Last year’s film calendar saw more shuffles than a riverboat casino, and the sad fact is most moves merely kicked release dates further down the line, hoping things will eventually get better. Finally, some good news.
Since Warner Bros. has already made the unusual decision to release its 2021 calendar direct to HBO Max concurrent with its muted theatrical window, why not get things going earlier? As such, Godzilla vs. Kong, the clobbering monster mash originally set for November 2020, and then pushed to May 2021, has been yanked back to a much more just-round-the-corner March 26.
This announcement comes just days after an agreement was made between Warner Bros., distributor, and Legendary, financier of 75 percent of the picture. The two companies were at odds after the surprise decision to release films “day and date” on HBO Max, especially since Netflix had made a $225 million bid for the new monster movie.
Godzilla vs. Kong is the fourth entry in Legendary’s recent rebranding of classic movie properties known as the “MonsterVerse.” The series began with Godzilla in 2014 and Kong: Skull Island in 2017, followed by Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019.
Godzilla vs Kong is directed by Adam Wingard, whose roots are in indie horror (A Horrible Way To Die and You’re Next), and who adapted the Japanese manga Death Note for Netflix in 2017. It stars Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Demián Bichir.
More importantly, it stars Godzilla, the kaiju di tutti kaiju, and Kong, a 100-foot ape with a regal presence.
The two have squared off before, of course, most notably in 1962. It was advertised at the time as “the most fantastic rampage of annihilation ever recorded on film!” Fingers crossed that this March will see more of the same.
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