Now, finally, Warner Bros confirms what seemed like a crazy possibility when I first mentioned it in the wake of Legendary's first “Skull Island” mention at Comic-Con a few years ago. That was July of 2014, and as soon as they showed the specially-prepared clip for Comic-Con, hinting at the inclusion of King Ghidorah, Mothra and Rodan in the “Godzilla” sequel, I called Toshi, my son who is positively kaiju-crazy, and he was the first one to say what I'm sure many fans who were in Hall H that day were thinking.
“OH MY GOD DAD THEY COULD PUT KING KONG IN THE GODZILLA MOVIE OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!”
Since then, he has asked me if there is any news on that front, and I've kept him updated as “Kong: Skull Island” has inched its way through development. This afternoon, though, I suspect his ten-year-old mind is going to be blown by the news that was announced by Warner and Legendary, and the kaiju fan I was while growing up is already celebrating because it sounds positively preposterous.
Monarch, the shadowy organization represented by Ken Watanabe in “Godzilla,” will be used as the uniting story point that will bring together a trio of movies that Warner and Legendary are preparing to make right now. 2017 will see “Kong: Skull Island,” “Godzilla 2” will follow in 2018, and then “Godzilla Vs. Kong” has been set for 2020.
The big grown-up news here is that Warner and Legendary have agreed to make and release the three films together. “Kong: Skull Island” was originally part of the Universal deal that Legendary made when they left Warner, but it looks like they worked this out so that they could pick up story threads from 2014's “Godzilla” and continue moving forward. Small wonder. When I first spoke to Thomas Tull about Godzilla, it was at least six or seven years ago, and he was a rabid fan. He grew up watching these films, and he understands the giant-monsters-as-pro-wrestlers appeal of different sequels putting together different combinations of these big crazy creatures.
Yes. King Kong is much smaller than Godzilla. Yes, if they were to meet in the forms that we know them in typically, Godzilla would most likely step on the ape and then cook him using his atomic breath. But I'm going to guess they have a game plan and until we see what form Kong takes in “Skull Island,” we have no idea how they're going to start to build towards the ultimate Rumble in the Jungle.
“Kong: Skull Island” is in theaters March 10, 2017.
“Godzilla 2” arrives in theaters on June 8, 2018.
“Godzilla Vs. Kong” arrives in 2020.