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Writer Updates: Diablo Cody on 'Evil Dead', David Goyer on 'Godzilla'

by Alex Billington
July 13, 2011

A couple of updates regarding screenwriters. First off, Ghost House Pictures officially announced details on The Evil Dead remake today, confirming that it is coming and that Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez would be making his feature debut directing the project. Hidden in the update is this bit: "Diablo Cody is currently doing revisions on the draft." Yep, the same Diablo Cody who won the Oscar for Juno, and also wrote Jennifer's Body and Young Adult. The original script was written by Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues. In addition, Deadline reports that Legendary is hiring David Goyer to revise the script for the new Godzilla.

In regards to The Evil Dead remake, they confirm that Sam Raimi is producing along with Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell. Ghost House is committed to renewing the franchise and has it on the fast track. "We are committed to making this movie and are inspired by the enduring popularity and enthusiasm for the Evil Dead series. We can't wait to scare a new generation of moviegoers using filmmaking techniques that were not available to us thirty years ago as well as Fede bringing a fresh eye to the film's original elements." That's exactly what we've heard for the last few years, where Sam wants to focus on the technology and techniques for scaring audiences as well as the story and the fun with Bruce Campbell. That's the latest, in addition to yesterday's update, so this is definitely in the works and it'll have a bit of Diablo Cody tinge to it.

In regards to Godzilla, David S. Goyer is the writer/filmmaker behind the upcoming Ghost Rider sequel, Zack Snyder's Superman: Man of Steel, and also Chris Nolan's Batman scripts, including The Dark Knight Rises. He seems like a very smart guy with a knack for great stories, but his solo work (The Invisible, The Unborn) hasn't been that great. Deadline says that Goyer will pen the screenplay, from a draft written by David Callaham (Tell Tale, The Expendables). Set to direct this new Godzilla is Monsters director Gareth Edwards, but other than that, this isn't even scheduled until 2014, and Legendary isn't even bringing it to Comic-Con, so it sounds like we've got a long ways to wait, but at least it's in good hands for the time being.

Filed under Development, Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

Anonymous

Blegh!
Cracky

Fuck, man
- CBFawley
  
  Yeah.............wow
grimjob

Why? Why? Say it ain't so Raimi.
Jericho

well i am excited for the new Godzilla and hope this will redeem america for Godzilla 1998 ***i lost all faith in Evil Dead right about......NOW***
- Anonymous
  
  yep. Godzilla still sounds serviceable (mainly due to Edwards) but Evil Dead? so... Raimi *not* directing, Cody *is* writing, and no word on whether Campbell is actually *in* it. i anticipate that 'using filmmaking techniques that were not available to us thirty years ago' is newspeak for 3D. i would love it if Fede does indeed 'bring a fresh eye to the film's original elements', but my interest went from fevered to colour me apathetic in 24 hours.
Enzo

so evil dead is a remake? or a sequel? or what? im lost.
- Jericho
  
  maybe a resequal?
  - Danimal
    
    it's a manbearpig
http://twitter.com/BrianRicci Brian Ricci

Juno was great. Jennifer's Body was great. Oh wait, those were 2 of the worst movies ever. Diablo Cody is an asshole. I just lost interest in this movie.
- JL
  
  ??? Juno wasn't a bad movie.
  - http://www.facebook.com/brianriccimoviereview Brian Ricci Movie Review
    
    Yes it was.
  - Anonymous
    
    No it just had aching bad dialogue. I seriously hated teenagers because of it. Sadly Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman had the performances of their careers in it, and the rest of the cast was rock solid.
- http://twitter.com/strmmrrr AP
  
  I know people hate Diablo because she's a woman (yuck!), but Juno was great. Haven't seen Jennifer's Body though. I remember there was a Family Guy episode where Stewie mentions how she won an Oscar. Brian gets angry and says "she got lucky!". Okay, maybe she did, Jennifer's Body wasn't a success, but it wasn't released when the episode came out! If your first movie is great, are you lucky? I think Seth was bullied in school.
  - Anonymous
    
