Other studios interested in the project included DreamWorks and Sony, driving up the price to “at least the mid-six figures against seven figures for just the rights and writing alone,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Fede Alverez, director of the recent Evil Dead remake, is attached to co-write and direct the project.

The kaiju-vs-humans-in-robot-suits collectible miniatures game, designed by Matt Wilson, was released in 2008 (see “Kaiju CMG from Privateer”), and proved very popular, releasing multiple expansions and landing on the ICv2 collectible games charts consistently through 2011 (see “Top Collectible Games--Summer 2011”).

There was a previous attempt to produce a film based on the game in 2010, which had John August as screenwriter and Tim Burton attached to direct (see “Burton to Direct 'Monsterpocalypse' Movie”). That project stalled after Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim drew too much comparison.