‘Godzilla’ Sequel In The Works At Warner Bros. & Legendary

After opening to $103M internationally — the biggest opening of 2014 so far — and grossing $93M domestic stateside this weekend, it should come as no surprise that Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.‘ are already developing a sequel to the monster hit. It was confirmed to Deadline this morning that a Godzilla sequel is underway. The beast is currently stomping across international markets to take No. 1 spots in most territories.

The picture was directed by Gareth Edwards, a young British director who grew up on Star Wars and Steven Spielberg films. Godzilla has been made into features before over its 60-year history. The first being in 1954 when the Toho character appeared to be nothing more than a man in a rubber suit, but still fascinated both Japanese and American audiences. It was also made into a film in 1998 by Dean Devlin and director Roland Emmerich but had no where near the opening of this current one. In 1998, the film which starred Matthew Broderick, opened to $44M and went onto gross $136.3M. Worldwide, it grossed $379M. This one could double that.

Edwards has talked about what he would do with a sequel, saying he would use the same kind of restraint that he did for this one. He learned well from watching Spielberg films as the monster was only talked about for the first part of this film. And, of course, there were those reaction shots that added to the suspense. Edwards was given the chance by Legendary’s Thomas Tull who put faith in him to pull this off, having previously done Monsters which only grossed $2.6M in total. Tull has played coy in the media on the subject of a sequel, waiting for Godzilla‘s monster opening to confirm sequel plans. As Dan Fellman (WBros. head of domestic distribution) pointed out, they made more in one night (probably one late night run at 7 PM) than Edwards’ movie did in its entire run. Legendary’s Jon Jashni developed this along with Brian Rogers and Mary Parent. Max Borenstein scripted from a story by David Callaham. Alex Garcia at Legendary was instrumental in the development of this film working, closely with both the director and writer.

It should be noted that there is an ongoing legal dispute over payments/credit on Godzilla winding its way through the courts with filmmakers Roy Lee, Dan Lin and Doug Davison who brought the property to Legendary.

The marketing on this film was excellent, with Legendary Pictures in-house team of Emily Castel, Barnaby Legg, Matthew Marolda and Peter Stone working closely with Warner Bros. and those folks who cut the trailer and did the key art and outdoor, namely vendors Trailer Park and Ignition. The promotional spots — really thought the Fiat one was great — were overseen by Gene Garlock who worked with all the Legendary team as well. Kudos all around.

Godzilla surprised everyone right out of the gate in late nights Thursday with a $9.3M haul and continued to rake in the bucks through the weekend. It is the highest IMAX opener so far this year with $14.1M (or 15%) of the domestic gross and IMAX screens brought in 51% of the international gross.

So everyone wants to know: Will Mothra be in the sequel?

After opening to $103M internationally — the biggest opening of 2014 so far

Was Godzilla 1 any good?

It was mostly well received among those long time Godzilla fans.

shortcomings of cast, acting, and plot.

Yeah. But really, have there been many Kaiju movies that really relied heavily on those factors? Maybe a handful at most? Mostly they're just "Everybody run!!! SKREEEEEEOOOONK!!! SMASH!!! CRASH!!!! BOOM!! ROAAAAARRR!!!! CRASH!!! BOOM!!!! good time fun"!

With the Godzilla 2014 sequel being confirmed and the Godzilla 2014 box office results have been excellent. It seems that Legendary Pictures is reportedly reconsidering their stance on keeping the Pacific Rim and Godzilla 2014 reboot franchise separate and that Pacific Rim 2 could be the set up for the Godzilla 2014 and Pacific Rim crossover!

Previously, Legendary Pictures has admitted that the Godzilla and Pacific Rim franchise would be separate from one another but that isn't the case anymore if the reports are to be believed.

The Movie News Hound has reported that due to success of the Godzilla 2014 movie and the resounding positive fan reactions to the Pacific Rim 2 announcement, Legendary Pictures has been planning on doing a crossover of the two franchises after the Godzilla 2 and Pacific Rim 2 movies end.

The Godzilla 2014 movie garnered a better-than-expected $93 million in U.S. ticket sales in its opening weekend and another $103 million from 64 overseas markets, the best international debut so far this year.

According to Business Week, Godzilla crushed in the U.K. and Russia, while Mexico-normally a tiny movie market-ended up as the movie's third-biggest foreign box office, with $9 million in ticket sales.

The massive debut of the Godzilla 2014 movie easily towered over the last time Godzilla hit theaters, in 1998. Adjusted for inflation, that movie grabbed $81 million during its opening weekend.

Legendary Pictures deployed a savvy strategy for attacking consumers. The film made sure not to miss large-format theaters, where fanboys and fangirls were happy to pay premiums for a supersize experience. Some 15 percent of the weekend's ticket revenue came from IMAX theaters, as each of the 353 giant screens that showed the film took in $40,057 on average.

It also helped that the movie isn't terrible, with raves from some critics and a 73 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates professional reviews. Because of all of this, Godzilla 2 and 3 was confirmed by Legendary Pictures.

Do you think that after the Godzilla 2014 sequel and Pacific Rim 2, both franchises would collide? Sound off in the comments below!

I visit a hardcore kaiju board...

Warner Bros. Moves Dates for 'Godzilla 2,' 'Godzilla vs. Kong'

Godzilla fans will have to wait a little longer to see the long-awaited sequel to Gareth Edwards' 2014 hit monster movie.

Warner Bros. has pushed back Godzilla 2 from June 8, 2018, to a new date of March 22, 2019. The studio also has earmarked May 29, 2020, for the sure-to-be epic Godzilla vs. Kong.

Brit director Edwards is set to return to helm Godzilla 2, which will be the third film in the Godzilla-Kong cinematic universe. Kong: Skull Island, starring Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson, will be the second movie, with Godzilla vs. Kong wrapping things up in an almighty showdown.

Kong: Skull Island is set to hit theaters March 10, 2017.