There were 520 million good reasons for a Godzilla sequel – add another for the involvement of its talented director Gareth Edwards - but despite a healthy show at the box office, questions lingered. Was there enough of Gojira on show? What were those M.U.T.O.s up to? Did it all get a little bogged down paying fealty to its Toho roots?
The next Godzilla movie is already scheduled for a June 8, 2018 opening. That leaves Edwards time to make Star Wars: Rogue One and writer Max Borenstein time to nut out a screenplay that melds the monster and human elements in a way that offers emotion as well as spectacle. He’s promising both in a sequel that will be “bigger and better” than the first film.
"The response to the first film was really exciting,” he told Collider, "but now that that world is established, we can do bigger and even better things."
If your first thought at this is a bit "like, durr" at this - a screenwriter is hardly likely to tease a sequel that's cheaper and more cobbled–together – the inference is clear. The heavy-lifting in the first film, origins and back stories especially, were an unavoidable impediment to whippy storytelling. Free from having to establish the world, Godzilla 2 could soar.
Borenstein will again be collaborating closely with his director on this one. “He’s making Star Wars right now, so he’s a little preoccupied, but yeah, Gareth is amazing. It’s exciting to get to work with him again."