WithGareth EdwardsexitingGodzilla 2, Warner Bros. currently needs to fill the director’s chair, and there are some really great candidates who may be up to the challenge. Last week,Warner Bros.announced that they were bumping back the release date forGodzilla 2nine months from June 05, 2025 to July 15, 2025. And very shortly after the date shifted, the studio announced that director Gareth Edwards would be exiting the project as a result. The split with Edwards and the studio was reportedly mutual and there are no bad feelings on either side of the table. Edwards went from working onGodzillato directing the firstStar Warsanthology film, the upcomingStar Wars: Rogue Oneand has other offers on the table that are clearly too hard to pass up.
Though not everyone loved 2010’s AmericanGodzilla, the general feeling from fans and critics was that the movie was definitely a step in the right direction. And ever since Edward’s' first film Monsters, it was clear he knew how to handle these types of stories. So losing him for the sequel is a bit of a set back. However, there are three years between now and the newGodzilla 2release date, so Warner Bros. has plenty of time to find a new director, who they may want to keep on to directGodzilla Vs King Kongas well, which is slated for release just over a year afterGodzilla 2.
The firstGodzillawas a fairly big hit at the box office, managing to scare up $529 million worldwide and was seen as a dramatic improvement over the 1998 Roland Emmerich directed version, which never got a sequel due to poor critical reception. The upcoming sequel is said to feature some of the classicGodzillarogues gallery creatures, such asMothra and Rodan. So who should take the reigns fromGareth Edwardsfor the next installment in the monster movie franchise? Here are a few guys that make sense.
Up until 2015, Brad Peyton looked like the kind of guy that only made family movies that parents had to take their kids to. But whenSan Andreascame out in 2015 it became clear that Peyton could do much more. Granted,San Andreaswasn’t a high-concept film by any means but, it was a very entertaining and effective disaster movie with very good looking effects, and it didn’t hurt that The Rock was in it. But looking through Peyton’s IMDB page, it is clear that he has the tools to take on a big monster flick likeGodzilla 2.
With his work onJourney 2: The Mysterious Islandand the fact that he is re-teaming withDwayne Johnsonfor the video game adaptation Rampage, it is clear that Peyton can work with big creatures in a human environment. Mix that with the already Godzilla-esque citywide destruction displayed in San Andreas, and his credits essentially look like the perfect resume for this type of film. The only potential problem is that Peyton already has three major projects in the works, all starring Johnson, withSan Andreas 2,RampageandJourney 3, though none of them have official release dates as of yet.
42Matt Reeves
Matt Reevesmade a big name for himself when he directed theJ.J. Abramsproduced found footage monster movieCloverfieldin 2010, which was essentially a Godzilla movie that just went by a different name. Reeves is currently in post-production onWar of the Planet of the Apesand as of yet has nothing else announced.Dawn of the Planet of the Apeswas a massive critical and financial success and really built on the success ofRise of the Planet of the Apes, soReeveshas already proven that he can step into a franchise of similar scope and not only do well, but improve upon the material. Warner Bros. could very possibly snatch him up forGodzilla 2, and he would seem to make perfect sense on paper.
33Guillermo Del Toro
This may seem like a very obvious choice, but there is a good reason for that.Guillermo Del Toroproved that he can handle giant monsters as good as anyone withPacific Rimin 2013 and though he isn’t directingPacific Rim 2, he is still going to be heavily involved. That could, however, free him up to take over the director’s chair forGodzilla 2. Warner Bros. handledPacific Rimand worked withDel ToroonCrimson Peak, so he and the studio already have a well established relationship. As of right now,Del Torois working on his as of yet untitled Cold War film for 2017 but beyond that, at least as far as directing is concerned, it looks like Del Toro could slip right into production on the Godzilla sequel after his Cold War movie should it come to pass that Warner Bros. decides to pursue him for it.
24James Gunn
Right now James Gunn is currently neck deep in the highly anticipatedGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2for Marvel Studios, but beyond that, his future is a bit uncertain. Gunn has said he doesn’t know for sure if he will return or not for a presumed third installment ofGuardians, but Marvel has talked with him about sticking with the studio. Even if he did decide to return,Vol. 2comes out next year andVol. 3has yet to even be announced and wouldn’t likely be until 2020 at the earliest, so that would leave time for Gunn to take on another project in the meantime, likeGodzilla 2, for example.
Prior toGuardiansGunn’s only work on big films was as a screenwriter, having written theDawn of the Deadremake and bothScooby Doofilms. But he had also directed smaller films like the dark superhero flickSuperand the cult horror classicSlither. Couple the work on this grittier films with his work onGuardiansand you have the makings of a guy who could really knock it out of the park with a big monster film, especially the rumors of aDestroy All Monstersremake being the case for theGodzilla sequel. The big question is, would Gunn even want to do aGodzillamovie in the first place? But there is no doubt he would be a solid and very likely popular choice.
15Alfonso Cuaron
This may seem like a bit of a long shot, but there is absolutely no doubt thatAlfonso Cuaronhas the tools to absolutely kill a monster movie likeGodzilla 2, and he already has a well established relationship with Warner Bros. Cuaron hasn’t directed a film sinceGravityand as it stands, he has no film lined up, so his schedule is wide open.Gravitywas a massive critical and financial success, but more than that, it was one of the most pure visual cinematic experiences moviegoers have been treated to in a very long time.
Cuaron also directed what many consider to be one of the if not the best of theHarry Potterseries withHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which helped to shift the tone of those films for every director that followed in his footsteps. Curaon is a truly artistic filmmaker that knows how to mix story with spectacle, and this is exactly whatGodzillaneeds in order to be more than just loud popcorn cinema. If Warner Bros. can lure him to the director’s chair forGodzilla 2, it would really help to ease the sting of Edward’s leaving and make the longer wait worth it.
As of right now Warner Bros hasn’t made any announcements about who might be in line to direct Godzilla 2, which was written by Godzilla scribe Max Borenstein, but at the very least rumors should start circulating soon and it would be hard to imagine one of these guys won’t at least get a call. Godzilla 2 will be followed up by Godzilla Vs King Kong on August 07, 2025 and Kong: Skull Island is set for a release next year. Be sure to stay tuned for more updates on Godzilla 2 as soon as more information comes in.
