The MonsterVerse picked back up late last month with Godzilla: King of the Monsters, following five years after Godzilla kicked off this franchise and two years after we wound the clock back to 1973 for Kong: Skull Island. Next up, Godzilla and King Kong will clash in the appropriately-named Godzilla vs. Kong, and while that movie is currently slated to come out in less than a year, apparently Warner Bros is now considering delaying it.
Although Godzilla: King of the Monsters was the king of its opening weekend with a nearly $48 million domestic haul, that number was below early box office projections. Combined with the overall mixed-to-negative reception the sequel received, the MonsterVerse now finds itself on shakier ground.
As a result, Warner Bros chairman Toby Emmerich says that in order for Godzilla vs. Kong to be the best product possible, the studio is willing to push it to a later date in 2020. In his words:
It might come out later in the year, so we can deliver an A+ movie.
Toby Emmerich also informed Deadline that Godzilla vs. Kong “will deliver for fans in the way they were looking for” in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but evidently he and the Warner Bros brass are willing to push it back if it results in quality being enhanced. Right now Godzilla vs. Kong is slated for release on March 13, 2020, but should it be pushed back, it’s unclear if WB would make it a conventional summer release or save it for the fall/early winter, when there’s not as much competition.
It’s been a little over three and a half years since Godzilla vs. Kong was first announced, with principal photography finally kicking off last November and wrapping up in April. That leaves plenty of time for the postproduction work necessary for these visual effects-heavy blockbusters, as well as any reshoots that might be required.
One thing that might help Godzilla vs. Kong perform better than Godzilla: King of the Monsters is proximity to its predecessor. Although King of the Monsters followed two years after Kong: Skull Island, it was a five year wait between the two Godzilla movies, and not everyone necessarily knew that Skull Island also took place in the MonsterVerse. Godzilla vs. Kong has the benefit of coming out either less than a year or over a year after King of the Monsters, depending on if it’s delayed or not.
In any case, Godzilla vs. Kong is set to be the big crossover event of the MonsterVerse, with these iconic Titans finally coming to blows with an American production. Along with Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler and Zhang Ziyi reprising their Godzilla: King of the Monsters roles, the cast includes Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza González, Jessica Henwick, Julian Dennison, Demián Bichir and Lance Reddick. Adam Wingard directed the flick and Terry Rossio wrote the script.
As things stand now, you can expect Godzilla vs. Kong to come out next spring, but stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates on the movie, including whether it gets a new release date. For now, you can plan your trips to the theater this year by looking through our 2019 release schedule.
