Update: Travis Beacham has once again hit Twitter and has put the kibosh on the rumors swirling saying, “The situation in Japan is NOT tripping up PAC/RIM. Unless my day-to-day work load is an astonishingly elaborate prank.” He also adds for those concerned about the film being insensitive, “This is, on its surface and in its heart, a movie about people. This is a movie about humanity.”
The rumor mill is cranking again around Guillermo Del Toro‘s next film “Pacific Rim” and it’s dredging up some pretty old rumors in the process. Last fall, it was being tossed around that the hot spec script from “Clash of the Titans” writer Travis Beacham, was being folded into Legendary Pictures’ upcoming reboot of “Godzilla.” So, frustrated, Beacham took to Twitter to say emphatically “PACIFIC RIM IS NOT GODZILLA. It was never Godzilla. it will never be Godzilla. Pacific Rim is Pacific Rim.” Or is it?
Bloody Disgusting claim that according to their sources, Legendary Pictures is now asking Del Toro to rewrite “Pacific Rim” and change it so that none of the attacks take place in Japan. And if true, that’s a pretty big request. The story — set in a near future where ‘malevolent creatures’ threaten Earth, and humanity must use advanced technology to fight them off — is centered heavily around Tokyo and the source of the creatures in the movie originate from an incident off the coast of Japan. But given the recent events in the nation, you could see why producers might want to play the sensitivity card here. But that’s not all. BD also claims that Del Toro is being asked to “turn ‘Pacific Rim’ into the new Godzilla” noting that “he refused.”
But over at AICN, they have a bit of a different take on the story. According to their sources, the script in its current form is much more international in scope and that BD’s claims (and recent reports on the plot) are based off an old, October version of the script. They say the movie is moving full steam ahead, as planned and gearing up to start lensing in September for a 2013 release date.
For us, we’re more likely to believe AICN’s report, mostly because after suffering through the painful loss of “The Hobbit” and the shelving of “At The Mountains Of Madness” we don’t think Del Toro would sign on to direct anything unless it had a script that was more or less ready to get in front of cameras. Will he take his pen to it? Sure, we could see that. But we don’t necessarily buy that the studio is asking him not only to rewrite it, but roll it into another movie altogether. We’d wager Del Toro is simply done fucking around and just wants to start making something already. Let’s just hope these rumors aren’t true because the last thing Del Toro needs is yet another case of studio politics and indecision halting movement on a film.
In the meantime, for anyone concerned about loved ones in Japan, there’s a Google Person Finder for Japan here, as well as a list of emergency numbers and shelters in the country.
