Roland Emmerich

Roland Emmerich is a German screenwriter, film film director best known for his blockbuster films Independence Day and [[Godzilla (1998 Film|GODZILLA].

Making Zilla
After Tristar couldn't come to an agreement with Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot on making an American Godzilla Movie, they turned their attention to Emmerich and frequent collaborator Dean Devlin to make the film. Although the duo turned down the oppurtunity a few times, they eventually agreed under the condition they handle the movie their own style.

Tristar agreed and Emmerich was recruited as the director and Devlin as the producer. However, with the film being long anticipated, there was much pressure on the release date and Emmerich made it a priority to release the film around Memorial Day.

As they made the film, Emmerich and Devlin, staying true to their word of doing the movie their own way, had their special effect supervisor and creature designer reform Godzilla as a smaller yet faster movie with a brand-new look that bore little resemblance to the actual monster and to a take realistic approach, they made the famous kaiju vulnerable to manmade weapons (F18 Jet missles, at least) while also having him retreat from army attacks.

At least, the film was finally released on May 20th, 1998 and grossed about  $136,314,294 domestically and $379,014,294 worldwide. However, critics and a majority of Godzilla fans weren't pleased about Godzilla's new look or his vulnerability to manmade weapons nor his cowardice from the army.

This reaction caused the planned sequels to go unmade and Emmerich would later admit he didn't like the early Godzilla films as well state he regreted rushing to get the film made by Memorial Date. His version of Godzilla would later be renamed Zilla once Tristar let their rights to the Godzilla series expire as Toho felt Emmerich took the God out of Godzilla by making the monster weaker in strength and form.

Redemption and Possible Change of Heart
While Emmerich's film didn't get a motion picture sequel, it did spawn an animated series known as Godzilla: The Series with Deviin and himself serving as Executive Producers on the show and compared to the film, the series received acclaim for making Godzilla true to his namesake by giving him invulnerability to modern weapons and giving him back his fearless nature; leading some to change their minds about his film version and accept it.

Currently, Emmerich seeks to see the new American Godzilla as he has faith in the director of that film, Gareth Edwards and has no intention of comparing it to his own film .http://nerdreactor.com/2014/05/14/roland-emmerich-plans-to-see-the-new-godzilla/  All in all, whether one loves or hates his involment in the Godzilla franchise, his name and version of Godzilla will always have a place in the history of the Kaiju Franchise.