Kong: Skull Island (2017)

King Kong films
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Kong: Skull Island Alternate titles King Kong: Giant God of Skull Island (2017) See alternate titles Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts Producer Eric McLeod, Edward Cheng, et al. Written by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly, John Gatins Music by Henry Jackman Funded by Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros., RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Tencent Pictures Production company Legendary Pictures Distributor Warner Bros. Rating PG-13 Budget $185 million Box office $168,052,812 (U.S. earnings) $400,600,000 (foreign earnings) $568,652,812 (total earnings) Running time 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes) Aspect ratio 2.39:1 Rate this film! 4.37 (82 votes)

“	All Hail the King	„
	— Tagline

Kong: Skull Island is a 2017 American giant monster film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and written by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, and Derek Connolly from a story by John Gatins, with visual effects by Jeff White. A Legendary Pictures production co-financed with Warner Bros., RatPac-Dune Entertainment, and Tencent Pictures, it is a reboot to the King Kong series and the second film in the Monsterverse. It stars Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Jing Tian, John Ortiz, Terry Notary, and John C. Reilly. The film was released to American theaters by Warner Bros. on March 10, 2017.

In 1973, during the closing days of the Vietnam War, the U.S. government approves a joint expedition between Landsat and the scientific organization Monarch to the newly-charted Skull Island. Accompanying the scientists are a military escort headed by Colonel Preston Packard, ex-British SAS tracker James Conrad, and anti-war photographer Mason Weaver. After successfully reaching the island via helicopters and dropping seismic charges to map the island, the expedition is brought down by the island's self-appointed guardian: the 100-foot ape known as Kong. The survivors navigate the perils of the island and encounter stranded World War II pilot Hank Marlow and the native Iwi people, while Packard plans to take his revenge on Kong by salvaging weapons from a downed chopper. But the greatest danger on the island lies in the vile Skullcrawlers; voracious reptilian predators which have been drawn to the surface by the seismic charges. Now Conrad and his allies must save Kong from Packard's vengeance lest the largest and most powerful of the Skullcrawlers, the Skull Devil, rises again. Kong: Skull Island was a critical and financial success, exceeding the worldwide box office gross of Peter Jackson's King Kong to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise, though it was surpassed by Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire seven years later. It was followed in the Monsterverse by Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019, with Kong returning in the next film, Godzilla vs. Kong, in 2021.

Description

“

The year is 1973. Somewhere in our world, it is said that there exists a wondrous island unspoiled by man – a land shrouded in mystery, where myth runs wild. Uncharted and undiscovered. When the secretive organization known as Monarch identify this destination as the origin point for mysterious new superspecies, they mount an expedition to discover its secrets. What they find on Skull Island is an adventure beyond any human experience. An exotic paradise of wonders and terrors, where flora and fauna have fused together into an Eden of otherworldly jungle creatures. As one group fights to escape and the other declares war on Kong, we discover that the mighty primate is at the center of a battle for dominion over the island, locked into a ‘survival of the fittest’ face-off with the terrifying apex predators responsible for wiping out his kin. Driven by vengeance, Kong will become nature’s fury, and fight to take his rightful place upon the throne of most powerful beast on the island, revealing the story of how Kong became King.

„

Plot

After crash-landing on Skull Island in 1944, American fighter pilot Hank Marlow and Japanese pilot Gunpei Ikari engage in a fight to the death. After Ikari gains the upper hand and prepares to fatally stab Marlow with a dagger, a colossal ape appears over a cliff, leading the two shocked men to end their struggle.

In 1973, the United States is about to end its involvement in the Vietnam War. One of its more obscure organizations is on the verge of ending as well. Monarch agents Bill Randa and Houston Brooks visit Senator Al Willis in a last-ditch attempt to convince him to secure funding for an expedition to mythical Skull Island, which has just been photographed for the first time by Landsat satellite. Landsat is already planning to visit the island, which Randa believes to contain an ecosystem of incredible creatures, similar to the monster the United States tried to kill with a hydrogen bomb test in 1954. Willis dismisses it as a fairy tale, but Brooks persuades him with the possibility of the island containing precious new resources like medicine or alternative fuels - and a reminder that the Soviet Union will soon be aware of its existence as well. As a precaution, Randa asks for a military escort as well.

