Godzilla vs. Kong

Godzilla films
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Godzilla vs. Kong See alternate titles Directed by Adam Wingard Producer Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Eric McLeod, Brian Rogers; Kenji Okuhira, Yoshimitsu Banno, Jon Jashni, Thomas Tull (executives) Written by Eric Pearson, Max Borenstein (script); Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields (story) Music by Tom Holkenborg Distributor Warner Bros., Legendary PicturesCH, TohoJP Rating PG-13 Budget $155-200 million Box office $27,900,000 (U.S.) $123,100,000 (Foreign) $151,000,000 (Total) Running time 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes) Aspect ratio 2.39:1 Rate this film! 4.14 (141 votes)

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“	One will fall	„
	— Tagline

Godzilla vs. Kong (ゴジラvsコング,   Gojira tai Kongu) is a 2021 American science fiction monster film produced by Legendary Pictures, and the fourth entry in the MonsterVerse. It was released to American theaters on March 31, 2021, becoming available to stream via HBO Max the same day for a period of one month. It will be distributed to theaters in Japan by Toho on May 14, 2021.

The second film to pit Godzilla and King Kong against each other, Godzilla vs. Kong is the culmination of every entry in Legendary and Warner Bros.' MonsterVerse so far. When Godzilla and Kong engage in a battle for supremacy, Monarch embarks on a quest to discover the Titans' origins while a human conspiracy threatens to wipe out all of the ancient creatures.

