I was pretty excited about the rematch of King Kong and Godzilla being reported when Skull Island left Universal and got set up at Warner Bros. But I am substantially less excited now that I’ve discovered that Warner only has room for one set of giant monsters in its heart.
Buried deep in a very long and quite interesting look at how King Kong went to Warner Bros., partially thanks to Universal’s huge box office this year, the Hollywood Reporter hid this bombshell:
Legendary wanted to produce a sequel to del Toro’s Pacific Rim, which was made under the Warners deal and turned into one of those films that grosses a lot ($411 million worldwide) while being so costly that a follow-up isn’t a sure thing. Sources say Legendary liked that the original performed exceptionally well in China, where the company is heavily invested, but for now the project — which had been ramping up to make a release date in August 2017 — has been halted indefinitely and will be pushed back (if it gets made at all).
This is depressing to hear, not least because the movie was this close to getting made: Production was supposed to start this November in Toronto. It appears that the opportunity to cross over two better-known properties is more likely to make money, and thus the apocalypse apparently will not be canceled again.
About the only upside here is that if Legendary has any love for us nerds at all, they’ll at least give Guillermo del Toro a shot at King Kong vs. Godzilla. Nobody could film an ape forcing a lizard to eat his vegetables more beautifully.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
