from a Matured Adult like you who happens to adore a monster franchise that started off with a man in a rubber suit. Okay, we get that. Really?   

@destroyah-x,

sorry for the late response but, yes i have seen pacific rim. Thought it was a good movie, i did not get the chance to see it in theathers but when the dvd came out oh yeah i bought it. :)

also in all honesty i am glad that godzilla beat the amazing spider man 2 even though it fell short to the new x-men movie, just in my opinion though i was hoping all super hero movies would have been put to rest with the new godzilla film but.... there are way to many fans of super hero movies out there in this world.

@Durp004-Let me add.....The irony of the 'Jaws' analogy is that Spielberg WANTED to show more shark, but couldn't because the mechanical shark wouldn't work. Now, one could argue that made for better movie...a happy accident.  But the truth is you can't, because there is no alternate 'more shark' Spielberg directed 'Jaws' to compare it to. I also hate the 'Jurassic Park' analogy. JP had PLENTY of dinosaurs throughtout the entire movie, and both the T-Rex scenes and the Velociraptor scenes are totally intense. At the risk of being called a 'hater,' let me say that I feel that G14, while having a couple of great moments, never came close to the intensity, suspense, and horror of JP, or 'Jaws'  for that matter. The fact that Edwards had even compared his film to 'Jaws' or 'Jurassic Park,' should have been a big red flag. If you're great at what you do, you make your own name. You do not try and connect your name and style to someone elses success. In retrospect, it seems like a way to try and convince the audience in advanced that they should like the film because it's like a Spielberg film, knowing that otherwise, his shortcomings would be glaring. It's like saying "Look guys, you shouldn't mind what you're seeing because Spielberg does it too! It's kind of sad really.

@GorillaGodzilla-It was my intent to no longer involve myself with you in these forums, but I think you should know that I think that Destroyah-x was sort of trying to give you the benefit of the doubt by speculating that you are a child. So much of what you say seems odd and disjointed, which might be understandable if you are on the younger side. I mean "SMASH AND BASH BRAIN?" This is so odd...I'm not saying this to be mean, but perhaps English isn't your first language? If this are not the case, may I suggest that you slow down, take a breath, and proof read. You have your opinion, which is fine, but at times it seems like you are rambling.

@thepike,

hey man try to be here next friday as the 3rd teaser drawings of the graphic novel i am working on will be posted. :)

ok guys i have heard enough of this arguing between you guys, it is bad enough that i have to go home after a long boring day at work to take care of the kids at the house then i come here to hear more complaining, please guys learn to respect one another, it is because of negativity that goes on here that allows more trolls and other negative people to come here and destroy us from within this site, please guys stop the arguing and get along. THANK YOU!!!!! :)

Hey Bigbadben-I'll be here. And dude, come on, this discussion has some passion! We might be annoying one another, but I think we might like it......

@ GorillaGodzilla- As I'm speculating on the reason for you writing style, I said "If this are not the case, may I suggest..." I guess I'm not so hot either :-)

BIGBADBEN - If my remarks have served to further your displeasure with this post, I am truly sorry. Please accept my humblest apologies; I'd no intention of causing duress or negative emotions. My chief interest was fouced upon the compelling debates that had arisen. Regardless, I am exceptionally sorry for having been party to discussions that have debased your enjoyment. I shall work to avoid doing so in the future with the utmost care. :)

@ DESTROYAH-X: you know I was referring to WOM in regards to this movie's so-called "sagging numbers". Explain to me, then, why Seltzberg's "movies" make money (and they do as they only cost $20-30 mil to make and generally rack in $80-90 mil each) when pretty much everybody and their mom hates them for being unbearable, unfunny pieces of shit (and that's putting it way too kindly, let's be honest)? Also, the 2nd Transformers movie, ROTF, got terrible WOM, and it still went on to make $846 mil worldwide and the 3rd, DOTM, also had mediocre at-best WOM and was riding off a terribly-received 2nd movie/1st sequel (which usually spells doom for any subsequent sequel in any trilogy), and it made over $1 billion worldwide. Hmm, clearly, something doesn't sit right.