Plot

In 2024, 5 years after Godzilla after defeated Ghidorah and claimed the throne as the "King of the monsters," a flock of Leafwings fly over a waking Kong who starts to get up and walk to a waterfall. At the waterfall, Kong lets the water run down his body. Meanwhile, Jia finishes a figure of Kong. Kong then uproots a tree that he takes with him as he meets Jia. Then, Kong throws the tree at the wall of the Monarch outpost he is located in. Dr. Ilene Andrews and another member of Monarch discuss the possibility of moving Kong due to the outpost he is being continued in being too small. Ilene and Jia then get in a car and leave the area. After the opening credits, Bernie Hayes is recording an episode of his Titan Truths Podcast and talks about his mission to uncover secrets hidden by Apex Cybernetics in a facility located at Pensacola, Florida. As he enters one of the buildings, he walks past an ad for Apex playing. Bernie goes into a part of the Apex facility as a way to download data after forcing the employee working there to leave the area. In the middle of him copying the files, a titan alert sounds through the facility alerting the arrival of Godzilla. As the employees evacuate and Godzilla arrives, Bernie infiltrates a restricted lab. On top of one of the buildings, Walter Simmons and Ren Serizawa escape the scene by helicopter. Planes engage Godzilla, hitting him with their missiles while Godzilla retaliates with physical attacks and atomic breath. One plane crashes in front of escaping civilians. Bernie runs into a couple of guards who are then killed by Godzilla's atomic breath. The resulting explosion reveals the eye of a mysterious thing. After the attack, a news broadcast by CNN talks about Godzilla no longer being a "titan savior". The broadcast is played at a school attended by Madison Russell who heads to the Monarch Relief Camp in Pensacola. Madison tries to reason with her father about why Godzilla suddenly attacked after a period of peace. Madison believes that Godzilla is attacking because he is being provoked while Mark says that the podcast is "filling your head with garbage." Later in Philadelphia at the Denham University of Theoretical Sciences, Walter Simmons and Ren Serizawa go to the office of Dr. Nathan Lind. They propose the idea of leading Kong to Antarctica where he would show them the way through the hollow Earth and find the energy source of the hollow Earth. The two also suggested using the Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicle to combat the switching gravity. The trio agrees and enlists the help of Dr. Andrews. Upon arrival at the island, Nathan tries to convince Ilene to join the mission. Eventually, she agrees to carry out the plan. Ilene, Jia, and Nathan all leave for Antarctica by ship escorted by many other military vessels with Kong chained to one. Maia Simmons arrives at the ship by helicopter. Ilene and Nathan discuss the possibility of Kong not going to the hollow Earth willingly. Nathan gets called to the deck of the ship where Kong and Maia are located. They introduce each other and go inside the ship. She tells Nathan about the HEAVs and how the anti-gravity engines can "light up Vegas for a week." Nathan then explains the plan to Maia, Ilene, and a military officer. After talking briefly, Jia goes outside on the deck of the ship and touches Kong's finger before signing to him. Kong then signs back "home". Back with Madison, her friend, Josh Valentine takes her to go meet Bernie to help discover the secrets of Apex. To find him they go to Chinatown and track down someone who uses an excessive amount of bleach. They meet in a building where Bernie tells the two about his discovery in Apex. After a brief explanation of a couple of Bernie's possessions, the trio decides to break into Apex. Meanwhile, in the Taman Sea, Ilene has a conversation with Jia before she explains to Nathan what happened to the Native people and by extension, Jia, after the storm took over Skull Island. Nathan proposes the idea of Jia giving directions to Kong which is quickly shot down by Ilene. Jia then feels the vibrations of Godzilla and rushes to tell Ilene. Godzilla makes a B-line for the ship Kong is onboard, cutting through another ship with his dorsal plates. The other ships and planes engage Godzilla to no avail. Godzilla keeps his direction and dives down. Kong roars at the water where Godzilla suddenly surfaces and turns the ship upside down. Nathan releases Kong and the two titans briefly clash under the waves before Kong returns the ship to its normal position. Godzilla circles back for the ship until Kong jumps to an aircraft carrier. Kong's weight starts to make the carrier lean until Godzilla jumps aboard the carrier and takes a punch from Kong. Godzilla retaliates with a slap that knocks Kong backward. Godzilla charges his atomic breath but is stopped by aircraft. Kong then knocks Godzilla into the ocean who charges his atomic breath and fires upwards at the ship. Kong dodges the beam and jumps off the ship. Godzilla starts fighting Kong underneath the water and starts gaining the upper hand. The military joins Kong in his underwater assault by launching depth charges which distracts Godzilla and allow Kong to escape. Kong then swims to the original ship he was on and climbs up, defeated. The remaining ships stop all activity as Godzilla comes back for the survivors of his attack. Nathan comes up with carrying Kong aerially to get the rest of the way. Back with the trio of Bernie, Josh, and Madison, they arrive at the Penscanola facility belonging to Apex. They infiltrate the facility to find the mysterious object from before missing. The group finds an elevator that takes them to sub-level 33 where they find a container that houses Skullcrawlers. The container is sent through a system that sends the container to Hong Kong. In Antarctica, Kong arrives, by air, at the entrance of the hollow Earth. The humans open the tunnel leading up to the entrance and use Jia to tell Kong that others of his kind may be in there to convince Kong to lead the way down. As Kong heads in, the HEAVs power up and follow Kong. As they get to the entrance of the hollow Earth. After the group makes it through they narrowly avoid crashing into the ground before being attacked by a pair of Warbats. Kong fights the two with the support of the HEAV and is victorious. He decapitated the body of one of the Warbats and eats part of it. Kong heads for the summit of a mountain before getting to a cliff face. