Dean Devlin Shares His 2 Biggest Mistakes With 1998's GODZILLA

Dean Devlin Shares His 2 Biggest Mistakes With 1998's GODZILLA

On Sunday, Hollywood screenwriter and producer, Dean Devlin, participated in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) to promote The Librarians. He answered questions about his Godzilla film, Independence Day and Stargate. Check it out.

By nailbiter111 - Dec 07, 2014 07:12 PM EST
Filed Under: Sci-Fi
Source: Dean Devlin

Most people quickly dismiss 1998's Godzilla as a flop. I've always found that to be quite funny as it actually made a sizeable profit. I understand people don't like the film, which is fine, but being disappointed with it doesn't change the fact that it made money. Think about this, 2014's Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards, cost $160M and generated $525M at the worldwide box office. Everyone regards that film as a monster-hit. If we look at 1998's Godzilla, it cost $130M to make and generated $379M at the worldwide box office. At first, you would think the 2014 film came out on top, but most people forget about this little thing called inflation. In a 2013 Forbes article, they ran the numbers and figured out that 1998's Godzilla would cost $219M in 2013 and it would've grossed $613M worldwide. Now it seems about even, but it's not. Those figures only factor in inflation, but don't factor in "15 years of overseas box office expansion" or IMAX and "3D upcharges." When you do that the 1998 Godzilla film easily comes out ahead.

I bring all of this up because producer-writer Dean Devlin participated in a Reddit AMA today and spent some of his time answering questions about 1998's Godzilla. Devlin feels that "some of the backlash" was warranted and "some was an overreation." He believes a lot of the problems with his Godzilla stem from two mistakes that he made.
DEAN DEVLIN: There are 2 flaws, for me, in Godzilla, that really hurt the film. And both of those flaws I am responsible for. The first is we did not commit to anthropomorphizing Godzilla - meaning we did not decide if he was a heroic character, or a villainous character. We made the intellectual decision to have him be neither and just simply an animal trying to survive. This was a big mistake. The second mistake was deciding to exposit the characters' background in the middle of the film rather than in the first act (where we always do). At the time we told the audience who these characters were, they had already made their minds up about them and we could not change that perception. These were 2 serious mistakes in the writing of the film, and I take full responsibility.


Devlin also spent time answering questions about Independence Day and its upcoming sequel, which will land in theaters July 4, 2016. He hopes David Arnold, who composed the original's score will return for the sequel. Arnold previously worked with Devlin and Roland Emmerich on Godzilla and Stargate. "I would love to work with him again," Devlin gushed. Of course, people wanted to ask about Will Smith, who passed on the sequel. Devlin confessed that he and his fellow writers "had to do a pretty big rewrite" once they knew there was no way Smith was returning. Though, he did promise that "there are some favorites" from the first film that were returning.

Devlin even addressed the "plot hole" regarding Jeff Goldblum's character using a human computer virus to penetrate and disable an alien computer system:
DEAN DEVLIN: Okay: what Jeff Goldblum's character discovered was that the programming structure of the alien ship was a binary code. And as any beginning programmer can tell you, binary code is a series of ones and zeroes. What Goldblum's character did was turn the ones into zeroes and the zeroes into ones, effectively reversing the code that was sent.


After Devlin and Emmerich wrap Independence Day 2 they plan to start production on their reboot of Stargate. So, why reboot it? When they made Stargate in 1994 it was "originally created to be a trilogy," but for whatever reason the sequels never happened.
DEAN DEVLIN: Now, 20 years later, we feel it's too late to do those sequels. So our plan is to re-boot that trilogy sometime next year, and present them as they were originally intended to be.


Lastly, Devlin shared an entertaining story involving his two male leads on the set of the 1992 science-fiction film, Universal Soldier.
DEAN DEVLIN: During the shoot of the movie, Jean-Claude van Damme and Dolph decided they were going to a "best body" contest. They set the date several weeks ahead, and they began training every single day in between shots to win the competition. When the day finally arrived, both men took off their shirts and posed during lunch. The crew wrote down their votes. And when the votes were tallied, Gary our camera operator... won. Both Jean-Claude van Damme and Dolph Lundgren were very upset.


