Gareth Edwards: How soon Production for Godzilla Sequel begins Depends on China

@ThePike , @Panthalassan , @Durp004, @Talisman, @NerdyBandGeeks 

- Just to update you guys on the reviews for Godzilla 2014 in China. The first wave of audiences have given their early verdict. In 2 days Godzilla has dropped from a rating of 7.4 to 6.7 as of now on China's Douban.com - one of the country's most popular movie sites.

Almost close to 29,000 users have given their rating so far, along with over 16,000 comments on the site. Of the people who rated Godzilla, 10.8% felt the movie was excellent, 31.7% thought it was good, 44.3% of them felt it was average, while 10.4% said it was not good, and a remaining 2.8% said it was mediocre, resulting in the current score of 6.7. 

Oddly, of the comments/reviews that were positive, they mostly contained the keyword 'Ultraman', with many saying that Godzilla is the new incarnation of Ultraman - Savior of Mankind. The association with Ultraman is also mixed with sacarsm and humor saying its time for Ultraman to retire. While comments that were negative blasted the movie mainly for the poor storyline and the minute amount of time the audience actually gets a decent view of Godzilla.  

After the movie's screening, China News Network posted an article yesterday in Chinese stating: ' The New Godzilla - Watch it or not, you'll regret it both ways. '

To sum up the article, the reviewer basically attacks the storyline, saying its illogical and weak, and immeasurable to Pacific Rim. Instead of turning out to be a classic monster-flick, Godzilla transforms into an Ultraman of sorts, destroys the MUTOs, and roars before leaving for the sea, as if telling humanity there's no need for thanks, it's his pleasure. In the end, Godzilla's image as King of the Monsters has been tarnished.

Meanwhile today, China's XinHua News Network posted a rather insulting article with the header: ' Godzilla takes over from Ultraman. King of Monsters becomes the new companion of the wretched humans. '

It's in Chinese: http://news.xinhuanet.com/ent/2014-06/17/c_126629496.htm

To translate it, it bascially says many members of the audience now think Ultraman is about to lose his job as savior of Mankind because it now comes in the form of Godzilla. And Godzilla now proclaims 'I represent Justice!' It adds that if you are watching the movie expecting a big bad lizard to wreak havoc, you will be disappointed because Godzilla has just become Mankind's largest and most reliable sidekick. Some female members of the audience when interviewed said " This Godzilla is simply a hit and makes for the best Pet of the year! When you are happy, you can bring it out for a ride in the sea, and when you are in danger, it braves fire and water to save you. And when its time to rest, reporters can take glamor shots at your pet before it waves goodbye to them. Simply like a Boss! "

And lastly, another entertainment news outlet interviewed Gareth E yesterday, asking him why is Godzilla so 'friendly' towards humans? The article also contains negative remarks about the film.  http://ent.qq.com/a/20140615/027418.htm

THEPIKE- Listen. Godzilla was in know way friendly towards humans in this movie. He just didnt really mind them. And he is in know way ultraman. Just he is a Force of nature who protects the earth, And doesnt care about the humans whatsoever. Remember guys, This is just the first movie of the new age. The sequel is gonna be much better.

lol destroyahx you're being an ass here. i was making an actual valid argument and then you call me naive/troll. and when people call you a hater, you tell them to chill. please explain who should be the one who needs to "chill", and who is the actual troll.

of course gareth didn't make it JUST for godzilla fans, but he definitely put godzilla fans as his priority to please. look, he's trying to satisfy godzilla fans, and then still trying to hit what mainstream audience wants. isn't that what a director should be about? seriously i can't believe you're actually argueing whether he's doing it for the money or not- ANY GODZILLA fan would understand once they have watched the movie. I, for one, has watched it 3 times on imax- thats how crazy I am about godzilla.

its freaking pointless talking to someone who doesn't try to take in whatever you just say, and instantly put a label on it as naivety. also, the only reason why you cannot remember one iconic scene from the movie is because there are WAY too many. that's the problem i guess, usually the grand scale works alot better when you have a snooze fest for 80% of the movie. gareth has tried to pull grand scenes off in too many parts of the movie, but his art direction is still impeccable. the only criticism i have for godzilla is for ATJ's performance (and even to a worse degree, beth olsen).

