Short-list of ‘Godzilla’ Lead Candidates Revealed

While Legendary Pictures deals with a brewing conflict involving a couple of producers on its “Godzilla” reboot, it’s also currently looking to fill out the lead role for Gareth Evans’s monster movie. So far, the studio’s short-list includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Henry Cavill, Caleb Landry Jones, and Scoot McNairy.

Gordon-Levitt seemingly finds himself on every short list these days (including the one for “Guardians of the Galaxy”), and his fans shouldn’t get too excited about his presence here since Borys Kit has already confirmed that the actor turned down the offer, which was actually sent out about a month ago.

Variety’s Justin Kroll has also revealed that there might be some conflict between the studio and director Edwards, as he reports that Gordon-Levitt and Cavill are “studio choices,” while McNairy and Jones are “creative choices.” This doesn’t seem to be all that surprising, especially considering McNairy has previously worked with Edwards on “Monsters.”

Both he and Jones would represent a bit more of a risk since they aren’t as high profile as Gordon-Levitt or Cavill (assuming that audiences take to his portrayal of Superman in “Man of Steel” later this summer). Everyone involved has about two months to get it all sorted out, as the film is expected to begin shooting on March 14^th in both Vancouver and Hawaii.

For a film that’s so close to production, it certainly has a lot of last-minute developments going on behind the scenes, as it was also reported today that Frank Darabont has come aboard to polish Max Bornstein’s script. Meanwhile, conflict has erupted after Legendary attempted to force out producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee after bringing in Mary Parent to oversee the film’s production.

The film, which is set for release next May, has been in development at Legendary since 2009. Hopefully these recent developments don’t add to the wait for fans who have been eager for Godzilla’s return.