The idea of shooting a movie featuring a revamped Mothra dated back to a screenplay written in 1990 by Akira Murao entitled "Mothra vs. Bagan", which revolved around a vengeful dragon called Bagan who sought to destroy humanity for its abuse of the Earth's resources, only to be defeated by Mothra, the goddess of peace. The screenplay was revised by Kazuki Ōmori after the release of "Godzilla vs. Biollante", though the project was ultimately scrapped by Toho, under the assumption that Mothra was a character born purely out of Japanese culture, and thus would have been difficult to market overseas unlike the more internationally recognized Godzilla.