Moderator(s) you may want to take note: 

Have reported the above comments by @SelimBradley (Suspected clone account of somebody in this forum) with that name-calling and two posts this person made are trolling comments that bear no relevance to the topic except to irritate. Of all places/threads to post comments, it's funny for someone with only 1 post history to make two postings here, and he starts calling people an ass. :)

@SelimBradley:

If what you are saying is not trolling,  then please show me where you got the source that says Gareth Edwards himself stating he directed/produced this movie solely to please his Fans nor does he care how much money this movie makes? And also please tell me where is the source when you say Gareth Edwards is in this not for the money/fame or some other holy reason, when he is merely funded by Legendary and given the nod by the studios and he doesn't run his own movie studio if you realise?

Appreciate if you don't lump what you think and put words into another person's mouth and state that it's Gareth's own words. Thanks. 

DestroyahX- That post i just made was directed at you not pike.

@GorillaGodzilla - Yes, have read your comments. But I guess we can't stop the Chinese from thinking that way, though to be honest I kinda dislike them associating Godzilla with Ultraman and I dun even know why they put Godzilla and Ultraman in the league. In fact even before the Chinese from China said that, I have already seen Malaysians and Hong Kong Chinese too associating Godzilla with Ultraman. 

I think the worst comment I've heard now is them calling Godzilla the Pet of the Year. 

This the problem guys. Its a perecption problem. 

Godzilla has become this gentle beast who is similar to Ultra Man.

I mean, of all things. 

Look back to Godzilla 2000 for a moment. What does Godzilla do after victory?

Does he take a nap? Does he gently go back to the ocean while people cheer?

NO! He goes on a rampage. That is Godzilla. Even the "hero" Godzilla could go on a rampage.

By not having him take the military on directly, you loose much of that feeling about him.

Okay, he didn't take on the military, does he have to also lie down and nap in the dirt?

Did he really need Ford to save him ontop of all of that as well?

How does that set up for the sequels?

Who will save Godzilla in the future battles with stronger monsters? Will he lie down in the dirt again?

Will he again dive beneath aircraft carriers and have a military escort?

Things like that go a long way and it went and made Godzilla much less then what he could have been.

Talisman- Let me educate your, "Smash brain brain." Godzilla in the old movies, Wait for it Fell down and took NAPS TO HEAL HIMSELF TO. Go watch the old movies and see your SMASH AND BASHIN LIZARD. He naps heals himself and gets back up and fights. Except in this one he falls over because of getting smashed on the back by a building, In the old ones he got pooped on by hedorah. Also at the end after he did one of the most epic things ever the ATOMIC KISS he was so burnt out after swimming to hawaii then san fransico and nevada he fell down rested for a few hours gets back up walks away like a boss and goes away, Just like in Godzilla vs the smog monster. The napping is his regeneration factor Not falling in the dirt you dumby. Read this And understand it your idiotic perifrian.

Talisman- The millitary was of no threat or care to godzilla he didnt mind the ships there because he knew they wore nothing against him and he went under the carrier because, Think about it. Your trying to get to a destination do you want to slam into something? really? Take some therapy and cure your smash and bash brain so we can have a civilised conversation and talk like adults about how cool this movie was.

ALSO FORD NEVER SAVED HIM??

Guys, Chinese audience perception aside, there's another piece of update on the US Box-Office. Godzilla is down one spot this week in the US at #7. The past Friday to Sunday, 13th to 15th June combined sales is at $3.2 million, which is an average of about $1 million. 

