When you head out to see "Godzilla" this weekend, there are a few scenes you won't see in the final film.
While attending the press junket for the Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ picture, director Gareth Edwards said a lot of ideas didn't make it into the final film during a roundtable interview. However, the one that hit him the hardest was a brief scene with "Godzilla" actor Akira Takarada who appeared in six versions of the film including the 1954 original.
"From an emotional point of view in terms of my love of Godzilla, the hardest thing was Akira Takarada, who was in the original films, did a cameo for us on day one," said Edwards. "He played an immigration's officer that welcomes Aaron's character to Japan, and so I was like, 'This is perfect: Day One. First Shot.'"
Edwards explained the choice later on in production to cut the scene.
"There was a lot of pressure to get on with the adventure and get to the monsters you know, as soon as you can. So, lots of things came out of that part of the movie ... and I hung onto that [scene with Takarada] til the last second, and it was still deemed, by the screenings when we tested it, that we had to get it shorter. And so that ended up having to go which is probably my biggest regret."
Last year, Legendary Pictures tweeted a photo of Takarada and Edwards on set.
After Takarada announced in April the scene would no longer be in the film, fanboys launched a petition to put Takarada back into the film.
"When you make a film there are many, many scenes and a lot of my favorite little ideas or shots are not in the movie because you've got to think of it as a whole," said Edwards.
Edwards added he reached out to Takarada about the decision to cut his cameo.
"I've written to him," Edwards said. "He did a chat show I believe and he's a real gentleman so I think he was understanding but, you know, it's just one of those horrible things about the process."
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