Rumored Godzilla 2 Director Revealed

Yesterday, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. updated fans on the fate of Godzilla 2 when they announced two screenwriters for the film. Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields will treat the script for the monstrous sequel, but one of the two will be doing more than just writing. According to an exclusive report from Screencrush, Godzilla 2 will be directed by Dougherty.

Of course, Dougherty is no stranger to the director’s chair. He helmed Krampus and Trick ‘r Treat for Legendary and even worked on screenplays for Superman Returns and X2. Sources for the site confirmed the director’s involvement after Gareth Edwards pulled out of the project. Edwards directed the first Godzilla flick but was forced to remove himself from the sequel after being tapped to helm Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. His split from Legendary was said to be an amicable one, but it did leave the studio without a director for Godzilla 2.

So far, fans aren’t sure if any of Edwards’ ideas for the sequel will be used by Dougherty. The first treatment of the film allegedly included MechGodzilla, a famous monster from the franchise that man created to showdown with the organic nuclear beast.

Dougherty will obviously have plenty of input on Godzilla 2 and its storyline. The director will co-write its script with Shields.

According to Variety, the two writers will pen Godzilla 2 and help brainstorm storylines for the franchise’s future films. Sources told the site that Legendary is prepping a writers room for creators to develop the company’s “Godzilla-King Kong” cinematic universe.

Last year, Legendary announced they were teaming up with Warner Bros. to create their monstrous franchise. They confirmed all future Godzilla and King Kong films would be developed by Legendary and then be distributed by Warner Bros. The deal put Legendary at odds with Universal as the two had held a distribution deal, but the production studio decided Warner Bros. would help them mature an “ecosystem” for its truly terrifying monsters to thrive in.

So far, just one film from the growing franchise has been released. Godzilla was released in May 2014 while Kong Skull: Island will hit theaters next March. Godzilla 2 will then reach audiences on March 2019 before the much-anticipated Godzilla vs. Kong premieres in 2020.

If you can’t wait until 2019 to get your Godzilla fix, then you are in luck. Japan recently released their latest reboot of the franchise with Shin Godzilla, a film widely praised by fans and critics. The film is currently in select theaters with English subtitles and will become available on Digital HD soon.