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the group enters a large chamber that houses Mechagodzilla. Walter Simmons watches the unfolding demonstration as Mechagodzilla links with Ren. Walter gives the command to release a Skullcrawler that the group runs away from. The Skullcrawler is then, grabbed by Mechagodzilla who uses its beam to kill and cut the Skullcrawler in half. Mechagodzilla then deactivates as Walter and Ren discuss the power sample that will be discovered by the team in the hollow Earth. Somewhere in the ocean, Godzilla heads for the newly awakened Mechagodzilla. Mark Russel is notified about this change in events and starts to go to Hong Kong. In the hollow Earth, Kong comes across a large structure. Kong opens the doors to this structure which houses an ax and a chair for Kong. Back in Hong Kong, Bernie, Madison, and Josh try to exit the facility and find the remains of Ghidorah. The skull was made into a supercomputer capable of linking to Mechagodzilla. Meanwhile, Godzilla arrives in Hong Kong bringing destruction in his wake as citizens evacuate into titan shelters. In the hollow Earth, Kong finds a carved-out section of the floor that perfectly fits his newly found ax. The ax starts pulsing with energy and spreads the energy through the rest of the floor to create a pattern that resembles Godzilla. Godzilla notices this disruption and starts to fire atomic breath downwards at Kong's position. The hollow Earth team releases a drone that collects a sample of the rock to the dismay of Ilene. The drone sends the energy signature of the sample to the Apex lab in Hong Kong. Hellhawks on the roof of the structure start to become active. The sample's signature is retrieved by the facility. When Walter and Ren are made aware of this Walter tells Ren to start up the Mech while Ren suggests waiting for more information about the energy source. Walter then commands Ren to get into the chair to command Mechagodzilla. Meanwhile, the team in the hollow Earth is being killed off by the assault of the Hellhawks. Eventually, Maia and a few others make it onto one of the HEAVs which takes off. Two Hellhawks then start to attack Jia, Nathan, and Ilene. Nathan distracts one with a rock while the other flies away. The Hellhawk and humans are knocked off their feet by the atomic breath of Godzilla. Godzilla roars down the hole created which is answered by Kong's growls. The airborne HEAV opens fire on Kong who grabs the vehicle and crushes it in his hands. He dodges debris as Jia, Ilene and Nathan escape the hollow Earth with another HEAV. Kong picks up his ax and starts to climb the hole made by Godzilla. In Hong Kong, Madison, Bernie, and Josh make it into the head of Ghidorah and are caught by security. Kong finishes his climb up the hole made by Godzilla. Both monsters meet and start to try and intimidate the other before Kong jumps up and tries to hit Godzilla with his ax. The ax gets stuck in a building and Kong resorts to a physical fight against the larger Godzilla. Godzilla tries a couple of times to fire atomic breath but Kong dodges and stops Godzilla in time. Eventually, Godzilla gets loose of Kong's grip but gets hit on the head. Godzilla is kicked to the ground and attempts to use the atomic breath once again but is stopped by Kong who shoves his ax's handle down the monster's throat. Godzilla manages to fire his atomic breath again but it is blocked by Kong's ax. Godzilla tackles Kong who retaliates by cutting Godzilla's leg with the ax. Godzilla then throws Kong and takes the ax with his mouth to throw it away. A chase ensues between Godzilla's atomic breath and Kong dodging the breath. Kong is eventually hit in the back by the breath and falls to the ground. He gets up and starts to dodge the breath again. Kong then climbs a building that gets hit by the atomic breath and falls. The HEAV gets out of the hole in the ground and enters the battlefield of the two titans. Then, Kong jumps onto a building and jumps towards Godzilla, blocking his atomic breath and hitting him with the ax. Both monsters are blown away by the impact. The ax loses its charge as Nathan declares, "Round two goes to Kong." In the Apex facility, the trio is brought to Walter who briefly talks to them about his most recent achievement. Meanwhile, Kong distracts Godzilla with a pole before jumping on the monster. The monsters trade blows with Kong maintaining his spot on top of Godzilla. Godzilla knocks Kong off his back and gets the upper hand in the fight dislocating the shoulder of Kong's left arm. Godzilla gets on top of Kong and scratches at his chest before stepping on it twice. Both monsters roar at each other until Kong gives up and stays on the ground. As Ren starts to take control of Mechagodzilla and the energy source is put in the robot, it disconnects Ren from the robot which appears to be taken over by another conscious. This new Mechagodzilla attacks and kills Walter. This attack also knocks out Ren. Mechagodzilla escapes from the facility with its beam and starts to engage Godzilla who takes multiple hits. Josh and the others then try and figure out a way to disable the mech. The hollow Earth team gets out of their HEAV and sees the battle between Mechagodzilla and Godzilla unfold. Jia finds out that Kong's heartbeat is slowing and relays this to the other two group members. Nathan gets the idea to use the HEAV's engines as a way to restart Kong's heart and tells the others to start running. As the fight between machine and monster continues, Madison tries to call Mark, and Bernie and Josh try to figure out the password to the mech. The two monsters engage in a beam lock of which Mechagodzilla wins and topple Godzilla. Nathan lands the HEAV on Kong's chest and starts the engines. The resulting explosion wakes Kong and knocks out Nathan. Jia then convinces Kong to fight with Godzilla against the mech. Kong obliges and resets his shoulder. Mechagodzilla opens Godzilla's mouth and attempts to fire his beam inside but is stopped by Kong who fights the mech with Godzilla. Kong, seeing that the fight isn't going well grabs his ax and starts to hack at the mech. Meachogdzilla counterattacks with a tail poke. In the facility, Josh gets the idea to use Bernie's alcohol to mess up the system for enough time to let the monsters recover. Godzilla fires his atomic breath at Kong's ax to charge it and the ape uses the ax to cut off the mech's tail and arms. Kong then takes the head of the mech and roars victoriously. Exhausted, Kong sits down. Ilene wakes up Nathan and they walk out of the rubble together. Mark finds Madison, Josh, and Bernie who invites him to talk on his podcast. Godzilla and Kong become active again as they walk towards each other. Kong drops his ax as Godzilla roars at him. Godzilla then turns around and goes back into the sea. Later, Kong is shown in hollow Earth as the new Kong Monitoring Station. Kong then swings onto a cliff and pounds his chest, roaring.

