Mike Dougherty would like to make a prehistoric Godzilla movie

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

TRICK 'R TREAT director Mike Dougherty appears to have made a perfect Godzilla movie with his GODZILLA 2014 sequel GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS, and we'll have our chance to see whether it is perfect or not when it reaches theatres in just three weeks.

While we wait to see how KING OF THE MONSTERS has turned out, SFX Magazine has published an interesting interview with Dougherty in which he discusses the new film, the upcoming MonsterVerse mash-up GODZILLA VS. KONG, and the Godzilla film he daydreams of making.

Delving into the look of Godzilla himself in the new movie and how it differs from the "brilliant" design seen in Gareth Edward's 2014 film, Dougherty said: 

I tweaked the back spikes, to bring them closer to the original 1954 spikes, because those were always my favorite. They are a very sculpted  design – they almost look like fossilized fire. I also felt his spikes should be bigger, because in my mind his spikes are also his crown. If Godzilla's swimming straight at you, you see a beautiful silhouette if the spikes are big enough to crest above his head. I gave him slightly larger feet, because I felt a predator of his size would need to use his hind claws to tear into his prey. And I have him a slight club-like tail, inspired by the previous films. A little bit less pointed. Godzilla's never the same in any film, so I felt like I was continuing a tradition."

Godzilla is joined in the new film by fellow classic monsters Ghidorah, Rodan, and Mothra. Dougherty confirms that he couldn't see a way to include the twin fairies that usually accompany Mothra in a follow-up to Edwards' more grounded GODZILLA, but says that his film does "embrace certain fantastical concepts" that might not have worked in Edwards film, opening the door to the addition of more outlandish elements – like the twin fairies – as the franchise continues (if it does). Doughtery compares this to way the Marvel Cinematic Universe films started out being more grounded but brought in more cosmic elements as they went along.

During the interview, Dougherty mentioned that he has contributed to the script for director Adam Wingard's GODZILLA VS. KONG, which will see Godzilla crossing paths with the version of Kong introduced in Jordan Vogt-Roberts' KONG: SKULL ISLAND. Previous reports had only named Terry Rossio as the film's screenwriter. GODZILLA VS. KONG is just ten months away, scheduled to be released on March 13, 2020.

Dougherty has now worked on two Godzilla projects with both GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS and GODZILLA VS. KONG, but he's not out of ideas for the Big G just yet. When asked what he'd like to see happen next for Godzilla, Dougherty daydreamed about a Godzilla story set in the past.

I like the idea of going back in time and telling creatures' stories from different eras. SKULL ISLAND was set in the '70s, but personally I'd like to do GODZILLA B.C., go back to ancient times and really see the Ray Harryhausen-esque world where primitive humans had to try to survive with these creatures. Maybe we'd get to see the first time mankind truly encountered Godzilla, and get to see how that relationship was christened."

That sounds awesome to me, but I don't really expect to see the MonsterVerse go in that direction.

Scripted by Dougherty, his KRAMPUS co-writer Zach Shields, and GODZILLA / KONG: SKULL ISLAND's Max Borenstein, GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS centers on 

the heroic efforts of Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient super-species thought to be mere myths rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.

The film stars Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, Zhang Ziyi, Aisha Hinds, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Randy Havens, Jonathan Howard, Anthony Ramos, Bradley Whitford, Elizabeth Ludlow, David Strathairn, and Ken Watanabe, with Jason Liles, Richard Dorton, and Alex Maxson providing the motion capture performances for Ghidorah's three heads.

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS will be released on May 31st.