‘Godzilla Vs Kong’ Sequel to Bring Giant Monsters to Australia
The previous ‘Godzilla’ film also shot on the country’s Gold Coast, but this movie promises to be even bigger.
Godzilla and King Kong in 2021's 'Godzilla vs. Kong.' Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
Even with the Adam Wingard-directed ‘Godzilla Vs Kong’ doing solid (if not monstrous) business at the worldwide box office with $468 million, it looked like the future for the Kaiju might be on TV, with Legendary and Apple teaming up on a potential show.
Yet, though there has been no official announcement from either Warner Bros. or Legendary, new arrives of a sequel to that monster mash-up from, of all places, the Australian government’s agency Screen Queensland, which confirmed that an untitled new MonsterVerse movie will be shooting in the country this year.
It's not all that surprising that the giant beasties would be headed down under, as both ‘Kong: Skull Island’ and ‘Godzilla Vs Kong’ shot there. And there are also the tax incentives – the new movie will be granted around $17 million in total in Location Incentives from different agencies.
“The highly skilled crews, first-rate facilities, and unique locations make filming in Australia a great experience,” says producer Eric McLeod. “The support from both the federal government as well as Queensland has always been critical to our success in achieving a high level of filmmaking and an unparalleled audience experience.”
Nothing has yet been specified about the story for this latest movie, though Wingard has said that the Hollow Earth storyline established in ‘Godzilla Vs Kong’ offers plenty of opportunities for plots going forward. There’s a whole history of the Titans (King Kong and Godzilla are just two of them) to explore.
Godzilla and King Kong in 2021's 'Godzilla vs. Kong' Photo courtesy of Warne Bros.
Plus, there’s also a whole host of other creatures waiting in the wings (and with wings) to show their massive faces on film, so expect so more gigantic smackdowns between beasts. And let’s not forget the scheming human side of things, with the Monarch organization still out there.
Wingard has a few projects bubbling away, including a ‘Face/Off’ sequel, so he may not return for another movie, though he’s said he’d be up for it. We’ll learn in due course who’s involved – if this thing is to shoot in 2022, a script is surely ready (hold your jokes about ‘that wasn’t the case for ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’.)
As for the TV series, that’s still at a relatively early stage.
‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ and ‘Outcast’ veteran Chris Black is teaming up with ‘Hawkeye’ comic book writer Matt Fraction for the new show, which will follow the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking new reality that monsters are real. The series explores one family’s journey to uncover its buried secrets and a legacy linking them to the secret organization known as Monarch.
It's directly connected to the movies but will – even will Apple’s deep pockets –be on a smaller scale to the massive destruction and stakes of those adventures.
Still, it’s a good time be a Kaiju fan, as Netflix also has an anime show based on ‘Skull Island’, featuring a shipwrecked crew trying to survive the dangerous place, in the works.