Development

Rumors of a King Kong vs. Godzilla remake began as soon as Legendary Pictures announced Kong: Skull Island in 2014. On September 10, 2015, Deadline reported that the project's move from Universal Pictures to Godzilla distributor Warner Bros. was meant to facilitate a rematch between the two monsters. The Hollywood Reporter published its own article on the impending crossover six days later. On October 14, 2015, Legendary confirmed its intent to launch a cinematic universe featuring both Godzilla and King Kong, as well as other giant monsters including Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. Godzilla was the first entry in this cinematic universe, later officially dubbed the MonsterVerse, and it was to be followed by Kong: Skull Island and the Godzilla sequel Godzilla: King of the Monsters before finally culminating with Godzilla vs. Kong. Initially, the release date for Godzilla vs. Kong was simply given as 2020. On May 10, 2016, The Wrap reported that Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong had been given new release dates of March 22, 2019 and May 29, 2020, respectively.

On March 10, 2017, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Legendary would be assembling a writers room to come up with the story for the film, comprised of Terry Rossio (who previously worked on the original version of TriStar's Godzilla film), Patrick McKay, J.D. Payne, Lindsey Beer, Cat Vasko, T.S. Nowlin, and J. Michael Straczynski. On May 3, Warner Bros. announced that it had moved the release date for Godzilla vs. Kong up a week from May 29, 2020 to May 22. Adam Wingard finalized a deal to become the film's director on May 30. In an interview with ScreenCrush on August 18, he described Godzilla vs. Kong as a "massive monster brawl movie." He said the film would contain "lots of monsters going crazy on each other" but also stated, "at the end of the day I want there to be an emotional drive to it."

On June 1, That Hashtag Show revealed that Deadpool 2 star Julian Dennison had been cast in the film in a supporting role, while Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler would both be reprising their roles from Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The article also reported that Legendary had offered Frances McDormand a starring role in the film. The following day, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed this report, save for the talks with McDormand, adding that Zhang Ziyi would be reprising her role from Godzilla: King of the Monsters as well and that Van Marten would be joining the film's cast. After That Hashtag Show claimed McDormand had been cast in July, her representatives denied her involvement. That Hashtag Show later clarified in a retraction that McDormand was never in negotiations for a role and had passed on the film.

Further casting announcements followed as the film neared the start of production: Brian Tyree Henry on October 10, Demián Bichir on October 17, Alexander Skarsgård on October 25, Eiza González and Rebecca Hall on October 30, Jessica Henwick on November 8, Shun Oguri on November 11, and Lance Reddick on November 14. In a SiriusXM interview on November 5, Skarsgård described his character as "not an alpha, bad-ass hero, which I thought was quite interesting. He is thrown into this very dangerous situation and is definitely not equipped for it and that makes it a bit more interesting in my opinion than had he been a bad-ass dude. He’s just a tiny, tiny human trying to survive between these two behemoths."

On February 21, 2019, Warner Bros. moved up the release date of the film to March 13 to avoid competition with the ninth entry in the The Fast and the Furious franchise.

On May 30, the day before the international theatrical release of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, an advertisement for Godzilla vs. Kong was shown at Licensing Expo 2019, featuring artwork of the two titular monsters battling with the tagline "One will fall." While promoting Godzilla: King of the Monsters in China, Millie Bobby Brown discussed her role as Madison in Godzilla vs. Kong, explaining that as Godzilla and Kong come to blows with one another, she goes on a journey to decide which of them she will ultimately side with. On June 17, Warner Bros. presented footage from Godzilla vs. Kong along with its other major upcoming films to European exhibitors at CineEurope. Deadline reported that Godzilla vs. Kong was set to release internationally on March 11, 2020, two days before its American debut, despite earlier comments from WB Chairman Toby Emmerich suggesting the possibility that the film could be delayed.

