Frank Darabont Discusses His Take on GODZILLA

Earlier this month it was announced that Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead, Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, The Green Mile) would be re-writing Legendary Pictures Godzilla re-make, and the fans went wild! The writer and director recently talked to io9 about his take on the legendary monster.

What I found very interesting about Godzilla is that he started off definitely as a metaphor for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And some of the atom bomb testing we were doing in the South Pacific in the subsequent years. The giant terrifying force of nature that comes and stomps the shit out of your city, that was Godzilla. Filtered through the very fanciful imaginations of the Japanese perception. And then he became Clifford the Big Red Dog in the subsequent films. He became the mascot of Japan, he became the protector of Japan. Another big ugly monster would show up and he would fight that monster to protect Japan. Which I never really quite understood, the shift.

What we're trying to do with the new movie is not have it camp, not have it be campy. We're kind of taking a cool new look at it. But with a lot of tradition in the first film. We want this to be a terrifying force of nature. And what was really cool, for me, is there was a very compelling human drama that I got to weave into it. It's not that cliched, thinly disguised romance or bromance, or whatever. It's different, it's a different set of circumstances than you're used to seeing. And that's tremendously exciting as a writer when you're asked to do something else.

I've noticed a lot of Japanese movies are metaphors Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Darabont is then asked if his Godzilla will represent a different metaphor...

I think there is, but I do believe that there's a margin of interpretation, as Drew mentioned earlier. I love leaving a few crumbs on the table for the audience to determine what they think. Let them bring something to it as well. That's why a movie like The Green Mileis so satisfying or why The Mist is so satisfying to me. Because it stirs their participation and they have interpretation. I've heard metaphors that people apply to Shawshank Redemption, for example, that are fantastic that I never, ever would have thought of. And I say, you know what? You are absolutley right. That is exactly what it means to you. And how satisfying for me to have served you this meal and you identify flavors in it that I never even intended. That's one of the great rewards of what we do.

I never had any doubt that Darabont would give the film an incredible story and script. He and director Gareth Edwards are going to give us one hell of a badass Godzilla movie that I think fans are going to love. At least that's what I'm hoping for. I love what the filmmaker had to say in this interview, and I can't wait to see this movie start taking shape!