UPDATE: Beacham has replied on Twitter concerning the question in the headline saying, “Actually, I had the idea in 2007.” There goes that theory… guess it’s just a monster movie.
Warner Bros. just released the above image captioned: “This is as close as you ever want to get to Kaiju blood.”
Of course, Kaiju is the name given the monsters in Guillermo del Toro‘s upcoming monster feature Pacific Rim. I, however, first saw the image not knowing what film it was from and was simply trying to figure out what it could possibly be. My first thought was an oil spill, and after a little thought after finding out its true relation I can’t help but wonder if this entire film was developed based on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The oil leak from the Deepwater Horizon was first discovered on the afternoon of April 22, 2010, just over a month later, on May 28, Legendary Pictures acquired a 25-page film treatment by screenwriter Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans), which became Pacific Rim. Is the timing merely a coincidence? 25 pages certainly isn’t a full script, and, after all, the monsters in the film originate from beneath the Earth’s oceans.
Upon first seeing the trailers, I thought this film looked like a bunch of loud noises. However, perhaps I’ve overlooked a message embedded in the film that may give the story some added weight, something beyond the noise. After all, it’s not like Godzilla was merely about a giant monster destroying Japan. Perhaps del Toro and Beacham have essentially tapped into the modern day threat of the world’s oil dependence as opposed to the fear of nuclear warfare found in Godzilla.
Godzilla was explicit about its nuclear ties, will Pacific Rim end with a note that says something akin to, “If we keep drilling in the Earth’s oceans, the threat of another Kaiju attack is likely”? Eh, that sounds a little silly. Hopefully they’ve come up with something better than that.
Finally, here’s a picture of a giant Kaiju footprint from the film that was released over the weekend. Hmmm, footprint… Could we call it an ecological footprint?
Pacific Rim hits theaters on July 12, for more on the film including pictures and trailers click here.
