Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) is going big with his Kong: Skull Island. After the studio released a brand new photo he had some big words for Entertainment Weekly. “Our Kong is by far the biggest Kong that you’ve seen on screen”, the director shared. “And that translates to a lot of different things on the island.”
Those are big words. Here’s the still shot:
Rebuilding Kong
In 2005 Peter Jackson‘s King Kong saw a return to the big screen after an extended absence. Fresh off the success of the Lord of the Rings series, Jackson made King Kong relevant again despite mediocre reviews. Vogt-Roberts resets to the beginning with an origins story and takes us to the place where Kong was born. Skull Island. The filmmakers plan to use the estimated $190,000,000 budget to tell us where the King Kong legend begins. The movie takes place in the same universe at the 2014 release Godzilla and the plan is to build up the two franchises for a 2020 Godzilla vs. Kong skirmish.
“Peter Jackson’s Kong was around 25 feet. The ‘33 Kong ranged between 25 feet and 50 feet, I want to say he was 50-plus feet when he was on the Empire State Building. He varied in size dramatically! The ’70s Kong was somewhere between them.” – Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Michael Keaton and J.K. Simmons were signed on but dropped out before filming really got going. As it stands. Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers), Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction), and Brie Larson (Trainwreck) are part of a large all-star cast. The real star is yet to be seen. After The Jungle Book and the terrific Planet of the Apes films, the gold standard for CGI characters is pretty high.
Currently shooting in Hawaii, Kong: Skull Island is slated to roar its way into a theater near you March of next year.
