Burton's penchant for sci-fi creatures destroying the Earth was to be indulged with
'Monsterpocalypse'... An adaptation of the board game where monsters battle other monsters...
The rules of the game are such: - Miniatures portraying the most
fearsome monsters on Earth battle each other in a
city that opponents construct by placing buildings on a city map.
Players choose their forces from their respective collections of figures and fight one another with
giant monsters and supporting units such as tanks, flying vehicles, and all manner of creatures.
The monsters are to fight for supremacy and the last monster standing is the winner.
DreamWorks purchased the rights in 2010 with game creator Matt Wilson attached to co-produce.
Tim Burton was firmly on board for what was to be the biggest blockbuster of his career,
designing his own monsters and robots alongside visual effects legend Ken Ralston.
A 2012 release was planned... To be released in 3-D from a script by John August,
who had written Burton's 'Big Fish', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', 'Frankenweenie'
and had worked on 'Dark Shadows'. August announced in June 2010 that,
''...I'm going to be writing a big movie version of 'Monsterpocalypse' for DreamWorks, based on
Matt Wilson's giant-monsters-smashing-things extravaganza. Wilson's creation - published by
Privateer Press - imagines the modern world under siege by super-sized creatures of every stripe.
Giant Apes? Terrasaurs? Planet-eating extra-terrestrials? Check, check and check...
Plus robots... You need robots...'' The writer also said,
''... Many of the elements are being locked down, so there's obviously a lot I can't say
about the movie yet: The plot, the players, what the humans are doing in all of this.
Will every possible monster be in it? Logic would say no but I can't give you a list.''
It was later revealed that the film would begin in the present day as there's a cataclysmic
attack on London by an Alien creature, we then flash-forward to years into the future.
John August had Ryan Nelson put together some crude graphics to give the writer a sense of
scale and consistency when it comes to telling a story about 200ft high monsters rampaging
through a heavily populated metropolis. Saying, ''... Most of the projects I work on stay under
the radar until very close to production. That's intentional. There are huge advantages to being
out of he spotlight. Particularly with properties that invite media and/or fanboy speculation,
there is a real risk of putting the cart before the horse and having to manage public perception
before even finishing the first draft.'' Producer of the film was to be Roy Lee. Lee
gave an interview with 'Slash-Film' revealing that Burton was officially signed on gave a
little insight into what was planned, saying, ''... The general take on the film that I
can give you is that the giant monsters come to Earth and start wreaking havoc.
The humans, at this point, fight back... And they feel like they've destroyed them,
but they quickly learn that the monsters had actually not died and had just
sort of burrowed underground and are sending some sort of signal into outer space,
it is probably going to a distress signal. The humans know that something is going to be coming,
they just don't know what yet. And they already know just how big these monsters can be...
...Then it cuts to many years later when nothing has come back, but the humans have prepared for
possible monsters coming back... And by this time they have developed these giant robots
that will fight the monsters. That is what is going to take place... Most of the movie
is going to be that giant battle between giant robots and giant monsters... These robots would
be the size of a very tall building, where the crew that is inside each of these robots...
we're not sure how many people are manning it. It's almost as if the robots are space-ships,
but they are actually shaped like robots and walk around the Earth, where you have a crew inside
of them, with a captain, controlling different parts of the robot to fight these monsters.''
As time would pass and the project remained unmade, Burton would go on to direct other films.
August told listeners of his podcast why it fell apart, saying,
''Monsterpocalypse. I wrote a movie in which people in these giant metal suits have to
battle these Aliens who have come to destroy the world... And at the same time there was
a movie called 'Pacific Rim', which was about big monsters being fought by guys in big, giant
metal suits. And they were remarkably similar. And theirs got to the starting line first. I
remember the phone call that was like, ''You know what? That other movie is too close. Sorry.''
And so, the world would be deprived of Tim Burton's 'Monsterpocalypse'
and 'Pacific Rim' would open to great business at the international box office
and was warmly received by critics and fans alike.