Following the French atomic bomb tests in the South Pacific, an unknown creature is spotted passing westward through the Panama Canal. Scientist Niko Tatopolous is called in to investigate the matter, and he quickly arrives at the conclusion that a giant, irradiated lizard has been created by the explosions. Godzilla then makes its way north, landing at Manhattan to begin wreaking havoc in the big city. Even with the combined forces of the U.S. military to fight the monster, will it be enough to save the people of New York?

Actors: Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo & Hank Azaria
Director: Roland Emmerich * Screenwriters: Roland Emmerich & Dean Devlin
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RamonSuarez
RamonSuarez - 12/7/2014, 8:00 PM
He's dead on with no anthropomorphizing Godzilla. The whole point of Godzilla is that it's a very human monster with human reactions not just a wild animal run amok.

The lack of radioactive breath didn't help either.
FightingCommander
FightingCommander - 12/7/2014, 8:02 PM
Those figures don't factor in 15 years of likelihood that something better would've been done with Godzilla instead, so no, they don't mean squat.
Deschain99
Deschain99 - 12/7/2014, 8:06 PM
"Dean Devlin Shares His 2 Biggest Mistakes With 1998's GODZILLA

I thought this was gonna be a "Matthew Broderick " joke.
paulyd3
paulyd3 - 12/7/2014, 8:24 PM
how about Godzilla looks nothing like or behaves nothing Like the other Godzillas from the past 40 years how about that dumb asses. let's not forget the horrible egg Laying crap. oh yeah also Godzilla dies from two missEl shots. not to mention there's not another monster for Godzilla to fight this movie was horrible beyond belief
nikgrid
nikgrid - 12/7/2014, 8:39 PM
Ummm...making the film.
Schmoopy
Schmoopy - 12/7/2014, 8:40 PM
I REALLY wanted Will Smith to return and do the theme song. I hope he does the theme song for Suicide Squad.
Butthole
Butthole - 12/7/2014, 8:44 PM
Man, I loved Stargate. As a kid it just seemed "real". Like the whole Egyptian theme was legit. I feel like of they did it now it'd feel too forced and you wouldn't get lost in it.
FightingCommander
FightingCommander - 12/7/2014, 8:55 PM
Factoring in inflation or even market expansion doesn't mean, to use another example, that a 1998 Toyota Camry would make more money than the current model if it were released instead.
Nemeres
Nemeres - 12/7/2014, 9:03 PM
Another problem: lack of a sense of friggin THREAT. Godzilla shows up, destroys stuff... then two seconds later people are still taking the subway, talking about relationships, buying stuff in pharmacies, etc. Any sense of build-up or momentum, bang, dead.

But I love ID4. Love that silly movie to bits. So thanks for that, Devlin my man.
Dingbat
Dingbat - 12/7/2014, 9:22 PM
I could forgive all of that if the characters, dialogue, and screenplay were decent.
Reasonnnn
Reasonnnn - 12/7/2014, 9:52 PM
lmao at JCVD and Dolph being pissed
KingEmperor
KingEmperor - 12/7/2014, 10:14 PM
He only found two flaws in the movie...?
animeex
animeex - 12/7/2014, 11:14 PM
The two mistakes... Making it and showing it. LOL! I do have to say tho... It is funny when the real Godzilla slaps him and kills him with a swing of the tail in Godzilla Final Wars.
Humperdink
Humperdink - 12/8/2014, 12:46 AM

@npamusic

@nailbiter111 The IPDay sequel doesn't land in theaters on July 4, 2016..

It's coming out on June 24, 2016.


Perhaps that's an international release date for a specific country since Independence Day doesn't mean anything much for those outside of the U.S., but it definitely will be released to play during the July 4th weekend here in the States.