That escort takes the form of the Sky Devils helicopter squadron, led by the intense Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard, a man clearly unhappy with the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. Randa and Brooks travel to a bar in Saigon to recruit former British SAS tracker James Conrad, who they watch prevail in a fight against four men. He opines that an uncharted island would be impossibly dangerous, but their money persuades him. Meanwhile, anti-war photographer Mason Weaver signs onto the voyage as well, believing it has a hidden purpose. She quickly butts heads with Packard. Once aboard the Athena Landsat field supervisor Victor Nieves explains to the expedition that Skull Island is surrounded by a perpetual storm system. Once they clear it, the helicopters will drop seismic charges, allowing Landsat to map the island's subsurface. Radio communication through the storm will be impossible, so they must meet a refuel team north of the island three days later.

The next day, Nieves is ready to call off the mission in the face of the storm, but Randa and Packard overrule him. As promised, his Sky Devils reach Skull Island safely, and waste no time in dropping the seismic charges. The explosions draw out Kong, the giant ape who Marlow and Ikari had seen years earlier, who announces his presence by throwing a tree through one of the helicopters. Chaos ensues as Kong knocks the remaining choppers out of the sky one by one, taking only minor damage from machine gun fire, and a cut to his hand after he attempts to grab a CH-53 Sea Stallion out of the air by its rotors. Two groups of survivors form up: one led by Packard and including Randa, the other comprised of Conrad, Reaver, Brooks, Nieves, Monarch biologist Lin San, and Warrant Officer Reg Slivko.

Packard contacts Major Jack Chapman, who is alone with the downed Sea Stallion containing the last of the seismic charges, and leads his men there so they can use the explosives to kill Kong. The second group encounters an enormous water buffalo. Slivko raises his rifle, but Conrad convinces him to hold his fire, and the creature leaves them unharmed. Holding Randa at gunpoint, Packard demands he explains what they just experienced. Randa reveals that he joined Monarch after his ship, the USS Lawton, was destroyed by a monster during World War II, leaving him the only survivor. He agrees with Packard that Kong should be destroyed, but thinks they should withdraw for now and leave him to a more prepared force. Packard insists he is that force. Traveling through a bamboo forest, they face a giant spider who impales a Sky Devil through the mouth with one of her legs before seizing Warrant Officer Glen Mills with her tendrils. After Mills cut himself loose, Captain Earl Cole realizes the monsters' legs are vulnerable. After they slice off the tips, forcing her to the ground, Packard kills her with his pistol.

Conrad's group finds signs of civilization, then find themselves surrounded by camouflaged islanders with spears. A fight seems inevitable, but Hank Marlow, still living on Skull Island 28 years later, rushes in to break the tension. Chapman has a close encounter with Kong, who ignores him while drinking water from a river. Suddenly, he realizes that a Mire Squid is in the water and grabs one of the creature's tentacles, prompting it to attack. Kong is able to crush the creature's head under his foot and kill it, then proceeds to eat several of its tentacles and drags it away. Marlow brings Conrad's group them inside the Iwi village, a utopian society free of crime and possessions. He explains that Kong is the last of his kind, a benevolent god of the island unless angered. The Iwi revere him for his never-ending struggle against the Skullcrawlers, voracious reptile-like salamanders who live in tunnels beneath the island. The largest of them, the Skull Devil, killed Kong's parents. Conrad and Weaver offer him a chance to escape with them, prompting him to unveil the Grey Fox, a boat made out of his and Gunpei Ikari's planes, along with a B-29. They planned to use it to escape the island themselves, but a Skullcrawler killed Ikari before they could finish it. They resume work on it. Weaver finds another buffalo pinned under a crashed helicopter. She tries to rescue it, only for Kong to suddenly pick up the chopper. After staring at her, he walks away. Chapman, after warding off a giant stick insect, meets his end at the jaws of a Skullcrawler. Conrad gives Weaver his father's lighter.

The Grey Fox sets off the following morning. On its way to reunite with Packard, a flock of Leafwings carry off and dismember Nieves. Marlow tries to convince Packard not to continue west, as he'll be crossing into the Skullcrawlers' territory, but he is undaunted. They soon reach a massive boneyard containing the remains of Kong's parents. A Skullcrawler attacks them as they pass through, eating Randa and killing many of Packard's men. Slivko's gas canisters go off during the battle, causing a flock of Leafwings to attack the humans as well. Conrad rescues Slivko, carving up Leafwings with Marlow's katana, while Weaver throws the lighter at the Skullcrawler just as it passes over a gas vent. The ensuing explosion finally kills it.

