It's a well-known fact that if you have a long enough running franchise? For every movie that is made? You got dozens more that went UNMADE and when you consider a franchise with a film history dating back 70+ years? The King of Monsters has MANY stories which have gone untold. So? For general fun? I decided to share four unmade Godzilla movies that I think deserve a second chance at life. Now to make things interesting? I decided to toss in two films which went largely unknown by the greater fandom so hold onto your vomit bags folks, WE'RE GOING TO THE MOVIES!

1) Godzilla Vs. The Mysterians (1989)

Written and pitched by Mick Anger, a 1980s music video director responsible for Judas Priest Live and Deep Purple: Nobody's Home to name two out of four, pitched the idea of a crossover film to Toho in 1989 in the form of GODZILLA VS. THE MYSTERIANS! Set 35 years after The Mysterians (1957), this crossover acting as a direct sequel, the story saw a rogue faction of the Mysterians having survived and were now hold up in the Nevada Desert where much like before? They are trying to find a way for their race to survive after the nuclear holocaust on Mysteriod left them all with radiation poisoning which has left them not only dying but sterile. To combat this, they've been experimenting with local flora and fauna, throwing darts at a board so to speak with genetic and cybernetic experiments in hopes that one of them will provide them with salvation but unfortunately? Nothing has proven to be viable, just monstrous abominations including Hira-Jin, a hybrid of gila monster, human, and mysterian DNA all wrapped up in a nice little cyborg bow. It is this monster, described as the Mysterian commander's 'favorite' that we will see come to blows later on with Godzilla.

Observing Godzilla, Rodan, and Anguirus on Monster Island, the Mysterians believe that the King of Monsters may be the key to saving their species so? They send out a ship to snag him from Monster Island and it works! The Mysterians are able to subdue and bring the King of Monsters back to their base as they set about their experiments. Problem? Godzilla's buddies back on Monster Island, Rodan and Anguirus? Aren't exactly happy about their pal being kidnapped as they follow close behind, taking the battle all the way to LAS VEGAS!

A rough transcript of the story is available online (I'll provide it at the end of this section) and reading it? It's not half bad, very clearly being inspired by the Showa era Godzilla with faint stylistic flavorings of Tobe Hooper's Invaders from Mars, definitely could've benefited from a second draft though especially with the family component in it. Now to answer why this movie didn't happen? Well, though Anger was a fan of Godzilla and actually got to pitch the movie to Toho with Kochi Kawataka backing him up. However, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka thought it would be too expensive and wasn't a fan of the idea of a "gaijin" being involved in the making of a Godzilla movie so after 18 months of development? GODZILLA VS. THE MYSTERIANS was sent out into the desert that is development Hell.

Link: Godzilla vs The Mysterians! Cover Page

2) Godzilla 2001 (1991)

WHO HERE REMEMBERS THE 90S? Or more specifically cyberspace and virtuality in the 90s, that strange new digital world and concept which sparked the ideas of many a cheesy B-movie and comics with minimal understanding of the actual science.... Well Godzilla 2001 remembers

Coming from Roger Holden, a Godzilla fan and 15 year collaborator with Yoshimitsu Banno who attempted to bring Godzilla 3D to the Max to life, the story certainly fit within the bizarre for which Banno brought to the Godzilla franchise in Godzilla Vs. Hedorah. Initially pitched in 1991 as the story of a computer-generated Godzilla terrorizing a futuristic Tokyo, Holden's idea evolved into something much different when Banno encouraged him to expand the story idea.

Pitting the King of Monsters up against a morphing virtual-reality abomination, Godzilla's newest foe was to be the result of the abuse of virtual reality and salvaged UFO tech. How did this monster come to be? According to an interview with Holden, the unnamed monster was 'born' at secret lab were scientists were currently experimenting with UFO technology through a virtual reality system. As it would appear, whatever is inputted int the tech? Outputs a real, physical version of that image from the given video input, indistinguishable from the genuine article, real Virtuosity type stuff.

So how is the monster born? Ironically enough.... by a horror fan apparently. When the lab is empty, some guy sneaks in recognizes the VR system in the lab, not the UFO tech though. Apparently the guy has been waiting for this chance so he can use it to watch all his favorite monster movies...... Yeah you can see where this is going can't you? Loading his collection of monster movies in, he apparently selects a morphing option to combine them all into and I am directly quoting now (Lifts up glasses "one thrilling virtual reality image".