For obvious reasons.
Grodd87
Grodd87 - 12/8/2014, 2:24 AM
U can't forget the horrible puff daddy song to
Hogan
Hogan - 12/8/2014, 2:44 AM
While admitting that the movie was ripe with stupidity I was another one who actually liked the move - just never thought it should been called Godzilla. (GINO - Godazila In Name Only). Main reason for me was - he didn't look like Godzilla in ANY way what so ever. Thought they were FINALLY going to admit that. Sigh.
GUNSMITH
GUNSMITH - 12/8/2014, 3:00 AM
THIS MOVIE WAS A TOTAL PIECE OF SH!#. CALL IT GODZILLA BUT CHANGING STUFF WILL GET YOU NOTHING BUT HATE.BE A FAN, LISTEN TO FANS, GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT...SIMPLE FORMULA. YOU WANNA BE UNIQUE AN HAVE ARTISTIC CREATIVITY TO PUT YOUR OWN STAMP ON IT, HEY THATS COOL. BUT YOU GOTTA DO IT WITHIN BOUNDARIES SET BY WHAT MOST FANS KINDA EXPECT OR ANTICIPATE SEEING. THAT JURASSIC PARK BS WAS JUST STUPID....STUPID.
GUNSMITH
GUNSMITH - 12/8/2014, 3:01 AM
THAT MOVIE WAS "DRAGON BALLED"
VictorHugo
VictorHugo - 12/8/2014, 4:29 AM
@Butthole

Indeed, STARGATE was a flawless, beautiful movie with gorgeous photography and amazing soundtrack.
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 12/8/2014, 5:01 AM
Godzilla was too much like a T Rex and his size changed consistently through out the movie.
So glad Godzilla got rebooted in 2014.
TheRealIntruder
TheRealIntruder - 12/8/2014, 5:04 AM
James Spader was the bomb in Stargate!
TheRealIntruder
TheRealIntruder - 12/8/2014, 5:07 AM
Do yourselves a favor and watch the Half in The Bag episode where they discuss both Godzilla's 98 & 14. Also Rich Evans reaction during the pile of fish used as a trap scene. Lmao.. So good.
TheNameIsBetty
TheNameIsBetty - 12/8/2014, 5:22 AM
I liked it. Soundtrack was decent. I was inspired by the "We Can Be Heroes" motif
osideous
osideous - 12/8/2014, 5:47 AM
Lmfao he has no clue what anthropomorphic in means. He also is out if touch if he thinks that was what the problems with the movie were. Also don't use inflation as a factor. It's bullshit. The 1998 Godzilla would have cost less to make now with advancements in technology and shit. That whole inflation excuse drives me crazy.
capaware
capaware - 12/8/2014, 6:03 AM
The biggest problem with Devlin's GODZILLA is that Godzilla never appeared in the movie. Devlin's lack of respect for the original character and films was bound to tick off Godzilla fans--especially when the design for their FRAUDzilla was leaked out before the film and he denied that it was the actual design because fans hated it. How could he think that LYING to the fans was going to earn him anything other than wrath? The second biggest problem was the constant ripping off of JURASSIC PARK. I remember a little girl telling her father as we left the theater that it was "just a big rip-off of JURASSIC PARK." Out of the mouths of babes! Then there was that ridiculous car chase where a "Godzilla" who earlier outran jet planes couldn't catch a cab, a "Godzilla" who runs away from the military, the baby Raptor-zillas, the horrible acting, Mayor Ebert, etc., etc. I hardly think that waiting until the middle of the film to explain who the characters were made any difference because nobody cared about them to begin with. Just admit it, Devlin--the entire film was a disaster from beginning to end. The only way I'll ever watch it again is with the commentary by RiffTrax.
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 12/8/2014, 6:25 AM
I don't know why everyone hated the 1998 Godzilla movie.. It was like how Singer makes Xmen movies.. Take the concept of something that didn't need to be changed and change it to make a schitty movie;)



@TheRealIntruder

Stargate to this day is still an amazing movie and great fx for its time. My favorite Kurt Russell movie next to Big Trouble in Little China…

HeadlessJensen
HeadlessJensen - 12/8/2014, 6:50 AM
1998 Godzilla had it's issues, but I look at it as a good ole fashioned popcorn flick. Don't look for a deep story, you won't find it. It was more goofy than serious anyway. It served it's purpose for what it was. Kudos to Dean Devlin for admitting his mistakes, but we have New Godzilla to move forward with.
sKeemAn
sKeemAn - 12/8/2014, 10:02 AM
Godzilla (1998) was not the worst movie. I personally dont think it should have been called Godzilla. It barely paid any homage to the original characte. I think thats what gets the most people upset about this movie.

Stargate was an incredible movie. Spader & Russell were awesome. I really wanted them to do a sequel together. I did watch the entire series on Netflix. I enjoyed the stories more than the characters.
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