Conrad recovers Chapman's dogtags, which the Skullcrawler spat up, but Packard is still determined to use the seismic charges against Kong. Marlow is outraged, pointing out that the Skullcrawlers will overrun the island if Kong is dead, and draws his katana, but Packard knocks him over with the butt of his rifle. Conrad resolves the standoff by leading Weaver, Marlow, Brooks, and San back to the Grey Fox. After nightfall, Packard prepares his trap, instructing his men to pour napalm into a river. Scaling a hill as they attempt to relocate the boat, Conrad and Weaver have a moving encounter with Kong, with Weaver even touching his face. Distant explosions suddenly catch his attention and he stalks away. Conrad and Weaver realize they can't let Packard kill him, and Marlow joins them. Face to face with Kong once more, Packard waits for him to charge into the river, then lights the napalm with a torch. Wounded by the fire, Kong still mounts a brief offensive before collapsing, leaving Packard, Mills, Slivko, Cole, and Reles as the only survivors. Packard places leftover seismic charges around Kong, preparing to finish him, but Conrad and Marlow arrive and hold him at gunpoint, while Weaver urges him to stop. Slivko turns on him as well. Packard refuses, and is prepared to detonate the charges and blow them all sky high, when suddenly the Skull Devil erupts from the lake. Everyone except Packard flees, while Kong regains consciousness and promptly smashes Packard under his fist. The Skull Devil easily bests Kong, but pursues the humans instead of finishing him off.

The following morning, as the surviving expedition members near the extraction point on the north side of the island, they are confronted by the Skull Devil. Cole sacrifices himself to buy time, but the monster tail-whips him into a cliffside before his grenades can go off. Fortunately, Kong arrives and smashes the monster in the face with a boulder. The weakened Kong is overmatched by the Skull Devil, who traps him in the chains of an old shipwreck. The humans return the favor, with Brooks distracting it with the Grey Fox's machine guns and Weaver taking its right eye with a flare gun. Kong breaks free of the chains and rejoins the fight, attaching the boat propeller to the chain to serve as a makeshift flail. He slams the Skull Devil into the same hill Weaver is standing on, causing her to fall into the water below. He rescues her after seemingly slitting the Skull Devil's throat, but the monster returns with a vengeance. Kong tries to keep Weaver away from its mouth, but the beast uses its prehensile tongue to pull Kong's hand, with Weaver held in it, down its throat. Mustering all his strength, Kong pulls his hand free of the Skull Devil's gullet, ripping out the beast's innards and killing it instantly. Kong gently sets Weaver down on the ground. As she regains consciousness and embraces Conrad, Kong looks back at the two of them before walking away. Once the survivors are finally rescued from the island, Kong stands triumphantly in his domain, beating his chest and letting out a mighty roar.

Marlow reunites with his wife in Chicago and finally meets his son. But before Conrad and Weaver can go home, they are interrogated in a Monarch facility. Brooks and San enter, presenting them with a slideshow of old cave paintings depicting Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah, proof that Kong is not the only ancient monster who still walks the Earth.

Staff

A transcript of Kong: Skull Island's end credits is available on SciFi Japan.

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

• Directed by   Jordan Vogt-Roberts
• Written by   Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly
• Based on a story by   John Gatins
• Executive producers   Eric McLeod, Edward Cheng
• Produced by   Jon Jashni, Alex Garcia, Thomas Tull, Mary Parent
• Co-producers   Tom Peitzman, Jen Conroy
• Associate producer   Debbi Bossi
• VFX executive producer   Jill Brooks
• VFX produced by   Tom Peitzman
• Music by   Henry Jackman
• Sound designers   Al Nelson, Pete Horner
• Cinematography by   Larry Fong
• Edited by   Richard Pearson
• Production design by   Stefan Dechant
• First assistant director   Richard Graves
• Senior visual effects supervisor   Stephen Rosenbaum
• Visual effects supervisors   Jeff White, Robert Weaver
• Special effects supervisor   Mike Meinardus

