Popularity of the Godzilla franchise now and to come

[gatorzilla]

How do you see the popularity of the Godzilla franchise over the years, currently and future?

What are the big things here in America? Transformers, Harry Potter, Spider-man, Batman etc.

When you look at lists of the popular movie franchises Godzilla usually ranks in there somewhere in the middle or top all of the time. Finacially no but popularity yes. Godzilla is still there waiting to be unleashed again.

In the 90s Godzilla stuff was easy to find here in America. It was a big thing here correct me if im wrong though up until the '98 movie ruined it. Someone posted on here that Godzilla was big in the 60s and 70s and was only knocked off here in America by Star Wars. The 80's im not sure.

After the 90's though Godzilla seem to go dorminant but remember the response to the 50th anniversary film? Star on the walk of fame etc.

Now in the present day you are starting to see a little more Godzilla toys in TRU because of Bandai Creation. Comic shops still have a fair amount of Godzilla stuff in them all the time. IDW Godzilla comic have helped a lot too. MonsterArts are selling very good as well from what i hear. Whether you love the stuff or hate it it is helping to bring Godzilla back no doubt.

The LP Godzilla movie has a chance of becoming something huge for the franchise. Ive got a buddy who is a big Transformers fan and I get frustrated seeing all these Transformers and Star Wars mechandise in stores and no Godzilla. With a new American Godzilla film that could all change. We could see a lot of Godzilla merch in stores and the movies become high grossing ones up there with the other big franchises. Godzilla '98 failed due to how the monster was portrayed on screen. Had they stuck to the original idea of Godzilla vs Gryphon the franchise wouldnt be dormant as it is today because that was still Godzilla in that original idea. My city had a small comic con last october and i wore a Godzilla shirt and I cant tell you how many people loved it and asked where I got it from.

Regardless of what some may say Godzilla is still a big deal and a big franchise all it needs is the right jump start to get to levels of Transformers, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel etc.

This is all my thoughts and opinions. What say you guys?

[Gojisan]

Being here in the UK where the availability of Godzilla on DVD is restricted to the original 1954 and the Universal release of King Kong vs Godzilla, it is more limited.
Most people over here know of Godzilla, but most think of the movies as cheesy or camp with bad FX. Unfortunately this is mainly due to the only VHS and TV showings of the dubbed Showa series, with hardly any of the later movies available here on any legit format. I have shown a few friends some Japanese versions of the films and they really enjoyed them.
Hopefully the LG Godzilla will eventually be made and have a wide cinema release over here to bring the big guy to a wider audience.

[Gyaos]

Like I said in another thread, I hope the film does good financially and critically, but remains entertaining as well. Why? If it makes a ton of money, it can spawn sequels. If it does good critically, more and more people will want to see it and potentially create a much bigger fanbase. If it's entertaining as well, it will satisfy future fans and current fans alike.

If done right, this film could potentially put Godzilla up there with Transformers and all them.

[gatorzilla]

Like I said in another thread, I hope the film does good financially and critically, but remains entertaining as well. Why? If it makes a ton of money, it can spawn sequels. If it does good critically, more and more people will want to see it and potentially create a much bigger fanbase. If it's entertaining as well, it will satisfy future fans and current fans alike.

If done right, this film could potentially put Godzilla up there with Transformers and all them.

See thats another thing to look at too when you say that more and more will see it and the fanbase will get bigger. Look at all the people who have become Transformers fans due to the movies alone.

Godzilla has a large fan base and is in no way a dead franchise like some pople believe. One big movie (or trilogy) and boom Godzilla is even bigger than before

[Tomzilla]

Godzilla is already a household name. However, he's not popular enough to rival franchises like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Transformers. It's not because audiences wouldn't pay money to see giant monsters fight. GODZILLA '98 was so close to being a huge success because of that very reason. It only failed because it didn't meet expectations.

So there's a desire for it. That's why Legendary Pictures is gearing up to (hopefully) give us what we've wanted been clamoring for for years. The best way is to make Godzilla popular is by making him a monster at the box office (no pun intended). This can be accomplished in two ways:

1) Take the big budget, Hollywood action/adventure route. Give us exciting visuals, sequences, and battles. Entertain the hell outta us. Make sure the human characters aren't made of suck. They have to be strong enough to carry the film when Godzilla and his kaiju brethren aren't present. Give them something to do. Hell, make us care about whether or not they die. Is the main character trying to find his or her lost child in a city gone mad? Have the main characters been poisoned by the radiation and are trying to find a cure? Are we following a group of soldiers instructed to take Godzilla down at all costs? Subplots like that are fun and exciting to get into.