On November 25, 2019, Variety reported that the release date for Godzilla vs. Kong had been pushed back eight months to November 20, 2020. A short clip from the film, showing Kong throwing a punch at Godzilla, played before the Warner Bros. presentation at Comic Con Experience in Brazil on December 8, 2019.

On January 7, 2020, photographs from a toy expo surfaced online showing figures for Godzilla vs. Kong. These included multiple figures of Godzilla and Kong, including a figure of Godzilla wearing what appeared to be battle armor labeled "Mega Godzilla" and Kong wielding an axe. Other figures included a Skullcrawler and a new Titan later identified as Warbat. Most noteworthy were several figures of what appeared to be a new incarnation of Mechagodzilla.

On January 17, Adam Wingard posted on his Instagram that Godzilla vs. Kong was in the closing stages of editorial and only a few months away from completion.

On May 20, Legendary Comics held a digital WonderCon panel discussing the upcoming graphic novel tie-ins for the film. The panel revealed the authors and illustrators behind the Kong- and Godzilla-centric graphic novels, as well as The Art of Godzilla vs. Kong and an untitled Kong picture book. Images from the graphic novels were shown as well. On June 10, Film Music Reporter announced that Tom Holkenborg, better known by the stage name Junkie XL, would be scoring the film. On June 12, Deadline announced that Godzilla vs. Kong would be delayed to May 21, 2021.

On November 25, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that WarnerMedia and Warner Bros. were in talks to release Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max the same day it would open in theaters, echoing plans for Wonder Woman 1984, after the former blocked a $200 million-plus offer from Netflix. Warner made these plans official on December 3, unveiling a new Godzilla vs. Kong banner in its announcement video. The film will only be available on the service for one month after its theatrical premiere. Two shots of Godzilla and Kong were included in a Warner Bros. sizzle reel shown at Comic Con Experience on December 6. The following day, it was reported that Legendary may take legal action against Warner Bros. over its plans to place the film on HBO Max, as the studio was largely kept out of the loop of this plan and supplied a sizeable portion of its $160 million budget.

On January 15, 2021, Deadline reported that Godzilla vs. Kong's release date would be moving up almost two months to March 26. Eleven days later on January 26, Variety reported that the film's North American release had been pushed back another week to March 31.

Production

Principal photography on Godzilla vs. Kong began on November 12, 2018 in Hawaii, under the title Apex. The production wrapped in Hawaii on December 20 and resumed at Village Roadshow Studios in Oxenford, Australia, in the third week of January. Outdoor shoots took place at various Gold Coast locations, wrapping in early April. Several days of reshoots were conducted afterwards.

Marketing

Godzilla vs. Kong had an unusually short marketing period for a Hollywood blockbuster, owing to multiple release date changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 21, Legendary Pictures unveiled the first poster for the film, showing Godzilla swimming towards Kong in Hong Kong, and announced that the trailer for the film would be released on Sunday, January 24. They also launched Twitter and Instagram accounts specifically for the film. MonarchSciences.com, originally created to market Godzilla: King of the Monsters, came back online with an emergency warning instead of its map: "TITANUS GOJIRA AND TITANUS KONG ON COLLISION COURSE." The website later changed back to its usual global interactive map format. YouTube began running short ads for the film the same day. When the trailer dropped, it accumulated 25.6 million views in 24 hours, a record for a Warner Bros. trailer in that time frame. Toho released the film's Japanese trailer, containing new footage, on February 7, also announcing its Japanese release date of May 14. On February 14, the official Godzilla vs. Kong Twitter released a teaser with new footage. New TV spots and posters continued to drop throughout the rest of the month and into March.