Cast

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

• Tom Hiddleston   as   Captain James Conrad, mercenary
• Samuel L. Jackson   as   Lt. Col. Preston Packard, commander of the U.S. Army "Sky Devils" helicopter assault squadron
• Brie Larson   as   Mason Weaver, antiwar photographer
• John C. Reilly   as   Lt. Hank Marlow, former U.S. Naval Air Force pilot
• John Goodman   as   William "Bill" Randa, Monarch geologist
• Corey Hawkins   as   Houston Brooks, Monarch geologist
• John Ortiz   as   Victor Nieves, head of NASA Landsat field mission
• Jing Tian   as   Lin San, Monarch biologist
• Toby Kebbell   as   Maj. Jack Chapman, Sky Devils deputy officer / Kong (facial reference)
• Jason Mitchell   as   Warrant Officer Glen Mills
• Shea Whigham   as   Capt. Earl Cole, Sky Devils member
• Thomas Mann   as   Warrant Officer Reg Slivko, Sky Devils member
• Eugene Cordero   as   Joe Reles, Sky Devils member
• Marc Evan Jackson   as   Steve Gibson, Landsat satellite data collection investigator
• Will Brittain   as   Young Hank Marlow / Marlow's son
• MIYAVI   as   Gunpei Ikari, Japanese Imperial Navy Mitsubishi A6M Zero pilot
• Richard Jenkins   as   Senator Al Willis
• Allyn Rachel   as   Secretary O'Brien
• Robert Taylor   as   Athena Captain
• James Michael Connor   as   General Ward (voice)
• Thomas Middleditch   as   Jerry (voice)
• Brady Novak   as   Base guard
• Peter Karinen   as   Chinook pilot
• Brian Sacca   as   Chinook co-pilot
• Joshua Funk   as   Seismic soldier
• Daniel Malone, Glenn Kiwi Hall   as   Boat captains
• Garreth Hadfield   as   Crew chief
• Shannon Brimelow   as   Kamikaze pilot
• Jon Quested   as   Dead pilot
• Korey Williams   as   Sunglasses pilot
• Dat Phan   as   Bar thug
• Cynthy Wu   as   Thug's girlfriend
• Beth Kennedy   as   Marlow's wife
• Bryan Chojnowski   as   Chicago taxi driver
• Nick Robinson, Erin Moriarty, Moises Arias   as   Bar patrons (uncredited)
• Terry Notary   as   Kong (motion capture)

Japanese dub

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

• GACKT   as   Captain James Conrad
• Nozomi Sasaki   as   Mason Weaver
• Akihiko Ishizumi   as   William "Bill" Randa
• Hideaki Tezuka   as   Lt. Col. Preston Packard
• Keisuke Ishida   as   Lieutenant Hank Marlow
• Kenji Sugimura   as   Houston Brooks
• Shizuka Ito   as   Lin San
• Atsushi Goto   as   Victor Nieves
• Kazuaki Ito   as   Steve Gibson
• Fuminori Komatsu   as   Major Jack Chapman
• Gotaro Tsunashima   as   Capt. Earl Cole
• Kunihiro Kawamoto   as   Warrant Officer Glen Mills
• Kentaro Yamazaki   as   Warrant Officer Reg Slivko
• Togi Makabe   as   Joe Reles
• Yutaka Nakano   as   Senator Al Willis

Appearances

Titans and superspecies King Kong Skullcrawler Skull Devil Mother Longlegs Spore Mantis Sker Buffalo Mire Squid Leafwing Kong's father (skeleton) Kong's mother (skeleton) Snarehunter (heard and indirectly mentioned) Godzilla (indirect mention; cave paintings) Rodan (cave painting) Mothra (cave painting) King Ghidorah (cave paintings) Ion Dragon (indirect mention) Other monsters Skull Island dragonfly Skull Island deer Skull Island cattle Triceratops (skull)

Weapons, vehicles, races, and organizations Monarch Sky Devils Iwi North American P-51 Mustang Mitsubishi A6M Zero Lockheed P-3 Orion USS Lawton (photograph) Athena UH-1 Iroquois AH-1 Cobra Boeing CH-47 Chinook Sikorsky HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant SS Wanderer Grey Fox

Development

Main article: Kong: Skull Island/Development.

Production

Kong: Skull Island was produced for a budget of $185 million. Legendary Pictures split costs with distributor Warner Bros., who as of September 2015 (a month before shooting began) was expected to put up 25% of the budget as well as marketing costs. RatPac-Dune Entertainment and China's Tencent Pictures were also attached financially, the former through a 75-picture co-financing arrangement with Warner Bros.

Gallery

Main article: Kong: Skull Island/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Kong: Skull Island/Soundtrack.

Alternate titles

• King Kong: Giant God of Skull Island (キングコング：髑髏島の巨神,   Kingu Kongu: Dokurotou-no-Kyoshin, Japan)
• King Kong: Skull Island (金剛‬：骷髏島 Jīngāng‬: Kūlóu Dǎo, China)

Theatrical releases

View all posters for the film here.

