On July 21st, 2025, I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with director Gareth Edwards, known for his work on Godzilla (2014), the recent Jurassic World Rebirth, and more. Originally, the plan was to ask him just a couple of quick questions about Godzilla before diving into Jurassic World Rebirth. However, once we started talking about the King of the Monsters, the conversation naturally kept drifting back to that film. It turned into a much more Godzilla-focused discussion than expected, and I think fans of the franchise will really enjoy the insights Gareth shares.
Just a quick heads-up: there are a few moments where Gareth’s WiFi cuts in and out, but I’ve done some light editing to smooth out the flow for clarity.
Note: Small spoiler for Jurassic World Rebirth. If you haven’t seen the film yet, please avoid the time between 6:30 to 7:09.
Click to download audio interview
Total Run Time: 16 minutes and 44 seconds
Hope everyone enjoys the interview!
Below is an audio transcript of the interview, for those who prefer to read versus listen. This was an automated transcript, using IBM Watson AI, and then manually edited. It cuts some aspects of the natural language down, but also leaves other moments as is. So keep this in mind when reading it.
Chris Mirjahangir (Toho Kingdom): So because it’s Toho Kingdom, I gotta ask a couple of Godzilla questions before we go in. Would you ever participate in like a ultimate edition of the film, like, you know, with the audio commentary and the deleted scenes and the kind of like, I don’t know if you heard about it whatever, but like fix the brightness on the picture for the digital and Blu-ray versions?
Gareth Edwards: We did. And during the pandemic, I went in and the 4K version, we totally fixed all that brightness. I did as a director, DGA, allows you and your contract to approve all materials, like the home video. And so I did go in and I saw it for the very first edition that went out and it looked great to me. And then something happened between that and when it was printed onto blue rays or DVDs, there was a fault in the conversion and it was too late, I think. So basically when they did the 4K, they invited us back and I went in during the pandemic into Burbank and, and we sat and it all looked how it should. So I think that version should be okay. If it looks the way it looked when I saw it.
Mirjahangir: Oh, it looks way better. You know, I remember having to rip the 3D version just to see how it was supposed to look, you know? Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So you’re originally going to do the sequel to Godzilla before [Star Wars] Rogue One, but can you say what that sequel would have been like?
Edwards: I think all I heard was a pitch from Thomas Tull roughly about like how we saw the franchise evolving. And I feel like it’s evolved in a very similar way to how he was talking about it. So the version I heard about was not too different to what Michael Doherty ended up. But obviously he developed it a lot and they took it in their own direction and made it their own. so, was honestly that it was literally a very, very preliminary conversation, which is like, would you be interested in doing a sequel? It’s kind of as far as the conversation went. So it was not down the road at all in terms of what Michael did and everybody else at Legendary was like, just like they properly took it and ran with it. But yeah, I heard that it would eventually lead to Godzilla versus Kong by the third movie.
Mirjahangir: Okay. Going back to the Ultimate Edition, would you go back if they were to do it and do an audio commentary? Cause you’re the only one who hasn’t done one.
Edwards: Have I not? Yeah, I’m not against that. I didn’t realize I hadn’t. sort of do these things in a crazy rush at the end of a movie. And you talk about the movie so many times, especially sat with all the people that worked on it when you’re editing, that it becomes really difficult to remember if you actually did it or not. But yeah, I’d happily do that if there was a reason to do it, like an anniversary or someone was interested. I mean, that’s all fine. Yeah. I wouldn’t probably remember much though, as you can tell from this interview.
Mirjahangir: Yeah. You probably have to watch the movie a few times, you know, we did put out that Akira Takarada scene though, about a year ago.
Edwards: Yeah, yeah, great. That’s good. Very good. Thank you.
Mirjahangir: So switching over to Jurassic World and kind of Tohoish, there’s that dinosaur, titanosaurs, and it kind of has that little kind of fin in the back. It’s kind of like, yeah, kind of the same as the Toho one. Was that a callback or?
Edwards: It was, we actually developed, I remember it’s probably in the art of book, but with Weta at one point where we went into all the millions of directions you go with Godzilla, we just wanted to go down every avenue to check. We were doing the right thing design wise. And one of the things we did do was a fin at one point, as in more like a fish fin, fish fins. so, and it wasn’t, it wasn’t like, I don’t remember bringing that up ever with the team. We just liked the idea of fins on those titanosaurs and it wasn’t against science to feel that that could have happened. And so we just tried lots of different designs and also that pop of sort of orange that you get when you.called subsurface scattering when it’s sort of backlit from the sun really helps give it that bit of color and majesty and magicalness. And so yeah, it wasn’t Godzilla related, but I can see why it might feel that way.
Mirjahangir: Yeah, I got that stuff ingrained in my brain. So with the movie leaving theaters and the home release on the way, is there like an extended cut coming out? And did you do an audio commentary for this one?
