King Kong returns to the big screen next year and he’s about to get an upgrade. The Eighth Wonder of the World stars in the action-adventure film Kong: Skull Island, directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, and starring Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson. Skull Island is the second film in a planned universe that’s leading up to Godzilla vs. Kong in 2020.
Kong as viewed from his new ride at Universal Studios Orlando. Image: Universal
The first film in the series was 2014’s Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards. In that movie, the monster was over 100m tall, easily the biggest version of the character ever see on screen. Match that up with the usual King Kong, a being who can easily fit into a New York theatre, and Godzilla vs. Kong is a very short movie. Godzilla steps on King Kong; the end.
Except that’s not going to happen. At a recent event, the director of Kong: Skull Island revealed the size of his version of the iconic character. “This is going to be the biggest Kong there’s ever been,” said Jordan Vogt-Roberts. “Not 10 foot [3m] or 30 foot [9m], but a 100-foot ape [30m].”
That still makes him smaller than Godzilla, but at least now it’s more of a fair fight.
Kong: Skull Island will be released in the US on 10 March 2017. Godzilla 2 will be released 22 March 2019, and Godzilla vs. Kong is slated for 29 May 2020.