Colossal (2016)

Colossal is a 2016 science fiction black comedy film directed and written by Nacho Vigalondo. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell, and Tim Blake Nelson. In the film, Gloria, an unemployed writer, unwittingly manifests a giant monster in Seoul, while struggling with alcoholism and an abusively controlling colleague.

The film is an international co-production between producers in Canada, Spain, the United States and South Korea. Anne Hathaway signed onto the project in May 2015, which was described as “Godzilla meets Lost in Translation“. Prior to the start of filming, Toho brought a lawsuit against Voltage Pictures, the film’s producers, for unauthorized usage of Godzilla’s image. However, a settlement was reached in October. Principal photography began on October 18, 2015 and primarily took place in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, finishing on November 25, 2015.

Colossal held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2016 and was followed by several festival screenings. It was theatrically released in the United States on April 7, 2017 by Neon, in South Korea on April 20 by Dreamfact Entertainment, in Canada on April 21 by Mongrel Media, and in Spain on June 30 by Versus Entertainment; it aired a day earlier, on June 29, on Movistar Estrenos as an exclusive preview. The film received positive reviews, with praise for the acting, direction, screenplay, and themes. Hathaway was singled out by many critics for particular acclaim. The film grossed $4.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $15 million.