The result is as you expect with the UFO technology producing a real, physical version of the morphing monster which kills the guy as well as anyone else in the facility before escaping into the outside world where it grows to kaiju size and terrorizes the city where our only hope is using Godzilla to some how kill this VR nightmare.

This is.... incredibly cheesy but GOD if I don't love it. Is it the best idea in the world? No but is damn unique and I appreciate that, so much to the point where I actually did a second draft version of it but that's a story for another time ;). Now unfortunately this movie didn't come to pass as while Koichi Kawakita, a renowned special effects director in the Godzilla series, found it interesting? He had to turn them down, voicing that they already had many stories submitted for Godzilla sequels and the like on a daily basis. They kept optimisic, Holden and Banno for Godzilla 2001 but in the end? It was just game over.

Link: UNTOLD TALES OF GODZILLA! Roger Holden on His Unmade Godzilla Projects and Working with Director Yoshimitsu Banno! | Vantage Point Interviews

3) Godzilla Reborn (2001)

HONESTLY? Right off the bat this is one of the biggest missed opportunities to me, a DIRECT SEQUEL TO Godzilla 2000, one of my favorite Godzilla movies. Conceived by the late Michael Schlesinger, Schlesinger pitched a collaborative sequel the film between Toho and Columbia pictures. The basic story, what is known at least, was set during a scientific conference on Honolulu where it looks like Godzilla decided to take a break from smashing up Japan and explore the world and the Hawaiian islands just so happen to be the first stop on his trip. Jokes aside, it is revealed that Godzilla wasn't here just for destruction but was coming for a new monster that lurked within a dormant volcano on Mauna Loa. A bat-like creature called MIBA.

While this seems pretty bare bones, further details outside of the story arguably caught interest as Schlesinger stated he wanted to flip things with regards to archetypes, add a little more humor to the otherwise so serious human protagonists of the Godzilla films. Eying actors like Bruce Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Lee, and director Joe Dante, Schlesinger had the two horror royalty stars Bruce and Jamie playing, get this? A "skirt-chasing smartass who owns the hotel where the main characters are staying at" and a female television reporter on vacation, struggling with her career as she seems to be locked in fluff when she is craving something with more substance. Serious journalism.

As an avid horror fan and Godzilla fan? THIS WOULD'VE BEEN AMAZING to me and I feel like a lot of other fans would agree. So why didn't it happen. The answer is less than satisfying and yet it answers everything. Money. While both parties were interested, Columbia wasn't willing to shell out a lot of money for a man in suit monster flick and Toho was asking for a lot for any studio that had interest when Schlesinger tried to market it to other studios. What's the real kick in the teeth though is the fact that the script? STILL EXISTS! It's just squirreled away somewhere. Schlesinger! DO THE RIGHT THING AND SHARE YOUR CREATION WITH THE WORLD MAN!

Link: THE GODZILLA SEQUEL THAT WASN’T | Godzilla - Toho | News

4) Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

Last but not least? We have GVBA: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. This one is relatively more simple than the others as unlike above? GVBA was intended to be a movie which pit a supernatural Godzilla against Japan's three guardian monsters, Varan, Anguirus, and Baragon. The underdogs of the Godzilla franchise. While the script was compelling, Toho wanted more market recognition with monsters and pushed for King Ghidorah and Mothra in place of Varan and Anguirus. Shame, another movie Varan got kicked out of. SOMEONE BUY THIS KAIJU A DRINK! Most of the plot remained relatively consistent, only really altered with monsters and the title into Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack which fun fact? Was the only film we ever really saw Ghidorah as a VOLUNTARY good guy. Weird, good movie but WEIRD.

Link: https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Godzilla_X_Varan,_Baragon_and_Anguirus:_Giant_Monsters_All-Out_Attack

Coming to a close, I have one honorable mention as while this is more tangential to the Godzilla franchise and isn't an unmade movie? I feel this story just deserves to be heard within an unmade comic sequel to Mothra: Queen of Monsters called MOTHRA VS. FRANKENSTEIN by @mooncalfe-art. Honestly? As a fan of the Gargantua brothers? SUCH A COOL CONCEPTUAL IDEA. That fanboying out of the way now, what are your thoughts on these unmade flicks and what are some unmade Godzilla movies YOU wish would've happened? Drop a comment below or post it on your page and let your voice be heard!

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