In collaboration with Sakura Central,
from people who loved the movie,
and some poor souls who worked on it,
Monster Legacy is proud to present
The Manhattan
Project
Echoes of Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla. An in-depth look at what happened behind the making of the 1998 film, from its very inception to the aftermath of its release.
Prod. file GZ-1998 ▪ Premiered May 18, 1998 ▪ Madison Square Garden, New York
Memo 001 // Read before entering
In 1998, Godzilla was released.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. However, almost three decades after its debut, the film occupies a unique niche as a cult phenomenon as well as a controversial point of Godzilla history. This website proposes an in-depth look at what happened behind the making of this film, from its very inception to the aftermath of its release.
The road to May 18, 1998
Production Timeline
Mid-1970s
A long courtship
Henry Saperstein of UPA, who had brought several Godzilla films to American audiences, begins a decade of pressing Toho for an American-made Godzilla picture.
1992
TriStar takes the rights
TriStar Pictures acquires the character rights to Godzilla, with an eye on producing a trilogy of films.
1994
The De Bont dilemma
Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio script the film for director Jan de Bont, and Gojira Productions, Inc. is registered on July 27, 1994. De Bont’s Godzilla was never to be.
1996
Enter Emmerich & Devlin
Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, the team behind Stargate and Independence Day, win Toho’s blessing and write a new script on spec.
1997
A blitzkrieg shoot
After an April production meeting at Sony, principal photography gets underway on a schedule built to deliver the film by May 1998.
May 18, 1998
Premiere night
Godzilla premieres at Madison Square Garden in New York, the culmination of attempts at an American Godzilla film stretching back at least two decades.
1999
The Monster Island that never was
Emmerich and Devlin hire writer Tab Murphy to develop a sequel, one that would never reach the screen.
Read the story
The Case Files
File 01
Toraisuta Gojira
Decades of attempts to bring Toho’s monster to an American studio, long before the 1998 premiere.
File 02
Searching for Godzilla
The Aladdin writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio take on the King of the Monsters.
File 03
De Bont Dilemma
Jan de Bont, Gojira Productions, Inc., and the Godzilla that was never to be.
Files 04–15 // Classified
More chapters will be declassified throughout the months leading to the film’s 30th anniversary.
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FILE 09 … 15 ████████████
From the creature shop
“Godzilla is the monster all creature effects designers dream of designing.”
— Patrick Tatopoulos, Godzilla designer & supervisor
30
Years · May 18, 2028
Counting down to the 30th anniversary
Articles and extras will be published throughout the months leading to the 30th anniversary, so stay tuned for more of the big lizard!
DISCLAIMER
The Manhattan Project is a non-profit fan-site dedicated to the making of, and celebration of the 1998 film Godzilla. All the characters analyzed in its essays, and their associated logos, are trademarks of their respective owners. All other copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Monster Legacy and its author own none of the pictures posted on the website, nor claims to. The data available on the site is presented purely for archival and research purposes.
Godzilla (1998) is © TriStar Pictures Inc. All rights reserved.
GODZILLA and the GODZILLA character and design are marks of Toho Co., Ltd.
The GODZILLA character and design are copyrighted works of Toho Co., Ltd.
Godzilla is available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD.
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