    "I know people hate Diablo because she's a woman (yuck!)..." I'd say it's a lot more than that. Some of these chuckleheads just flat out HATE her with a passion that worries me. They really need to go out and get laid or something; the screams of hate--usually coupled with some sneering about her past as a stripper--just push the misogyny level into overdrive. And she's just doing a re-write! Why not wait till the completed film is done to make up our minds? That said, I liked JUNO, haven't seen JB yet (but heard from trusted friends that it was good), and I'm definitely glad to see Goyer working on GODZILLA. Sure, his director skills need work, but this is the guy who put in excellent work on BLADE and BLADE II, and also helped to develop the stories for Nolan's Batman films.
  - http://www.facebook.com/brianriccimoviereview Brian Ricci Movie Review
    
    No I hate her because she's terrible. I don't care if she's a woman. That's a weird thing to say.
  - Anonymous
    
    The main problem with Juno was the writing. Every character spoke with the same voice, the writer's voice. The character's were horribly written and two-dimensional. Ugh. This is bad.
    - http://www.facebook.com/brianriccimoviereview Brian Ricci Movie Review
      
      exactly! who talks like that? It was just terrible. I don't think people celebrate and act all happy when 16 year olds get pregnant. Everyone always seems to forget that Jason Bateman got really creepy pedophile like at one point in the movie too.
http://www.fuckoff.com Jimmy Love

Well since it is the same folks from the first three HELL yeah I'm looking forward to this!
jah p

Damn! We gotta wait 3 more years for Zilla!!That sucks! No wonder we haven't been hearing anything on this..hopefully the rumored Zilla cameo might happen in Del Toro's Pacific Rim.
- Anonymous
  
  "Damn! We gotta wait 3 more years for Zilla!" You'll live. Be patient, man.
akersey

And there goes the movie...
Movieking

I loved the American version of Godzilla when it came out. I thought it was awesome.
- NICK S.
  
  if ^ comment were said in front of me it would surely be met swiftly with a slap in the face. That film ruined godzilla. i hoe to god they do Big G justice this time around... but 2014? i thought we could look forward to the Tokyo Terror by 2012. $#@%.
  - Djscontrino
    
    Id love to have a scene in the new godzilla where he steps on the Cast Members of Jersey Shore.. or maybe he can attack the MTV VMAs lolol
happy camper

so im guessing Evil Dead remake will be pg-13 and have super emo dialog.
- Anonymous
  
  Hmmm...and you can tell how? Why not just wait for a while and see what happens?
Hattori Hanzo

Being that Godzilla is a mythical Japanese creature, it would be nice to see the movie begin with a Fellowship of the Rings style telling of Godzilla's origin and back story. I think if they took that route, it would mean that these guys are serious.
- Anonymous
  
  Hey HH...Rossio and Elliot did do something like that with their GODZILLA screenplay from the early 1990s, but it shifted to the creature being sort of a "guardian of Earth". It's still a great script, though. And even in the 1980s there was a plan for a 3D Godzilla film with Steve Miner directing. (Yep, I know, I know...to some screwheads, 3D didn't exist until AVATAR. Go figure.)
mayhem

I am stoked that Raimi, Campbell and Tapert are producing, disappointed that Diablo Cody is working on the script. I can only think that her involvement is to make the dialogue relevant to today's youth, but the original movies were about college students, NOT the tweens and teens everyone is pandering to these days. That being said, I have one question... WHO IS PLAYING ASH?!?
- Moutchy
  
  Exactly! Who will play Ash!? Nobody can be Ash but Bruce! I really would have prefered a sequel with an aging Ash and written/directed by Raimi! A remake with CGI? I dunno, I think it will take out all the fun of it. And if it turns out to be indeed PG13 (which is quite possible), well that would be a real blasphemy!
http://www.facebook.com/brianriccimoviereview Brian Ricci Movie Review

Zac Efron is playing Ash.
- Anonymous
  
  Blasphemy
http://www.facebook.com/brianriccimoviereview Brian Ricci Movie Review

Or maybe Justin Bieber.
Doobie

Goyer will drop out. This entire project will go bust----everything, and I mean everything, including 9/11, the Tohoko 9.0 earthquake, everything runs against this project. But there is the KKXG script, that's sitting pretty under representation, has a huge asking price, and far surpasses anything [Legendary] plans to attempt. They have no chance. Wait 'til these "writers" actually try to make it as close to Godzilla as possible.....ha, ha, ha. They won't make it.