After a 12-year absence, King Kong is returning to theaters next year in Kong: Skull Island, the latest entry in the gorilla's decades-long movie career. Until now, the only looks we've gotten at the 2017 blockbuster have focused on the human characters, but we finally have a taste of what this version of Kong will look like from a new poster.
It might be hard to spot Kong immediately in this Skull Island poster since that human in the center is drawing the eye with that green smoke, but if you look above, you'll see the ape glaring behind the island's fog. Obviously Kong's primary appeal is how gigantic he is, and this poster does a great job of showing off his size. Since it may be a few more months until we see an official image of Kong in all his CGI glory, this artwork on the movie's social media accounts has effectively displayed how massive and intimidating he'll look. Also, as the skull indicates, Kong won't be the only huge creature living on Skull Island, but it's like the post says, he's "the King."
As the eighth movie to feature King Kong since the character was first seen in 1933, Kong: Skull Island has to be careful not to retread over a lot of the same material its predecessors covered. Fortunately, from the news that's come out so far, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and the rest of the cast and crew seem to have a good handle on the story. One thing that will distinguish this Kong from the others is that he's the biggest of all the gorillas, measuring approximately 100-feet tall. However, I suspect we won't be able to appreciate the full scope of him until a trailer comes out.
Set in the 1970s, Kong: Skull Island will follow a group of explorers traversing through a previously-uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, they don't know that they've entered Kong's domain, and just like the previous King Kong movies. The main cast includes Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Corey Hawkins, Tobey Kebbell, John Goodman, Jason Mitchell and plenty more. Kong: Skull Island is also set in the same universe as 2014's Godzilla. Following Godzilla 2 in 2019, the two monsters will clash in Godzilla vs. Kong on May 29, 2020, though it remains to be seen whether they'll fight the whole time or eventually work together to battle other gigantic creatures.
The gigantic ape will wreak havoc (again) when Kong: Skull Island is released on March 10, 2017.
