Toho Kingdom

After TriStar bought the rights to Godzilla in October 1992, they solicited a number of writers to pitch story concepts for their planned film. Among these was Clive Barker, the British horror and fantasy novelist best known for his Books of Blood anthologies, his 1986 novel The Hellbound Heart, and for writing and directing The Hellbound Heart's film adaptation, Hellraiser (1987). During his meeting with Sony executives in March 1993, he presented his concept for a new Godzilla movie. The producers would eventually choose Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio to write the script for Godzilla - a script that, as most here know, was ultimately rejected in 1994 when Sony executives decided it would be too expensive to film, kicking off a chain of events that ultimately resulted in Emmerich and Devlin's disastrous 1998 adaptation.

There exists very little information about Clive Barker's Godzilla pitch outside of a few scattered anecdotes. In his 1998 book Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the "Big G," Steve Ryfle writes that studio executives found Barker's concepts "too dark" for the summer blockbuster they planned to make. In the first article of the fantastic Godzilla: Unmade series from Sci-Fi Japan about the cancelled film based on the Rossio/Elliot script, it is alleged that Barker's story was set in New York City during the last days of 1999, suggesting an apocalyptic premise based around the many predictions at the time that the world would end when the new millennium arrived. If that information is true, it is worth noting that the first draft of the Rossio/Elliot script and the 1995 rewrite by Don Macpherson both seem to have borrowed the 1999 New York setting from Barker (especially Macpherson, who goes as far as to have a date clock reading "1999" damaged so that it appears to read "666" during the Gryphon's rampage in Manhattan). As an interesting side note, Toho later considered making their own movie based around the world ending in the year 2000. Entitled Godzilla vs Giant Monster Varan, the unmade film would have reimagined Varan as a mythical harbinger of the end times, with the climax taking place on December 31, 1999.

Despite (or perhaps because) of the limited information about Barker's Godzilla pitch, I would very much like to know more about it. In particular, I am intrigued by the December 1999 setting and the apocalyptic implications of it. It would be neat if someone could ask the guy himself to give more details, but given that he presented his concept more than 25 years ago I wouldn't be surprised if he had completely forgotten about it.

Your thoughts? I know the limited information means there isn't much to discuss, but I still find it interesting.

Oh man, I would have fan girl'd at the thought of a Clive Barker Godzilla, I had no clue this was even a thing...

I love Clive Barker to death, and would definitely like to know more just for curiosity's sake, but I'm not sure he would necessarily be the right person for the job.

Apocalyptic Godzilla is such a fascinating concept. I would have liked to see how this and God's Angry Messenger would have turned out.

I could see Godzilla developing some major body horror aspects, which would be an interesting take on the “nuclear abomination” concept.
I love Clive Barker, certainly one of my all time favorite authors, so I’d be on board in a heart beat for his take on Godzilla.

Holy crap, Clive Barker did a Godzilla pitch?! Damn, I would love to know more about this....Clive Barker is a great horror writer, a dark, full on horror take of his on Godzilla would have been amazing. I guess he would have taken the "nuclear abomination" concept to a max.

Also, i'm even more suprised to hear Toho actually wanted to put Varan in a movie as far as 1995. The poor bastard just has no luck lol.

Dv-218 wrote: Also, i'm even more suprised to hear Toho actually wanted to put Varan in a movie as far as 1995. The poor bastard just has no luck lol.

This. It's such a crime because Varan is such a good film.

Mr_Goji_and_Watch wrote:Apocalyptic Godzilla is such a fascinating concept. I would have liked to see how this and God's Angry Messengerwould have turned out.

Had never heard of this one before, actually. Any information on it? All I can find from Google is that it was an unmade film from the 1970s about Godzilla awakening and wreaking havoc upon the world, and that it’s alternate title/subtitle was God of Godzillas.

I agree that a truly apocalyptic Godzilla film would be a really neat thing to see.

Dv-218 wrote:Holy crap, Clive Barker did a Godzilla pitch?! Damn, I would love to know more about this....Clive Barker is a great horror writer, a dark, full on horror take of his on Godzilla would have been amazing. I guess he would have taken the "nuclear abomination" concept to a max.

Also, i'm even more suprised to hear Toho actually wanted to put Varan in a movie as far as 1995. The poor bastard just has no luck lol.

