Fred Dekker & Steve Miner’s abandoned 80’s Godzilla movie sounds epic

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Later this year we will finally be hit with writer-director Michael Dougherty's GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS. The movie looks badass, but as it turns out, there was an even more badass version that almost happened in the 80s. What we almost got way back then was a GODZILLA movie called GODZILLA: KING OF MONSTERS 3D and it was to be written by Fred Dekker (THE MONSTER SQUAD, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS) and directed by Steve Miner (FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3-D). But then it never happened…

That said, recently, Dekker spoke with the podcast Best Movies Never Made and told them that in 1983, before he penned NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, he was approached by Miner, who had just finished FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3. Turns out Miner had snagged the rights to GODZILLA and wanted Dekker to write a new 3D GODZILLA motion picture.

Dekker recalls

I basically tried to come up with a story that would be interesting even if Godzilla didn’t show up. That was kinda my pitch. The main plot point… the main plot twist.. was an idea I had that I subsequently realized was a ripoff of a movie called Gorgo. We followed the Jaws template… we did that on a massive scale for the first act of the movie. We suggest Godzilla’s out there, but we don’t actually show him. And then the end of the first act, our spy guy gets a call from the state department or the feds or whoever… he goes to Mexico… there’s this giant dead reptilian creature the size of an apartment building on the beach. But what we find out is that it’s the progeny of Godzilla. And that the real dude is much, much, much bigger. Godzilla comes looking for the baby Godzilla.

Death and destruction soon follow. I don't know about you, but as a big fan of NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, THE MONSTER SQUAD, and FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 and 3, this sounds like a match made in Heaven. Add in Godzilla stomp-f*cking everything in his path and this really could be one of the best movies never made. Meanwhile, Dougherty's upcoming movie is the sequel to Gareth Edwards' 2014 GODZILLA. His film was co-written by KRAMPUS co-writer Zach Shields, and Max Borenstein, co-writer of the previous GODZILLA and KONG: SKULL ISLAND.

It follows:

The heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient super-species thought to be mere myths rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.

The film stars Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, Zhang Ziyi, Aisha Hinds, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Randy Havens, Jonathan Howard, Anthony Ramos, Bradley Whitford, and Elizabeth Ludlow, with Jason Liles, Richard Dorton, and Alex Maxson providing the motion capture performances for the three heads of King Ghidorah. Writer-director Michael Dougherty's GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS is scheduled to be released on May 31, 2019. Are you excited? Let us know below!