Colossal won’t be wrecked by the legal might of Godzilla.
On Friday, a settlement was announced that will allow Voltage Pictures to release its film starring Anne Hathaway as a woman who realizes her mind is strangely connected to a giant lizard destroying Seoul.
When the film was being shopped at the Cannes Film Festival as a cross between Godzilla and Being John Malkovich, it provoked a lawsuit from Toho Co., the Japanese rights holders of Godzilla.
The complaint filed in California alleged that the filmmakers were “brazenly producing, advertising, and selling an unauthorized Godzilla film of their own,” pointing to an interview where writer-director Nacho Vigalondo said, “It’s going to be the cheapest Godzilla movie ever, I promise.”
The case didn’t get far.
Voltage indicated it would be raising jurisdictional challenges and submitting defenses including fair use and failure to mitigate damages, but the judge was never asked to rule on any substantive issue.
On Friday, the parties submitted to the judge a stipulation of dismissal, and according to a source, the producer of the new film will clarify that it is not remaking Godzilla. In recent days, development of the film has been moving ahead with casting including the inclusion of Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens.
The plaintiffs were represented by Aaron Moss and Charles Shephard while the defendants were represented by Michael Plonsker and Carole Handler.
