Frank Darabont, the filmmaker best known for bringing us The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and the first season of The Walking Dead, is turning his attention to giant skyscraper-sized Japanese monsters. As casting rumors have begun to fly, it's been revealed that Darabont has been hired by Legendary Pictures to do a final rewrite of the upcoming Godzilla reboot. Up until now the project has been working from a script written by Max Borenstein (who wrote the upcoming fantasy adventure The Seventh Son), but with cameras aiming to start rolling in March the studio has decided to get a new set of eyes on the screenplay.
The Darabont news comes from Deadline, but is just the latest story today about the film's development. In addition to news that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scoot McNairy and Caleb Landry Jones are being considered for the movie's lead role, it's also been revealed that there has been some turmoil behind the scenes, with a battle brewing between Legendary Pictures and producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee (who brought the project to the studio to begin with. Gareth Edwards, who gained notice and acclaim for his 2010 indie thriller Monsters is still attached to direct and the 3D film is still aiming to be released on May 16, 2014.
The project will actually serve to be a bit of a switch for Darabont, who has focused more of his attention on the small screen in recent years. In addition to The Walking Dead he's also been developing the new series L.A. Noir, a new crime thriller for TNT. His last work on the big screen was his third Stephen King adaptation, The Mist, which was released in 2007.
