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Very loosely based on the 1954 Japanese classic, this film, directed and co-written by disaster movie maven Roland Emmerich (of Independence Day fame), was marketed extensively. Released on Memorial Day, it was originally projected to break the holiday weekend’s then-record of $90 million. Instead, the tale of a mutated reptile’s destruction of New York raked in a paltry $55 million. Ultimately grossing $380 million, the movie was only a critical failure: most reviewers thought it lacked the spirit of earlier Godzilla films. Emmerich later admitted regrets blaming a rushed filming schedule spurred by the desire to make a Memorial Day release.