In July 1994, well after the originally announced release date, TriStar tapped Jan de Bont to direct the film. de Bont confessed to liking the older Godzilla films, although he stated that many of the later ones with their monster free-for-alls were a bit silly. Although he intended to keep humor in the picture, de Bont also pledged to deliver stunning effects and preserve the indomitable spirit of the Japanese Godzilla. de Bont assembled a team and had Rossio and Elliott rework the script to make it more to his liking. The revised script was ready in December 1994. Godzilla was to look like his traditional Japanese counterpart with his Atomic Breath. Godzilla was created by an ancient Alien race to protect the Earth from a giant shape-shifting Alien monster, the Gryphon (originally planned to be King Ghidorah). The two behemoths finally met in New York City, taking out most of Manhattan in the fight.