Edwards: On the home video stuff, there’s going to be a few deleted scenes. Essentially, most of, nearly all of it that we did is in the movie. I was determined to deliver at least for a director’s cut a movie that was under two hours. And so I think we showed the studio something that was one hour, 59 something. And then essentially the notes were pretty much, did we add this, this and this back in, which were the things that we cut out. So we put them back in. Um, so there’s not a load left on the cutting room floor, but there’s a really cool gag that I enjoyed that was sort of felt sad that was not in the movie, which was Scarlett Johansson near a telephone, um, in the gas station. But it’s sort of the reason it got left out was cause it felt like just as we got the pace up and we’re running, uh, towards the end of the movie, um, it stopped to game for a bit of tension. So that got removed. There was an opening that had a bit more to it. It was more like man destroying the rainforest. And so there was some early previous like very crude visual effects with some diggers that were what the monkeys were looking at at the very start. And then I’m forgetting stuff. I think there’s one or two, oh yeah, in the trailer, people remember there was a reference to the raptors appearing. So we put that back in, but it felt like a double beat in the movie because you had the Raptors and then you had the Mutadons appearing. So there’s all these reasons why they got cut out, which I think were probably the correct reasons and not enough material to justify a special edition one day. So it just felt like let’s put them on the home video stuff on the extras. And we did a commentary, I did two commentaries for that. I basically did one with the production designer and the assistant director. And then I did another with the editor and the visual effects supervisor. And it was cause they were not available in the same days. So promised I’d sit with them. So I ended up talking twice. I hope I repeat myself.
[Jurassic World Rebirth spoilers]
Mirjahangir: Yeah. So this next question, this was a controversial one around my friends and stuff. got one. I was going to be interviewing you. This is like the number one they wanted to ask. So how did the D-Rex catch the helicopter in its mouth? Like it seemed smaller, but then when it caught it in its mouth, it was bigger. And then, you know…
Edwards: Yeah. Um, probably the fastest way to answer that question. Uh, I don’t know. I was just there filming it and it’s what shocked us and surprised us is suddenly out the smoke came the directs and we were, we were as confused as everyone else. Like, um, but you know, that’s what unfolded. So, uh, everyone else’s guess is as good as mine.
[End of Jurassic World Rebirth spoilers]
Mirjahangir: So, uh, this one you shot on film, but the previous one, director, you shot on the Sony FX3. Did you think about shooting on going digital for Jurassic Park or was it just no like a mandate like, no, we’re gonna shoot this one on film?
Edwards: There was pressure to go digital. Life’s a bit easier when you go digital on a movie, but it looks to me, I’ve been chasing that aesthetic. Even on the Creator, when we used the FX3, it was… All we were trying to do the whole time was make it look like 35 mil film. With Photochem back then, they did a really good process to get it to look as close as it possibly could, and which was pretty damn close in my opinion. But then when we did this film with Goldcrest, and when we didn’t take much work at all, I bought this LUT on the internet that had the sort of color science I like, that sort of… a palette from a Kodak looking film. And then I said like, this is what I’m trying to recreate. And so then they made their own based on that look. And then once we got that, it wasn’t as simple as drag and drop, but it was, life was a lot easier. We weren’t doing lots of, if you know this stuff, we weren’t doing lots of power windows one shot at a time. Film just, you can kind of like apply the science to it and all the skin tones look great. All the contrast looks great. And I don’t know if this is true or just, because of the era I grew up in, but to me that’s like the ideal look of a movie. But there’s a lot of, it was interesting because the guy at Goldcrest said they did a recent Pepsi challenge where they were comparing digital to film and they invited the whole company to come in and judge it. And he said, could literally divide the room in two and everyone under the age of 30 preferred the digital and everybody over the age of 30 preferred the film. And so I think it’s that nature nurture thing. So I’m not sure if it’s just, I’ve been ruined by watching too many of these, Toho movies and things when I was a kid.
Mirjahangir: So this movie, uh, so with obviously did really well. Would you go back and do another Jurassic park with like, you know, kind of hopefully a, you know, more leisurely free production time. Cause this one, kind of jumped on with three minutes or three months, right?
Edwards: Yeah. Um, I mean, look, it’s a famous last words, the second you say anything, you then contradict it in an interview, you know, a month from now or something. So I’ve got to tread carefully, but I feel very lucky. Like if this is all there was, I would count myself incredibly lucky to have got to do it. But as a fan, you know what mean? I want to see more Jurassic films. We genuinely not talked about it. And the one at the studio, you know, David kept in this… building somewhere, we’re about to do some interviews together. We’ve not had a single conversation about it. So I think everyone feels a little bit superstitious to until like all the numbers are fully in and everyone, it’s then I think those conversations begin. But yeah, I… it’s a high class problem. I mean, the answer is I’m gonna totally sit on the fence with this answer. But but I, I, yeah, I was very lucky to get to do it. And I’m proud of what everyone did on the movie. Yeah, was a fast turnaround, but sometimes, you know, that can be for the better, I think.
