Godzilla fan Quentin Tarantino once pitched an ambitious take on the titular monster, but the movie itself has almost zero chance of happening.
Quentin Tarantino once pitched an incredible Godzilla movie – which will almost certainly will never happen. Tarantino has plenty of famous unmade movies in his back catalog. Over the years, he’s flirted with everything from Kill Bill Vol 3 to Casino Royale and Killer Crow. There are a lot of genres his fans would love to see him tackle, but as his next movie will be his last, that means his options are limited. It would be fantastic to see a QT take on a slasher movie or sci-fi epic, but his plans for film 10 are currently unconfirmed.
A Tarantino monster movie would be a treat too. He’s a confirmed fan of the Godzilla movies, and in 2004, pitched EW (via The Quentin Tarantino Archives) his unique take on the kaiju. Godzilla might be one of cinema’s most iconic monsters, but it took a long time for American filmmakers to crack the formula. 1998’s Godzilla by Roland Emmerich reduced him to a dumb monster. The 2014 reboot kicked off Legendary’s MonsterVerse and while those films have met with mixed receptions, they’ve all been successful too. They followed the rough formula of past Godzilla films, but Tarantino had something more unique in mind.
Tarantino’s Living Under the Rule of Godzilla Explained
Tarantino’s pitch really focused on the “god” in Godzilla, and how after saving humanity time and again from giant monsters, he would come to be worshiped. The director told EW “It would be called Living Under the Rule of Godzilla. This is what society is like when a big f***ing green lizard rules your world.” It appears Tarantino’s Godzilla concept went no further than this pitch, or that he and Toho even talked about it. While this concept would no doubt have seen the titular kaiju monster battling other monsters, it would have added an intriguing psychological edge to it.
Godzilla is essentially a force of nature, and while he has been portrayed as a heroic figure, most of his appearances cast him as indifferent to mankind. Of course, humanity watching him emerge to “defend” them so many times would no doubt lead to cults or religions growing up around him. Tarantino’s Living Under The Rule Of Godzilla could have made for a fascinating one-off in the vein of 2016’s Shin Godzilla, which also took Toho’s creation but took a unique angle unconnected to any previous films.
Tarantino’s Final Movie Can’t Be Godzilla
While he may have one more film planned before retirement, Tarantino’s Living Under The Rule Of Godzilla won’t be it. While he had spoken in the past of helming adaptations of various films, shows, books, etc, the only one of Quentin Tarantino’s movies not based on an original concept is Jackie Brown. In a November 2022 discussion with critic Elvis Mitchell (via Indiewire), Tarantino reaffirmed his last movie would be an original work, and not based on any preexisting properties. In short, that rules out Living Under The Rule Of Godzilla or other projects like a First Blood remake or an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s Stick.
Even if Tarantino wasn’t planning an original screenplay as his last hurrah, the fact Legendary’s MonsterVerse saga is still ongoing would rule out the chances of him producing it in America That said, he feels like the exact kind of filmmaker who would opt to head to Japan and make Living Under The Rule Of Godzilla with Toho. The filmmaker is also becoming interested in directing streaming television series, so maybe the concept could live on in that format. However, since QT hasn’t commented on his Godzilla pitch in nearly two decades, it’s just easier to assume it’s not happening.
