The new Godzilla movie took a big step forward on Tuesday with the report in Hollywood Reporter that Gareth Edwards is being signed to direct by Legendary Pictures, which is co-producing the picture with Warner Bros.

Edwards is a bit of a dark horse; his total oeuvre consists of an indy science fiction pic titled Monsters, which he produced and directed for a budget in the low six figures.  It premiered in the U.S. at SXSW, and went on to win three British Independent Film Awards.

Legendary announced signing a deal with Toho for the rights in March 2010, and said at the time that it would release a movie in 2012 (see “Godzilla Movie in 2012”).  But there’s still script work to be done (Edwards is expected to begin work on the script by David Callaham), and no shooting schedule has been set.

When it is, there will be merchandise waiting.  IDW has comics (see “Eric Powell on Godzilla”) and Toy Vault has a card game (see “’Godzilla:  Stomp!’ Card Game”) and a board game (see “Godzilla:  Kaiju Wars Board Game Details”).