Mirjahangir: When you got to play in the three biggest cinematic playgrounds, got Godzilla and Star Wars and you know…
Edwards: Yeah, my girlfriend sent me a meme or a comment, which is like that. Gareth was just the kind of [greed they warn you] about in the Bible. Like getting to do Godzilla, Star Wars and Jurassic. Yeah. It’s, it’s not. Yeah, it feels unfair. So I should step away. It’s like when you win the lottery, shouldn’t spend your winnings on another lottery ticket, right?
Mirjahangir: So you wouldn’t go back and just, you know, because you’ve had 11 years removed, would you go back at some point and have something else to save a Godzilla? Or do think you’re just going to leave it to others?
Edwards: Oh yeah. mean, no, I mean, I’m a massive fan and my brain still goes there. You know what mean? There’s things, you still… play around with it in your mind, like every movie you’ve ever made, I mean, basically I look at every film I’ve ever done and I wish I had a time machine that could do things differently, right? And so in terms of that alone, you wanna revisit it in your mind just to become better, you know? And so, yeah, it’s probably every, you know, at least every week I think about a Godzilla movie and how cool that would be. They’ve got great filmmakers now that have like taken this and like taken it to another level. they, I mean, I love Legendary and, and, and I just, I’m, I’m just happy mainly the biggest kind of sense of achievement I have is when we walk around even Japan and you walk into a store and it’s Godzilla related merchandise. And you can see that one of the Godzilla’s is the Legendary Godzilla. and I, and it feels like my kids, you know, it’s like, it’s like seeing your kids having graduated university and gone and, you know, an award or something. It feels, it feels like, it feels like I’m really happy that Japan has embraced it as well. Cause that was kind of like the ultimate measure, I think. Did you ever see the thing at Comic Con we did? Very first thing, I think it was in 2012 and it was like, had Oppenheimer narrating, over like the destruction of what has happened with Godzilla in America. And I if you remember that.
Mirjahangir: I saw that like, you know, it leaked out somehow. Yeah. The strange thing is like, I was on the island in Port Alberni, you were in Nanaimo the week that you were filming, but I wasn’t hooked up with Warner Brothers yet. That’s okay. I was on vacation like when you were filming. Oh wow. Yeah, I was like, dang, I should have hit Warner Brothers up sooner, you know. But yeah, I mean, it’s amazing to think that the movie you did has just blown up into this, revitalize the series and everything and you know, it’s giant phenomenon.
Edwards: No, I’m very happy because there was a version where that didn’t happen, you know, that could have been the case. And so the fact that this seems to have achieved escape velocity is… probably my proudest accomplishment in terms of that movie, because hopefully it’ll keep going. My most curious, when I’m an old man on my deathbed, will Godzilla still look like the Legendary Godzilla in the West? Or will it have been rebooted by then? Hopefully that design, I’m really happy with that design, and hopefully that’ll always be on kids’ backpacks and lunchboxes for a long time.
Mirjahangir: All right, so the last one I would say is that, of the ones that you haven’t directed, obviously you do the first one. Is there a scene or scenes or fight or whatever of the other Monsterverse films, I don’t want you to pick a favorite movie, because that’d be weird, but like, is there something that stands out to you from each film that you enjoyed?
Edwards: Yeah, no, of course. I mean, basically, I’ve been fortunate in that I know the other directors as well really well. So, yeah, I don’t know. I couldn’t even do that with my own film, to be honest with you. Like sometimes you end up doing these websites and you have to pick your favourite shot or you have to pick your favourite scene and then break it down. And then it’s, I find it impossible. And I wouldn’t do that to someone else’s film, let alone my, it’s hard enough on my own. But I’m basically, jealous of everybody’s movie after mine. You know what mean? Like if that’s any benchmark, I can usually tell, you sit and watch someone else’s film and I can tell how good it is based on my jealous, my “jealous ometer” that goes up. And so, yeah, it’s definitely, the other day I was in a store with my girlfriend and we were just stood there at one point and there was all this Godzilla merchandise and it was in America. And I said, this wasn’t like this, was it, before 2014, was it? And she was like, no, definitely not. And it felt like, even though some of it was Toho, you know, Godzilla’s and things like this, it felt like that franchise, you know, the fact that it’s done so well, I think has brought Godzilla in general into pop culture again in America, at least. Made it like acceptable and cool. And so yeah, I yeah, that’s I think that’s kind of the thing I’m most proud of probably is that you see you see kids walking around with the Godzilla t-shirt. Even if it’s not [our] Godzilla. I’m just glad that it’s gone up a notch in pop culture, you know.
