Legendary Pictures' expensive "Godzilla" reboot has been having a rough time in the public eye of late. It's scheduled to go into production soon, but the production company is embroiled in two lawsuits; one with the producers Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Doug Davison who claim they are being booted from the monster movie by Legendary. It's near the 11th hour too and "The Shawshank Redemption," "Walking Dead" writer/director Frank Darabont was brought on board to do a final rewrite on the movie. And then there's the actors who have publicly passed on the lead role, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and others who have evidently been offered the lead (Aaron Johnson) who haven't responded in almost a month (our guess is Johnson also passed). So, is "Godzilla" in trouble? Or is it just business as usual with tentpoles that seem to put the horse before the cart these days?
Well, some things are moving forward including casting. While it's not the lead role — Henry Cavill, Scoot McNairy & Caleb Landry were also being considered at one point — two new names have entered the mix: both "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Olsen are in talks to take roles in the movie according to Variety. The trade mentions Johnson is in talks, but offers no update. Variety also stresses that no deals will be completed until Darabont's finished script materializes and that makes you wonder how mediocre the original one was (and/or why it was greenlit in the first place).
Gareth Edwards, best known for directing the 2010 independent film "Monsters," is at the helm. "Godzilla" is set to begin production next month and already has a release date of May 16, 2014. For more on Legendary's potentially unsure days, be sure to check out this recent New York Times profile on Legendary and its chief Thomas Tull. Choice lines include "The Warner Bros./Legendary relationship oscillates between cool and frosty," and the fact that Legendary are taking on a bigger risk with "Pacific Rim," for which they are shouldering 75 percent of the cost, instead of their usually safer split.