Godzilla (Jan de Bont)

Before Rolland Emmerich was attached to direct Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira), Jan de Bont, the director of Speed and Twister wanted to direct the film, but Columbia said that it cost too much. The film was scheduled for a 1994 to 1996 release.

Plot
The plot would have been the same as the 1998 film.

Why It Was Cancelled

 * 1) The only known reason why the film was cancelled is because the studio balked at the proposed budget.

Result

 * Jan de Bont decided to direct Twister with Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt (made by Universal and Warner Brothers) and Speed 2: Cruise Control after being contractually obligated by 20th Century Fox to make a sequel to Speed.
 * Rolland Emmerich directed the Godzilla film instead, but made so many changes in an effort to make Godzilla "realistic" that not only was the film a critical failure, it also spurred Toho to bring their Godzilla out of retirement the very next year with Godzilla 2000, thus starting the Millennium Series. The Emmerich Godzilla is now known as "Zilla", and fought Godzilla in the 2004 film Godzilla: Final Wars where he was killed by Godzilla in the single-shortest fight in the entire franchise, clocking in at a mere thirteen seconds. It should also be noted that the 1998 film ultimately cost more to make than the de Bont version.
 * Several plot elements from this film later made it into the second attempt at an American Godzilla film in 2014.