On March 8, Tamashii Nations opened a pop-up shop in New York City which displayed their Godzilla vs. Kong S.H. MonsterArts figures, Jia's costume, props of two Skullcrawler eggs, and a DougheGoji statue. The shop will close on April 25.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

• Directed by   Adam Wingard
• Screenplay by   Eric Pearson, Max Borenstein
• Story by   Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields
• Produced by   Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Eric McLeod, Brian Rogers
• Executive producers   Kenji Okuhira, Yoshimitsu Banno, Jon Jashni, Thomas Tull
• Music by   Tom Holkenborg
• Cinematography by   Ben Seresin
• Edited by   Josh Schaeffer
• Production design by   Owen Patterson, Tom Hammock
• Assistant directors   Ashley Douglass, Nick Satriano
• Visual effects supervisor   John "DJ" DesJardin
• Sound design by   Jason W. Jennings, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Var Dye Vin, Brandon Jones

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

• Alexander Skarsgård   as   Dr. Nathan Lind, Monarch Chief Cartographer
• Millie Bobby Brown   as   Madison Russell
• Rebecca Hall   as   Dr. Ilene Andrews, Monarch anthropological linguist
• Brian Tyree Henry   as   Bernie Hayes, Titan Truth Podcast host
• Shun Oguri   as   Ren Serizawa, Apex Cybernetics Chief Technical Officer
• Eiza González   as   Maia Simmons, Apex executive
• Julian Dennison   as   Josh Valentine
• Lance Reddick   as   Guillermin
• Kyle Chandler   as   Dr. Mark Russell, Monarch Director
• Demián Bichir   as   Walter Simmons, Apex CEO
• Kaylee Hottle   as   Jia
• Hakeem Kae-Kazim   as   Admiral Wilcox
• Ronny Chieng   as   Jay Wayne
• John Pirruccello   as   Horace
• Chris Chalk   as   Ben
• Conlan Casal, Brad McMurray   as   Apex Cybernetics security guards
• Benjamin Rigby   as   Sonar operator
• Nick Turello   as   Apex Cybernetics armed guard
• Daniel Nelson   as   Hayworth
• Priscilla Doueihy   as   Monarch mission tech
• Kei Kudo, Bradd Buckley   as   HEAV pilots
• John Walton, Daniel Tuiara   as   HEAV co-pilots
• David Castillo, Kofi Yiadom, Jim Palmer   as   Maia's Apex Cybernetics guards

Appearances

Monsters Godzilla (DougheGoji) Godzilla skeleton King Kong Mechagodzilla Warbats Skullcrawlers Skull Devil (stock footage) Hellhawks Leafwings Hollow Earth crabs Hollow Earth lizard King Ghidorah (skull; stock footage) MUTO Eight-legged female (stock footage) Queen MUTO (stock footage) Rodan (stock footage) Behemoth (stock footage) Methuselah (stock footage) Scylla (stock footage) Mothra (cave painting; mentioned)

Weapons, vehicles, races, and organizations Monarch Apex Cybernetics Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicle Osprey Boeing CH-47 Chinook Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Arleigh Burke-class destroyer (USS McCampbell) Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser (USS Lake Champlain) Iowa-class battleship Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Unidentified submarine Apex drone

Gallery

Main article: Godzilla vs. Kong/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Godzilla vs. Kong: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Alternate titles

• Godzilla vs. King Kong (哥吉拉大戰金剛 Gējílā dàzhàn Jīngāng; China)
  • (哥斯拉大戰金剛 Gēsīlā dàzhàn Jīngāng; Hong Kong)
  • (哥吉拉大戰金剛 Gējílā dàzhàn Jīngāng; Taiwan)

Theatrical releases

• France, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Ukraine - March 24, 2021
• Argentina, Australia, Chile, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea - March 25, 2021
• Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Spain, Vietnam - March 26, 2021
• Canada, United States - March 31, 2021
• Lithuania - April 1, 2021
• Sweden - April 28, 2021
• Japan - May 14, 2021
• Slovakia - May 20, 2021
• United Kingdom - May 21, 2021

Premium formats

• 3D (post-converted)
• IMAX 3D
• Dolby Vision and Atmos

Box office

Godzilla vs. Kong was one of many Hollywood films initially scheduled for 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, Warner Bros. announced it would release a full 2021 lineup to theaters, in tandem with one-month HBO Max releases in the United States, rather than continue to delay its films until COVID-19 vaccines became widespread. This meant Godzilla vs. Kong opened at a time when many potential viewers were reluctant to visit a movie theater for fear of infection; in addition, many theaters faced seating capacity restrictions or were temporarily shuttered. However, with the other major studios continuing to push back most of their films, it will face minimal box-office competition.

