After three movies of doing their own thing, the MonsterVerse incarnations of Godzilla and King Kong are on a collision course. First announced back in late 2015, Godzilla vs. Kong will finally see the eponymous creatures coming to blows towards the end of this year, but how long will this crossover be? Apparently a little under two hours, which, considering a movie of this scale, feels like it’s on the short side.
Last week, it was reported that a Godzilla vs. Kong test screening was held, and while that hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, director Adam Wingard did post on social media not too long after that these two monsters had had a “great day.” Now someone who claims to have been at that test screening told Godzilla-Movies that Godzilla vs. Kong clocks in at approximately one hour and 45 minutes, although they said that the runtime “does not compromise the film's plot at all and no crucial developments are left out.”
Assuming this runtime is accurate, that would make Godzilla vs. Kong the shortest of all the MonsterVerse movies. Godzilla: King of the Monsters currently ranks as the longest at two hours and 12 minutes, followed by Godzilla at two hours and three minutes, and Kong: Skull Island at one hour and 58 minutes.
While one hour and 45 minutes seems like a fair runtime for your average action movie, and I could have even seen the first MonsterVerse Godzilla and King Kong movies, but for Godzilla vs. Kong, I would have thought it’d run for at least two hours, if not longer. After all, Godzilla vs. Kong is basically filling the same role that The Avengers did for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that movie was two hours and 23 minutes long.
Still, if the person who attended this Godzilla vs. Kong test screening is to be believed, evidently the movie was able to tell a compelling story and pack in enough substance within less than two hours. Also keep in mind that just because there’s reportedly a screenable Godzilla vs. Kong cut assembled doesn’t mean that will necessarily be how long it is when it finally plays in theaters. It’s possible some scenes could be tacked on, or the runtime could be trimmed down further.
Needless to say that Godzilla vs. Kong will be an important movie for the MonsterVerse, and not just because these two Titans are finally clashing. Right now, this is the last MonsterVerse movie on the slate, and the previous installment, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, both critically and commercially underwhelmed.
It’s possible that Warner Bros is waiting to see how Godzilla vs. Kong does in theaters before deciding whether or not to keep going with the MonsterVerse. If the reports about this test screening are to be believed, it was met with mostly positive reception, but that doesn’t guarantee it’ll be received the same way by the rest of the world. So Warner Bros’ proverbial fingers are no doubt crossed that Godzilla vs. Kong will ultimately perform much better than its predecessor did.
In addition to the radioactive reptile and giant gorilla fighting one another, Godzilla vs. Kong will also see operatives of Monarch going on a mission to uncover the origins of the Titans, as well as a conspiracy being uncovered to eradicate all of these monsters. In addition to Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown and Zhang Ziyi reprising their respective roles, the cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Jessica Henwick, Julian Dennison, Demián Bichir and Lance Reddick.
While the original plan was for Godzilla vs. Kong to come out later this month, it’s now set for release on November 20 Don’t forget to look through our 2020 release schedule to learn what other movies come out later this year.