Same holds true for Edge of Tomorrow: everyone who has seen it says it's a great movie (and it was, I went OW to see it, fantastic movie), it's gotten awesome critic reviews and user ratings from day one, and yet it has all the makings of a flop. Yes, it's made $243 mil worldwide, already surpassing it's $178 mil budget, but keep in mind: this movie has to make $380 mil to break even on a $160 mil production budget according to Legendary, so based on that, it probably has to make $400 mil or so to break even, possibly more (I don't know what the advertising budget is for EOT, so that's a best estimate).

Also, X-men was projected to make $100 mil in the first 3 days alone, with some even giving estimates as high as $125 mil for the first 3 days, not even counting the 4 day MMDW, so don't tell me this was the most anticipated movie of the year, it wasn't. This isn't even including T4, which is projected to make $1.5 billion WW according to comicbookmovie.com, so this "G14 was the most anticipated movie of the year" is a complete fallacy. Don't act like having to deal with big name movies almost every week since it's been out (every week if you consider FIOS to be such) didn't factor into this movie's decline, either. Look at Star Trek: Into Darkness, it had a big OW and got great WOM, plus it was riding off a commercially and financially successful first movie, but it had to deal with both Fast & Furious 6 and Hangover Part III just one week after it came out and went on to make $228.7 mil domestically. The first Star Trek, on the other hand, went on to make $257 mil domestically without any major competition to deal with, and it was a series starter, so it's a perfectly legit argument. How else does a well-received sequel to a highly-praised and successful first movie not make more than the original (domestically, anyway)?

But of course, I expect you to keep posting the same "data" to try and "validate" your point while flat out refusing to answer any of these questions.

Its ok pike we are friends here.

Also sorry ben, This arguement was silly any way. I realized that we all have our own opinions, Destroyah thinks the movie needed work, i thought it was perfect. So you know :-I. im giving Gareth another chance, And lets see how this sequel does, Shall we?

@BigBadBen - If just by looking at the words being used initially, one might see it as a heated argument taking place here, but I believe it to be more of a robust discussion as this thread matures along the way. I'm glad to see people laying out their reasons and opinions, be it for or against, I think both sides have provided strong valid points. After all, what's a discussion without a debate? So I believe everyone is all good here despite all the differences and sometimes name-calling, but I guess we are actually having fun in the process of all of these debates. Right? 

Like @Something Real points out, differing views we may have, but at the end of the day, what brings us together is that passion about Godzilla. ;) 

@BigBadBen - 

Yes, talking about Pacific Rim. You said you just watched in on DVD. Im curious, in your evaluation of the film, what are your thoughts when comparing this production against Godzilla 2014? And would you agree if Godzilla might have been better if the battle scenes and confrontations could match or even outdo Pacific Rim's in terms of packing the punch? 

I think many people tend to compare Pacific Rim with Godzilla, because they are firstly both products of Legendary Studios, and before Godzilla was released, that film was also the last time people watched a Kaiju movie. 

To me, Pacific Rim and Godzilla werent trying to be the same type of kaiju movie. I dont think the comparisons ive seen are fair.. "oh this shoulda been like that" or "this did this so its better" or "that did that so its better". I dont compare the two that way. 

I personally think Godzilla does better at what type of movie IT tries to be compared to what type of movie Pacific Rim tries to be. Just a step ahead though. The robot monster action was Pacific Rim's strongpoint but I thought it didnt have enough of it. The only thing worth rewatching to me is the middle fight and the opening sequence. I didnt care enough for the plot, the characters, or even the end fight to watch it all again. Pacific Rim couldve done better at what it tried to be. It was nice though that during the middle fight the camera never cut away from the fight...