Gareth Edwards takes the reigns of the dormant franchise with his take on the iconic monster, hoping to erase the memories of Roland Emmerich's crushingly disappointing 1998 version. That being said, Emmerich's Godzilla still managed to take almost $380m at the box office, which adjusted for inflation is well over $500m so there are still huge expectations on the movie from a commercial standpoint. With that in mind, the production has been generating a huge amount of positive buzz. Edwards proved his mastery of merging CGI with great storytelling in the lo-fi Monsters, which was made for less than $500,000. With a rumored $160m budget for Godzilla, the possibilities are endlessly exciting. Then of course there is the cast, which eschews any A-list names in favor of a massively talented ensemble that includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Brian Cranston, Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins. And how can we forget the incredible teaser trailer, a remarkably atmospheric clip that sets out Edwards' new direction for the franchise. With the hugely effective teaser now in circulation, the marketing has kicked up a gear with the release of a series of striking posters that make it clear that this take on Godzilla is an entirely different beast. Based on name recognition alone, expect it to out-gross Pacific Rim, which barely squeaked past $100m domestic on its way to a $411m worldwide total. The movie will open strong domestically and do solid business overseas, but with a release date two weeks after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and a week before X-Men: Days of Future Past there's a chance Godzilla may suffer in the presence of the more established brands.
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