Screenplays, Treatments, Pitches for Daikaiju Films

[GVDjlit]

I think it would be appropriate for a forum to exist where people who are interested in writing scripts can talk about their love for Godzilla and other Daikaiju. I have a feature script for a Godzilla film that I would love to see committed to film or to an animation or to a graphic novel that I'd prefer NOT to discuss for my own reasons, but I'd be happy to talk about the subject of writing giant monster films in general.

Here are some topics worth opening to the floor for discussion:

1. I've noticed that Godzilla movies (as much as I love them) tend to be incredibly boring in some parts. The "hero" is Godzilla, but our protagonists are humans who we don't really care about, who usually have struggles that do not relate to the solution of the big problems of the story. Basically if the human dies, the world doesn't end, because Godzilla is going to save the day. The more exciting Godzilla films tend to be ones where the human protagonists must destroy an alien plot to control the monsters (Invasion of the Astro Monster, Destroy all Monsters) Other kaiju films attempt to establish a character with a "psychic link" to the monsters...which never works for me for some reason, probably because I only cared when this trope was used in Speilberg's ET. Then we have the man-in-a-mecha route, which tends to place a large scale kaiju problem directly in the hands of a character the audience can relate to.............who is sitting on his ass in a cockpit pressing buttons and jerking levers (boring,boring,boring). Question for discussion: What's a great way to make a giant monster movie where the human aspect of the story is interesting and relevant to the big problems of the plot?

2. Pitches for Kaiju films. What kind of a giant monster movie do you think the industry is "looking for" today?

3. What other genres could be mashed up with a kaiju film? Remember how "Shaun of the Dead" pulls off the zombie-romantic comedy? Could we ever have Mothra: The Musical? Daimaijin in the old West? Gamera in Middle Earth? Gargantuas in Love? Minya comes of age? Godzilla (heisei, after ...vs. Destroyah) in purgatory?

[Kubo]

1. So long as the human's struggle is relative to the monster plot, I think it can be exciting. The characters have to interesting. They can't be flat, otherwise the whole story will lose its luster.

2. Straight up answer: dark and gritty. Nobody looks for clean and happy stuff these days.

3. Haha haha...no.

[Gojira21]

Well im not sure about number 3, or even 2. But maybe for human characters...show how they deal with the Kaiju presence. Show how their lives are affected by Godzilla, e.t.c trashed through their home town or city. Or even show the military struggling with coming up suitable deffenses and dealing with political disruptions.

[Mincecraft]

The human characters should at least be forced to try and survive the monster apocalypse thats going on all around them, kinda like Cloverfield.

[Kubo]

Let's try go stay away from another Cloverfield movie. It's good every once in a while, but I don't want the whole genre to be like that movie.

[Gojira21]

Well, never said that the whole movie has to be like cloverfield, you can have snipets here an there of survivors trying to survive or show the aftermath of the destruction on a tv during a news feed in some familys house, e.t.c

[Kubo]

In that regard, I guess it would be a-ok.

[Gojira21]

lol well some of those elements i plan on putting in Godzilla: Second Coming sooo yea