Part of me wonders if Barker would have played up the mythological and religious aspects of Godzilla instead of (or maybe in addition to) the nuclear aspects. Tying him in with the Biblical Leviathan, the Book of Revelation, etc. Considering his background in supernatural horror and dark fantasy, I think that might have been the direction he would have taken it.

I really wish someone was able to contact or interview him about this, but as I said earlier, I would be surprised if he even remembered.

G2000 wrote:
Had never heard of this one before, actually. Any information on it? All I can find from Google is that it was an unmade film from the 1970s about Godzilla awakening and wreaking havoc upon the world, and that it’s alternate title/subtitle was God of Godzillas.

I agree that a truly apocalyptic Godzilla film would be a really neat thing to see.

From John LeMay's book on lost films.


You guys could always ask Barker himself, he has a list of his pages on his site. Perhaps we could also get some site staff to pester him.
http://www.clivebarker.info/newsaddress.html

Suddenly my fan fic doesn't seem too dark.

Such a shame there's so little info on this- would have loved hearing Clive's ideas for a Godzilla movie.
I wonder if it would have been a "vs" movie like the 94 script, or a full on Godzilla vs humanity solo movie. The apocalyptic setting and the comment about it being "too dark" make me think it could have been the latter.

Living Corpse wrote:Suddenly my fan fic doesn't seem too dark.

Thanks for sharing.

Man, this pitch sounds stellar. I hope a truly apocalyptic Godzilla movie is something that happens in the future.

Interesting, albeit what little we have. I wonder if Clive would've utilised the Oxygen Destroyer.

Mr_Goji_and_Watch wrote:

Living Corpse wrote:Suddenly my fan fic doesn't seem too dark.

Thanks for sharing.

No problem Captain Sarcasm.

Mr_Goji_and_Watch wrote:From John LeMay's book on lost films.


You guys could always ask Barker himself, he has a list of his pages on his site. Perhaps we could also get some site staff to pester him.
http://www.clivebarker.info/newsaddress.html

God’s Angry Messenger definitely sounds interesting. Godzilla’s origin sounds quite similar to the one in the Rossio/Elliot 1994 script, and the elements about the Nazca lines and all seem to have been recycled by Toho for their unproduced Heisei Bagan films.

It’s worth a try, but Barker seems a bit hard to reach. His pages seem to be largely run by other people, and there’s a little note under the “Mailing Address” heading that notes that he no longer responds to personal letters. On the other hand, we’re never going to learn more about this project unless we make the effort and actually ask the man.

G2000 wrote:

Mr_Goji_and_Watch wrote:From John LeMay's book on lost films.


You guys could always ask Barker himself, he has a list of his pages on his site. Perhaps we could also get some site staff to pester him.
http://www.clivebarker.info/newsaddress.html

God’s Angry Messenger definitely sounds interesting. Godzilla’s origin sounds quite similar to the one in the Rossio/Elliot 1994 script, and the elements about the Nazca lines and all seem to have been recycled by Toho for their unproduced Heisei Bagan films.

It’s worth a try, but Barker seems a bit hard to reach. His pages seem to be largely run by other people, and there’s a little note under the “Mailing Address” heading that notes that he no longer responds to personal letters. On the other hand, we’re never going to learn more about this project unless we make the effort and actually ask the man.

I tweeted his twitter account asking him if he'd like to talk about this project but no response yet.

Godzilla as an angel of death is an interesting take on the monster. The horror would not only be in how much is destroyed and killed, but also how people react to a world they think is ending.

G2000 wrote:Godzilla vs Giant Monster Varan,the unmade film would have re-imagined Varan as a mythical harbinger of the end times, with the climax taking place on December 31, 1999.

Varan as a mythical harbinger of the end times?

Yeah...that sounds absolutely glorious...I mean
its weird as hell...but I personally like weird.

I can't say that Clive Barker would be the right guy for the job either, but I do agree a fully apocalyptic Godzilla sounds marvellously dark! I also think that Varan deserves a similar treatment. He deserves more attention than just being "that one lizard who glides around" or whatever kids these days call him. I haven't seen his first movie yet, but even then, I know that this majestic beast deserves better.

Anyways, going to back to an apocalyptic Godzilla story, I might have a similar idea for a fanfic of me own, too.