Kong: Skull Island

Kong: Skull Island is an upcoming American monster film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. The film is a reboot of the King Kong franchise and will serve as the second installment in Legendary's Godzilla-Kong cinematic universe. It stars Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Toby Kebbell, John Ortiz, Jason Mitchell, Corey Hawkins, John C. Reilly, Tom Wilkinson, Thomas Mann, John Goodman and Samuel L. Jackson. Principal photography began on October 19, 2015 in Hawaii. Kong: Skull Island is scheduled to be released on March 10, 2017.

Cast

• Tom Hiddleston
• Brie Larson
• Toby Kebbell
• John Ortiz
• Tom Wilkinson
• John Goodman as Randa
• Jason Mitchell
• Corey Hawkins
• John C. Reilly
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Thomas Mann
• Shea Whigham
• Eugene Cordero
• Jing Tian
• Will Brittain
• Marc Evan Jackson

Production

Universal Pictures/Legendary Pictures' co-production prequel of King Kong was to be released on November 4, 2016.^[2] It is unknown at this time if it will be a prequel to the 1933 film, the 1976 film, or the 2005 film. Legendary offered Joe Cornish to direct the film.^[3] The studio announced that Tom Hiddleston will star as the lead and it will be directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts.^[4] On October 30, Legendary set John Gatins to write the second draft of the film; Max Borenstein wrote first draft in time to move on to write the script of Godzilla 2.^[5] On December 12, the studio re-titled the film from Skull Island to Kong: Skull Island.^[6] On December 15, 2014, it was announced that J. K. Simmons had been cast in the film.^[7] In mid-January 2015, during an interview with MTV, Simmons revealed that the film would be set in Detroit in 1971, and that they would shoot it in Detroit during baseball season.^[8] On July 1, 2015, Michael Keaton and Simmons exited the film due to their scheduling conflicts.^[9] Legendary did not want to delay more in start of production so the studio began the search of two actors to replace.^[9] On July 23, 2015, Brie Larson was cast in the film to play the female lead, while it was reported that the studio was eyeing to sign Russell Crowe to play one of the roles which recent actors exited.^[10] On August 5, 2015, it was announced that Corey Hawkins was cast in the film to play a supporting role.^[11] Max Borenstein and Dan Gilroy also wrote the script along with Gatins.^[11] On August 6, 2015, Deadline.com reported that the studio was in early talks with Samuel L. Jackson to replace him for the role which Simmons vacated, while John C. Reilly was also being eyed but not offered yet and Tom Wilkinson was offered for a lead role in the film.^[12] On August 18, 2015, it was confirmed that Derek Connolly was doing some final work on the script of the film; Mary Parent also was set as producer.^[13] On August 20, 2015, Toby Kebbell joined the cast of the film, while Jackson and Reilly were still in talks with the studio.^[14] On August 25, 2015 Jason Mitchell joined the cast to play a pilot in the film.^[15] on November 2, 2015, it was announced Will Brittain had joined the cast of the film, portraying the role of a pilot, and grabbing one of the last key leads in the film.^[16] On September 10, 2015, it was announced that Legendary had moved Kong: Skull Island from Universal to Warner Bros. and they were planning a King Kong and Godzilla mashup.^[17] Later, it was announced that the film's script had references to the secret government entity in 2014's film Godzilla, named Monarch.^[18] On September 25, 2015, John Goodman was cast in the film to play Randa, a government official and leader of an expedition and Thomas Mann was also cast.^[19][20] On October 1, 2015, John Ortiz and Shea Whigham were added to the cast for unspecified roles.^[21] On October 13, 2015, Eugene Cordero joined the film for an unspecified role.^[22] Hiddleston revealed that the film would not be set in the 1930s and it would be a fresh turn to King Kong myth.^[23]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on October 19, 2015 in Hawaii and continues in Australia. Skull Island will be in the vicinity of Vietnam, with the central Vietnamese cave Son Doong set to appear in the film.^[24][25][26] Filming was taking place in Honolulu's Chinatown and at the Kualoa Ranch and Waikane Valley (Ohulehule Forest Conservancy) on Oahu.^[27][28] In mid-January 2016, filming started in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, where it took place for two weeks.^[29][30]

Release

On December 12, 2014, Universal moved its release date from November 4, 2016 to March 10, 2017. It is planned to be released in 3D and IMAX 3D.^[6]

Sequels

In September 2015, Legendary had moved development of the film Kong: Skull Island from Universal to Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and King Kong will appear in a film together.^[31][32] In October 2015, Legendary announced plans to unite Godzilla and King Kong in a film titled Godzilla vs. Kong, set for a 2020 release date. Legendary plans to create a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" and that "brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new". While Legendary will maintain its home at Universal Pictures, it will continue to collaborate with Warner Bros. for the franchise.^[33]

References

External links

• Kong: Skull Island at the Internet Movie Database