For the beginning of this week Monday 16/6, Godzilla brought in $385,000. For a day-to-day comparison, what Godzilla makes per day, X-men is still making at least 2-3 times as much. I also noted that Godzilla initially opened to over 3,900 cinema screens across US, similar to X-Men but now it is down to 2,088. 

Let me provide a simple calculation below by comparing Godzilla to X-men and Neighbours which each debuted 1 week apart:

X-Men Days of Future Past: (25 day debut)

(Initial) 4001 screens (To date) 3042 - Reduction of 959 screens = Average loss of 38 screens per day. 

Godzilla: (32 day debut)

(Initial) 3952 screens (To date) 2088 - Reduction of 1864 screens = Average loss of 58 screens per day. 

Neighbours: (39 day debut)

(Initial) 3311 (To date) 1896 - Reduction of 1415 screens = Average loss of 36 screens per day. 

GORILLAGODZILLA77897

This is perception and its the first movie. You want to establish Godzilla as awesome,

as "The King of the Monsters" not "King of the sleepers"

IN the old movies, Godzilla upon victory doesn't usually stumble fall down and take a nap

in the dirt. Godzilla 2000, he went on a rampage. Godzilla vs Gigan he went to the ocean and swam away. In that he had blood pouring out of his head.

In Raids Again, he had a very lengthy battle and still had the will to keep on fighting.

Saving Godzilla should have been in the 3rd movie.

What happens now? Godzilla only faces monsters weaker than the Mutos?

Or are you advocating he is to be saved in each movie?

Moroever, how did the Godzilla species ever survive? Two Mutos had Godzilla at their mercy. Seeing the number of eggs, it seems to me that they would vastly outnumber the Godzilla species and Godzilla couldn't really handle two of them.

So now instead of "The King of the Monsters" we have a monster that when facing strong opponents must rely on human help.

Either that or the sequels must use weaker creatures. Which kinda sucks imho.

Its also apparent that he will need his nap time right after battles so we can throw out his rampage after victory as in Godzilla 2000.

Godzilla 2014 needed Ford to save him

Godzilla 2014 needed Ford to distract the Muto for the behind the back attack

Godzilla 2014 had to lie in the dirt right after.

Sorry man, that just doesn't sit well with me. That is not how you establish something as being "The King of the monsters" or "Natures revenge"

I didn't wait all these years to start glorifying that type of Godzilla.

Sure Godzilla needed human help under certain situations with monsters of incredible power like Ghidorah, but not in all the flims and certainly NOT IN THE FIRST FILM.

save that type of stuff for the sequels as the monsters become stronger.

Dood did i not jsut say he falls over to use his healing factor! And like i said this Godzilla DOESNT GIVE A FREAKING DAMN ABOUT HUMANS. Thats why he doesnt destroy them. When he falls over he regenerates not a nap. Look up some godzilla history and stop basing it off of Godzilla 2000 Which wasnt that good, It was a Smash and Bash film.

Destroyah-x- Thanks for all the useful info. I think you're trying to give a helpful perspective and some people are just thumbing their noses at what seems pretty clear. I'm not arguing with anyone anyomre. It's starting to get a little absurd I think and I don't feel like getting sucked into it any more than I already have been. The core of your argument is correct. The numbers tell an important story. If you should happen to keep us updated on the box office, I will be reading with interest.

Godzilla also isn't a sequel. X-Men has 7 films under their belt. Yes, Godzilla has... 28? 29? But those really don't count. Not in the majority of the world. That hurts it a bit.

But you're right on most every other account. The movie was recieved luke warmly. A poor script that jumped around with only stereo typical characters as opposed to real character arcs or development. The teases of what we really came to see certainly didn't help. Still, even after the '98 debacle, we can't seem to make a Godzilla movie.

