The document discusses three kaiju films - Kong: Skull Island, Colossal, and Attack the Block. It summarizes the key details of each film's production budgets, box office performances, and notable cast members. It also analyzes common themes around monsters representing social issues that are prominent in the kaiju genre. Finally, it provides a brief overview of the ITV television network in the UK and its ownership structure.

1. Natalie Lynch
FILM STUDIES
ASSIGNMENT 2
KAIJU FILMS

2. • Kong – Skull Island was directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. It
was a ’reboot’ of the King Kong franchise. The budget for
the film was $185 million and once the film was released, it
grossed $566 million worldwide, so proved to be a huge
success. It had quite a large and well known cast, with main
stars being people such as Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L.
Jackson, who have specific audience types that will follow
them and be attracted to the film because of them only.
During the last part of the film, a short teaser was shown
where Godzilla was in the movie, indicating a cross over
sequel is going to be released. Vogt-Roberts said influences
for the film included films such as The Host – another kaiju
genre film, as well as older films like Platoon and The
Conversation.
KONG – SKULL ISLAND (2017)

3. • Colossal is an independent film which was written and directed by Nacho
Vigalondo, a Spanish film director. The film was also internationally co-
produced, with Vigalondo’s production team having input alongside the
Canadian production team Brightlight Pictures. The film was shot in six
weeks on a budget of only $15 million, which was funded by the
American companies Voltage Pictures and Route One Entertainment. The
film only made $4.7million in the box office, however still received
positive ratings from viewers and critics. The main actors for the film
with Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis, with Hathaway signing to the
project before it had no financial backing because she decided it was
exactly the type of film she wanted to make. She used her fame to
eventually get Vigalondo funding for the film through using her stardom
to gain awareness of it. Due to it being an independent film rather than a
blockbuster, they were able to take more risks and have more content
that may be seen as controversial to some viewers.
• One of the main themes during the film is addiction. It shows that it can
ruin not only your life, but can hugely affect the people around you too.
This links on to the theme of abuse. Both physical and mental abuse is
shown through how Tim acts with Gloria. He manipulates her and thinks
he can know everything about her life and what she’s doing.
COLOSSAL (2017)

4. • Attack the Block is a British film based around science fiction and
comedy. It was written by Joe Cornish and had a budget of £8 million
which was mainly used towards the special effects used to enhance and
bring the aliens to life. It had many different production companies
involved in the creation of it including companies such as Film 4 and
Studio Canal Features, which brought in the funding for the film. In May
2011, on its opening, the film made just £1,133,859 in the box office,
which is surprisingly low considering it was a critically acclaimed film.
This however put it into the top 3 behind Thor and Fast Five, which are
films suited towards a similar audience as those with attack the block. All
of the actors were young and local to the area where the film is set. Nick
Frost is one of the actors which was cast for the film, who brought his
following of fans with him and attracted the audience that will enjoy this
style of film. Throughout the film, because of typical stereotypes
associated with some youths, the audience is left with more of a
negative first impression of the main characters, who are seen to mug a
lady in the street early on. This starts to change as the plot progresses
and the main characters are seen as the ‘heroes’.
• With the BBFC, this film passed all checks without being cut.
ATTACK THE BLOCK (2011)

5. • Funding for each of the films was quite different, with Kong –
Skull Island having a budget of $185 million, a huge amount
compared to Colossal’s $15 million and Attack the Block’s £8
million budgets. Attack the Block had the smallest budget of
the three films and had four different companies involved with
the funding and production in some way. It then went on to
become an award winning and critically acclaimed film despite
not making as much as expected in the box office, which is
good for an independent film. It is also available on the US
Netflix which brings in more money for the film. Colossal was
funded by a Canadian production company and again, didn’t
make as much in the box office as expected. For all the films
shown, the most expensive part of the film production was the
CGI for the monsters. Kong – Skull Island had the biggest
budget for all three of the films and grossed over $566 million.
Part of the production took place in Hawaii and Vietnam which
may have cost quite a lot in terms of the budget. The film was
also nominated for Best Visual Effects.
FUNDING

6. • The Kaiju genre became increasingly popular in 1954 when
the Godzilla film was made and brought out. That film was
seen to be aware of social and political issues going on at
the time and that seemed to reflect within the content of the
film – showing a large monster having some conflict against
military forces or another kind of ‘monster’. This is more of
what Kaiju films are based on today, like we see in Colossal.
This is where Anne Hathaway’s monster battles against
Jason Sudeikis’ monster which is a reflection and version of
themselves shown with all their personal issues. In Colossal
we see Hathaway’s monster, which reflects her alcohol
addiction, and how it can affect the lives of the many around
you in life. This brings in more modern social issues that are
seen today and raises awareness of them through the
context of the film.
GENRES AND CYCLES

7. • ITV plc are a British media company based in London. They own 13 out
of the 15 regional television licenses that make up those of the ITV
network. The ITV network is to be distinguished from ITV plc, which is
the company that resulted from a merger between Granada plc and
Carlton Communications. Across most of the UK, the exceptions being
Northern Ireland and all of Scotland apart from the South, ITV is used by
ITV plc for the channel 3 service. In Northern Ireland, ITV uses the name
UTV and in Central and Northern Scotland, STV Group plc uses the STV
brand for its two franchises.
TV CHANNEL - ITV