Sony Pictures
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Few franchises in the history of cinema can claim to be as enduring or as outright successful as "Godzilla." Rightfully dubbed the King of the Monsters, the character has been a part of the big screen experience for more than 70 years, with nearly 40 movies to his name (and counting). But in all that time, few of those movies (if any) can claim to have captured as much ire as 1998's American take on the classic kaiju. But its reputation as a flop may not be quite so warranted.
Directed by Roland Emmerich, who was coming off of the success of "Independence Day," 1998's "Godzilla" was a landmark moment: It represented the first time Hollywood had a chance to take on the legendary Toho property. Well, technically 1956's "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" was an American take on the original kaiju classic, but it was more of a remix rather than a full-blown production. But Sony Pictures secured the rights to the franchise and they spent big to make it happen.
The movie sees a mysterious giant monster viciously attack ships in the Pacific Ocean. A team of scientific experts conclude that a large, mutated reptile is the culprit. Before long, the giant lizard makes its way to New York City, with the U.S. military in a race to destroy the monster before it reproduces and its spawn takes over the world. The human cast was led by Matthew Broderick ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off") as Dr. Niko Tatopolis. Multiple "The Simpsons" actors ended up in 1998's "Godzilla," including Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria.
To say that the hype was real would be an understatement. You truly had to be there. But the '98 "Godzilla" has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score in the franchise to this day.
Expectations for 1998's Godzilla were through the roof
Sony Pictures
That said, just because something isn't a hit with critics doesn't necessarily have any bearing on its commercial prospects. Anyone who was around in 1997 or 1998 was led to believe that this was going to be the biggest movie of all time. It still has one of the best teaser trailers of all time, which set the stage for something truly epic. There were also countless tie-ins, including a Taco Bell campaign, a huge soundtrack, toys, etc.
Much of the marketing hid the now-infamous redesign of the titular creature, later dubbed "Zilla." Roland Emmerich thinks his Godzilla was way better than Toho's monster, but most fans would probably disagree with that. In any case, Sony Pictures was so confident that they even paid $5 million to Toho in advance for the rights to make a sequel.
"We sort of look at this not simply as the launching of a movie, but the launching of a franchise called 'Godzilla,'" TriStar's Bob Levin said at the time (via Sci-Fi Japan). Screenwriter Dean Devlin went even further, saying:
"We have a 'Godzilla' trilogy in mind. The second one is remarkably different from the first one, and if it's embraced, a third one would make a whole lot of sense. I don't see us doing more than three, but I would love to finish out telling the story."
Those sequels would never come, though, as the massive $125 million-plus blockbuster failed to live up to expectations, which were admittedly through the roof. But don't be so quick to call it a flop. In truth, it was one of the most-seen movies of the year.
1998's Godzilla was more of a disappointment than an outright flop
Sony Pictures
Released in theaters on Memorial Day weekend in May of '98, "Godzilla" topped the box office with $55.7 million over the four-day holiday stretch. It prevailed over "Deep Impact," the lesser asteroid movie in the summer of 1998. The problem is that Roland Emmerich's take on the franchise, with lousy reviews, collapsed in its second weekend and never recovered.
"Godzilla" finished its run with $379 million worldwide. That made it the third-biggest movie of the year overall. Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" ($481.8 million), which was famously robbed of a Best Picture win by "Shakespeare in Love," sat in the number two spot for the year. Meanwhile, Bruce Willis helped make "Armageddon" the biggest movie of 1998 with $553.7 million worldwide.
Looking at the bigger picture, it seems unfair to label "Godzilla" as a flop or a bomb. Though it may sound like splitting hairs, it's more of a disappointment relative to expectations. The sequels were canceled due in no small part to the critical response and relative underperformance. For Sony, it was merely unlikely that audiences would flock to see a sequel to something that had a lousy reputation. That didn't mean that they lost a fortune on the first movie. On the contrary, after brand deals, merch, and other ancillary revenue was added in, it was probably a profitable venture for the studio. It just didn't pan out as they had hoped in the grand scheme.
It would take another 16 years before Toho would allow another Hollywood studio to have a crack at the King. That came when 2014's "Godzilla" became a divisive box office hit that paved the way for the MonsterVerse, which is still going strong today.
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