Godzilla vs. Kong began its international rollout on March 24 and opened to $121.8 million, easily the best figure for a Hollywood movie in the past year. In China, it made $70.3 million in its opening, narrowly exceeding the debut of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The film debuted on March 31 in the United States, an unusual Wednesday release to take advantage of the Easter holiday. It made $9.6 on its opening day, again a record for the pandemic era. Its release prompted Regal Cinemas, the second-largest chain in the country, to begin reopening its theaters on April 2, after closing them all in October.

Videos

Main article: Godzilla vs. Kong/Videos.

Trivia

• With a runtime of 113 minutes, Godzilla vs. Kong is the shortest entry in the MonsterVerse.
• Godzilla vs. Kong is the first Godzilla movie to feature "vs." in its English title since Godzilla vs. Megaguirus in 2000. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, released in Japan as Gojira tai Mekagojira ("Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla"), was the last to use "vs." in its title overall.
  • It is also the first film to include the English "vs" in its Japanese title since 1995's Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (ゴジラvsデストロイア,   Gojira tai Desutoroia).
• In 2013, Peter Jackson approached future Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard with an offer to direct a sequel to his 2005 King Kong remake called Skull Island, written by Simon Barrett and produced by Mary Parent. According to Wingard, the film was never made because it "was set up at Universal, and the King Kong rights somehow ended up at Warner Bros." Parent also produced Godzilla vs. Kong.
• Both Zhang Ziyi and Jessica Henwick were cast for Godzilla vs. Kong, but neither appears in the finished film. Ziyi was set to reprise her role as Dr. Ilene Chen from Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
• Madison and Mark Russell are the only human characters in the film to return from a previous entry in the MonsterVerse.
• Mechagodzilla is the final "Big Five" Toho monster to appear in a MonsterVerse film, the others being Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Rodan.
• This is the second film in which Kong fights a mechanized version of a monster. The first time was in King Kong Escapes, where he fought his own mechanical duplicate, Mechani-Kong, who inspired the creation of Mechagodzilla.
• Denham University of Theoretical Science is named after Carl Denham from the original King Kong.
• Mechagodzilla emerges from a mountain, engages in a beam-lock with Godzilla, and is defeated by Godzilla and another monster by having its head torn off, much like its Showa counterpart.
• Mechagodzilla being built using King Ghidorah's severed head as a neural interface is reminiscent of the film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, where it was constructed using technology salvaged from Mecha-King Ghidorah's severed mechanical head.
  • Furthermore, Mechagodzilla going berserk and turning on its creators is similar to the Shogakukan manga adaptation of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, where Mecha-King Ghidorah's programming takes over Mechagodzilla and brutally attempts to kill Godzilla. In both stories, another monster helps him take down the machine: Fire Rodan in the manga and Kong in the film.
• As in many of his films, Kong is transported from his island by boat. Furthermore, Kong being airlifted is reminiscent of scenes in both King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes.
• Godzilla attacking Kong at sea while he is being transported is reminiscent of his attack on Mothra's egg in Godzilla vs. Mothra.
• During Godzilla and Kong's Hong Kong battle, Kong shoves the handle of his axe down Godzilla's throat, referencing a famous scene from King Kong vs. Godzilla where Kong shoves a tree down Godzilla's throat.
• Mechagodzilla attempts to finish off Godzilla by firing its proton scream into his mouth, a callback to Godzilla's "Kiss of Death" attack he performed on the female MUTO in Godzilla.
• The name of Lance Reddick's character, Guillermin, is a reference to British filmmaker John Guillermin, who directed the 1976 King Kong remake and its sequel King Kong Lives.
• Wingard offered James Rolfe a cameo in the film, but he declined due to the impending birth of his second child.
• The film's opening credits plagiarize a piece of Skullcrawler fanart by DeviantArt user Ramul.

External links

• Official site
• Official Twitter
• Official Facebook
• Official Instagram
• Collider set visit
• Comicbook set visit
• ComingSoon set visit
• JoBlo set visit
• Nerdist set visit

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla vs. Kong. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

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