The earliest pitch for a "Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla"-type film. With the Hollywood version of Godzilla on the horizon, ideas for the next Japanese Godzilla movie began to circulate. Even before the release of Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994), special effects director Koichi Kawakita knew the end was in sight, realizing how the constant "monster versus monster" showdowns were beginning to wear on moviegoers. Because of this, the major theme for the tentatively titled "Godzilla 7" would be "Godzilla dies", to which producer Shogo Tomiyama did not object. While Godzilla and an opposing monster fighting would remain the foundation of the story, the primary objective of "Godzilla 7" was to be the final project of this "VS Series" of movies.
While Kawakita was confident in this direction, he still required the consent of one more person: Tomoyuki Tanaka. Toho's long-time producer and the creator of Godzilla, Tanaka was resting at home due to his failing health from old age, and as a result had been absent from the discussions to kill off Godzilla. However, when presented with the idea, Tanaka accepted it without hesitation, believing that the essence of film entertainment was to "surprise" moviegoers in unexpected ways, in turn drawing in a greater audience. Though now on board with the project, Tanaka had two conditions: "give a death worthy to a big star like Godzilla", and "this will not be the end, Godzilla's death will lead to something new". Thus, work on "Godzilla 7" officially began in November of 1994.
Before passing the baton to the Hollywood version of Godzilla, Tomiyama aimed to create something that resonated as strongly with the original Godzilla (1954) as The Return of Godzilla (1984) had when this reboot series began. From this, the idea of "Ghost Godzilla" was born, and sometime in late November, Tomiyama submitted his proposal: Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla. Unlike traditional scripts, Tomiyama's draft was handled very differently, beginning with a brief synopsis of how Ghost Godzilla came to be, then describing in greater detail the monster's powers, behavior, and motivations in the form of a list. The list of Ghost Godzilla's "special abilities and features" make up the majority of the draft, with its supernatural abilities said to have resulted from the combination of Ghost's bioenergy and LittleGodzilla's living form.
Following his proposal, Tomiyama wished for a more substantial script to be made. As work finished on Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) in November of 1994, Tomiyama approached screenwriter Kazuki Omori, the first person to truly kick off the "VS Series" with his directorial work on Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989). Omori, who was in the middle of shooting Broken Heart (1995), was tasked to create his own adaptation of the Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla proposal - resulting in Godzilla vs. Godzilla (Story Plan A), which would feature a more fleshed-out story with human characters and the introduction of the deadly Neo Oxygen Destroyer. |