Background and Trivia |
- Sony submitted the film to the US copyright office on May 15th, 1998 with the registration number of PAU002235911. The title used was Godzilla, although it included the Romaji version, Gojira, and the movie's secretive working title, The Big Fin.
- In 1992, Toho and TriStar signed a deal to make an American Godzilla movie, which was announced in October of that year. This is reported to include an upfront fee of $400,000 plus other undisclosed terms. Cited in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
- James Cameron, Tim Burton and David Fincher were all tapped at one point or another to direct the movie. Noted in the May 25th, 1998 issue of Time.
- On May 2nd, 1996, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were announced to be attached to the GODZILLA project. Roland Emmerich, set to direct the movie, originally pitched using more models and going with a budget of around $65 million. After their film Independance Day was a hit, though, this idea was tossed away and emphasis was placed on more expensive CGI shots. Noted in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
- When director Steven Spielberg heard that Roland Emmerich was contemplating the project, he tried to talk him out of it, calling the remake a "silly concept". Emmerich responded with a smile, "I don't know. Big Lizard eats Big Apple. I like it." Noted in the May 25th, 1998 issue of Time.
- The first screenplay for the movie was submitted on December 19th, 1996, following a five week retreat by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where they could focus on the script. Discussed in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
- Centropolis Effects employed more than 60 animators who worked on the digital effects in the movie. Mentioned in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
- Several large models and props were created for the movie. This includes a 300 pound, 1/24 scale model of the Flatiron building, which is destroyed accidentally by the military. A 1/24 scale version of the Chrysler Building, which is accidentally attacked by helicopters, was also built. A 35 foot ship model was created for the movie, originally as an oil tanker. However, the script was revised so that Godzilla attacked a fishing vessel at the start, requiring it to be repurposed. The attack sequence involving this ship was filmed at Universal Studios. Noted in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
- The catch phrase for the American promotion campaign was "Size Does Matter".
- It was noted that the marketing budget for the movie was over $50 million in the Los Angeles Times.
- To promote the movie, two music videos were created around the production. One featured Puff Daddy and Jimmy Paige with the song "Come With Me", while another featured the band The Wallflowers and the song "Heroes". The latter was released on the home video editions of the movie in the United States.
- Promotional partners, according to the Los Angeles Times, invested more than a combined $150 million in tie-ins for GODZILLA. Partners included Taco Bell, Hershey, Duracell, Trendmasters, Electronic Arts and more.
- The movie's tight production schedule, given the huge amount of special effects, didn't allow for test screenings. Writer Dean Devlin laments on this fact, noting that they were "so determined to make [the May 20th date] that we built a schedule where we couldn't screen test, and we should have. I think we really could have improved the film…". Cited in the September issue of the The Star-Democrat.
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