Wolfguy Just no, Please no Dont even compare this one to 98. THIS IS A ACTUALL GODZILLA FILM. THIS FORUM SECTION SHOULD BE CALLED THE HATER ROW I MEAN GOD. The movie was great in its own way. It wasnt meant to be a SMASH AND BASH FILM HOW MANY DANG TIMES MUST I SAY THAT. You all just wanted a film with know story and just godzilla fighting. Every seen Godzilla was in was perfect AND THIS IS JUST 1 FILM WAIT FOR THE SEQUELS. Consider this is like the intro of a new video game doesnt show to much But wait until you get in that game WOO.

Ok here goes. On behalf of all the members who have responded to this thread, this is my message and last reminder to you @GorillaGodzilla:

1. Yes, we already get it. You think Godzilla 2014 is great, you understand where Gareth Edwards is coming from and how he directs the movie. Good for you but this is your perception, and you need to understand that not everyone has that same perception nor should they follow what you think. That's why there's a term called an 'Opinion' and that's why we have a place called a 'Forum' isn't it? Nobody is stopping you from thinking what you want, but it appears your responses to the members here are starting to get aggressive and personal here, so you need to Cool it. By the way using a lot of Caps in your words is not going to make your argument any better or convincing. Thank you.

2. You think Godzilla 2014 deserves to be one of the best movies and you are trying to convince others through your arguments in this thread. Good for you, but not everyone is convinced. No, not even the millions out there who watched Godzilla. The fact remains, I have provided the statistics and Box-office numbers so far. There is simply no denying that Godzilla is indeed under-performing ever since it launched with an explosive start. If audiences are indeed thinking along the same line as you, why are the sales numbers not telling the story? Has it occured to you that the audiences are not convinced with Gareth Edward's direction? If Godzilla 2014 is not convincing them enough, its not your fault, it's lies with Gareth's inability to convince them well enough, and audiences just do not agree well enough to recommend the movie to those around them. While Godzilla has crossed the $450 million mark to date, X-Men and Spider-Man individually are already hitting $700 million. Worst thing is Godzilla opened bigger than both the latter in the first week. We won't deny the box-office numbers to tell the story, there's also no denying that the average reduction of screens per day on Godzilla is happening faster than usual. So why are cinema screens shutting out the movie faster than usual if Godzilla is bringing in money for them, unless its not because patrons are giving the movie a miss? 

3. And lastly, relax man. The fact that people like us here responding in this thread or this forum altogether is not for nothing. We are fans of Godzilla, and who doesn't want the movie to make a Billion dollars? We are just unhappy that Gareth Edwards squandered the opportunity given to him to make Godzilla a true-epic, when the last time we saw Godzilla on the big-screen was 16 years ago. We didn't wait 16 years just to settle for a film that had the right qualities and cast but wrong direction, only to end up making less than $600 million dollars. The long-wait alone is already a strong reason for people to catch Godzilla, which is why Godzilla is Crushing the box-office in the first week because there was so much, so much hype. But the after the first-wave of audiences? Not crushing anymore. Disastrous. What happened? Come on, the King of Monsters losing out to a small man in a spidey-costume and some X-mutants? That's an insult.

DESTROYAH-X 

Very well said. I think it is high time for some fans to realize that there are a number of 

Godzilla fans who were not happy with this, and are not just 'haters'. 

I do believe the numbers are telling. The movie had the most interest, 

it had the greatest 'wave' to ride for success and it fell apart. That responsibility sits squarely on the director's shoulders.

The numbers don't lie. It is true that a lot of movies experienced a drop off this year,

but Godzilla had the largest and movies like X-men have already passed it at the box office despite having less on the opening.

I honestly believe that Legendary knew they had a dud, and marketed in a certain way, to get as many people into the theater as possible.

Just to add one more point.

The trailers for this movie -Teased the Mutos

The trailers showed -Godzilla

The movie itself-teased Godzilla

The movie itself-showed the Mutos

Your left scratching your head. Godzilla was already shown in the trailer! Its obvious that this was a marketing ploy to get in as many people as they could.

Who builds tension in a movie by hiding the creature you already shown in your trailers??