Finally, make sure it's a big universe we're visiting. Keep it ambiguous. More importantly, keep the mysteries mysterious and give us answers that only lead to new questions. If your audience wants to know why these monsters exist, you're on the right track! How you know you have a franchise is by making your audience feel like they already live there. Halo is very successful franchise because it has many video games, books, graphic novels, and films.

So give us a fun, exciting, imaginative universe, and in return we'll keep coming back for more.


OR


2) Go low key. There are different ways of doing this. We could be introduced to several different people, see how they live, and then watch--either in horror or in amusement--how their lives change forever. Maybe it's more like a natural disaster film. Godzilla is more like an earthquake, he comes and goes, and we see how the aftermath plays out. It could become more of a human survival picture. Basically, it focuses less on monster mayhem, and more on on the plot/characters/symbolism.

This could work. I'm sure it'd make for a damn good film. From a critical perspective, it'd be a nice change. Imagine coming out of a giant monster movie going, "Man, that film was deep, it totally made me think about how dedicated the human spirit is, how wonderful it is to be alive, and how [nuclear weapons/natural disasters/human greed or folly or pride] really suck!"


#1 has a better shot at making Godzilla popular (i.e. like Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Iron Man).

#2 has a better shot at bringing Godzilla critical reception, winning awards, and having audiences take him seriously.

Of course, I'd love to have both, which is possible. In fact, you can have both if you have a good script and direction. I'd love to have a blockbuster, mega-box-office hit, critically received Godzilla film. Having both usually doesn't happen though. One can hope.

[Living Corpse]

There's a topic in the LP thread that already talks about this.

Just saying.

[gatorzilla]

Tomzilla-
I like what you posted. When you go with a combination of 1&2 you get The Dark Knight so the combo formula can work. I would much prefer though this go the route of 1) which i think the series is best known for and what the '98 film should have been.

Living Corpse-
My intent of this thread is to dicuss the popularity of the WHOLE franchise from past to prestent and future

[XxComablack1937xX]

Tri-Star butchered Godzilla in the 90's an even if i stand alone i blame them for Godzilla's current status in the U.S., The 90's Toho films were all around an easy to find, an during the promotion for the 98 film... Posters, T-Shirts, all the old video's were available an once the film bombed an was hated by fans everywhere Godzilla dropped off the map nearly instantly. Since then Godzilla has been plagued with Stale films in the Toho franchise barely holding on to the fan-base on meeting expectations.

Legendary Pictures has Godzilla on a 10 year resting period, Giving fans an non fans alike time to want the franchise to comeback... It has potential to turn in ''Transformers'' style profit... Sure not on the first film... But if Batman can return from the dead, (Batman Forever an Batman an Robin) 2 pitiful sequels... Then Godzilla has a great chance of a comeback off of 1 disasterous film nearly 16 years ago. (By the time the 2014 film actually is released)

The desire an potential are there for Godzilla to comeback in a major way... Legendary has to be really an i mean really careful how they approach this property.

Sony proved fan's don't want an over-sized Iguana/Lizard, baby raptors, or ridiculous characters an dialog in a American Godzilla film. It tanked once it will tank even harder if there's a second time. For a franchise based mostly of bad dubbing, men in suits, an cheesy sequences... It shows that's exactly what the (mainstream audiences) will not pay for in a big budget American Godzilla.

If they want Godzilla to become a worldwide success an bring in the high numbers $$ then they need to take there time an approach this in a very serious manner, an handle the character with respect.

[Living Corpse]

Then Godzilla has a great chance of comeback off of 1 disasterous film nearly 16 years ago. (By the time the 2014 film actually is released)

It's hard to believe that it's already been 15 years since GINO and 14 since I first saw G2K in theaters.

[gatorzilla]

You are absolutely correct Comablack

Before the '98 film Godzilla was having massive success in America. I remember going into KB Toys and Toys R Us as a kid and seeing shelves full of Godzilla toys. Video stores like Sam Goody and FYE had sections dedicated to the Godzilla movies alone. There were much other merchandise too. There is no doubt Godzilla was huge in America leading up the '98 film and once that film bombed at the box office thats when everything started to vanish sadly

The thing that killed the '98 film was one simple thing: How Godzilla was portrayed.
People dont go to movies like that just to see human characters. They go to see Godzilla
Same thing with movies like Transformers and Batman etc.
LP has stated i believe that Godzilla was the main focus because thats what people are paying money to see which is true and which is why the '98 film failed. Even if Godzilla vs the Gryphon wasnt the greatest it still wouldve been light years better and done much better because it was Godzilla doing what he is best known for and looking normal

This franchise will get back up there. I have faith