• Belgium, Egypt, France - March 8, 2017
• United States - March 10, 2017   [view poster]
• Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea - March 9, 2017
• Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan  [view poster], Turkey, United Kingdom, Vietnam - March 10, 2017
• China - March 24, 2017   [view poster]
• Japan - March 25, 2017  [view poster]

Premium formats

• RealD 3D (post-converted)
• IMAX 3D
• 4DX
• Dolby Vision and Atmos
• 70mm

Reception

Kong: Skull Island currently has a 77% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 286 reviews. The site's Critical Consensus reads, "Offering exhilarating eye candy, solid acting, and a fast-paced story, Kong: Skull Island earns its spot in the movie monster's mythos without ever matching up to the classic original." On Metacritic, it has a score of 62, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Awards

Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result
Academy Awards	Best Achievement in Visual Effects	Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Michael Meinardus	Nominated
Annie Awards	Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production	Jance Rubinchik, Adrian Millington, Alberto Martínez Arce, Kyle Winkelman	Nominated
Golden Trailer Awards	Best Teaser Poster	Warner Bros., Concept Arts Studios	Won
	Best Action	Warner Bros., Trailer Park	Nominated
	Best Sound Editing	Warner Bros., Trailer Park	Nominated
	Best Fantasy/Adventure TV Spot	Warner Bros., Trailer Park	Nominated
	Best Action Poster	Warner Bros., Concept Arts Studios	Nominated
	Best Fantasy / Adventure Poster	Warner Bros., Concept Arts Studios	Nominated
Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi	Tom Hiddleston	Nominated
	Choice Movie: Sci-Fi	Warner Bros.	Nominated
	Choice Actress: Sci-Fi	Brie Larson	Nominated
Visual Effects Society Awards	Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature	Jeff White, Tom C. Peitzman, Stephen Rosenbaum, Scott Benza, Michael Meinardus	Nominated
	Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature	Jakub Pistecky, Chris Havreberg, Karin Cooper, Krishnamurti Costa (for Kong)	Nominated
	Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature	Florent Andorra, Alexis Hall, Raul Essig, Branko Grujcic	Nominated
	Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature	Nelson Sepulveda, Aaron Brown, Paolo Acri, Shawn Mason	Nominated

Video releases

Warner Bros. DVD/Blu-ray + DVD + Digital copy/Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital copy/4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital copy (2017)

• Region: Various
• Discs: 2
• Audio: English, Latin Spanish, Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese (Dolby Atmos for 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray 3D, and Blu-ray; Dolby Digital 5.1 for DVD)
• Subtitles: English, Latin Spanish, Parisian French, Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese
• Special features: Audio commentary by director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, deleted scenes, six featurettes ("Creating a King: Realizing an Icon," "Creating a King: Summoning a God," "Monarch Files 2.0," "Tom Hiddleston: The Intrepid Traveler," "Through the Lens: Brie Larson’s Photography," and "On Location: Vietnam")
• Notes: The listed audio and subtitle options are for the U.S. releases. Brazilian Portuguese is not an option on the DVD. The Target Blu-ray bundle includes a seventh featurette, titled "A Terrifying Paradise: Creating Skull Island."

Jordan Vogt-Roberts recorded a second, more comedic audio commentary with actors Jason Mitchell, Thomas Mann, Eugene Cordero, and Marc Evan Jackson, which is available exclusively through iTunes.

Videos

Main article: Kong: Skull Island/Videos.

Trivia

• According to director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, the first script of the film that he read took place in 1917. Vogt-Roberts later conceived the idea of setting the film during the Vietnam War after talking with Legendary Pictures. When he pitched the idea, Vogt-Roberts told Empire that he thought Legendary would "laugh [him] out of the room," but to his surprise Legendary liked the idea and the setting was changed.
  • Max Borenstein's script also gave the expedition to Skull Island a different motive: the brother of Tom Hiddleston's character was marooned there while searching for a "Titan Serum" capable of curing all disease.
  • An early version of the script called for an Iwi friend of Hank Marlow to accompany the characters aboard the Grey Fox. Vogt-Roberts wanted him to be a "badass" portrayed by Iko Uwais.
• Several lines in Kong: Skull Island gained added significance after filming concluded, either from real-world events or the next Monsterverse installment. According to Vogt-Roberts, test audiences didn't laugh at Bill Randa's line, "Mark my words: there'll never be a more screwed-up time in Washington," until after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Furthermore, King Ghidorah and Rodan destroy the city in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In another ironic line, Randa remarks that the idea of alien life is "nuts"; later, Monarch agents discover King Ghidorah is an extraterrestrial. While working on the Grey Fox, Marlow asks Slivko if the Chicago Cubs have won a World Series since he arrived on Skull Island. The Cubs prevailed in the 2016 World Series just months before the film was released, their first championship since 1908.
• Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts did not want there to be any living dinosaurs in the film because, in his words, "Jurassic World owns that as far as I'm concerned, and Peter Jackson's version did such a great job with that V-Rex fight. So I don't want to retread on that at all."
• Kong: Skull Island is the first King Kong film released in 3D, although like Godzilla it was not filmed in 3D, but post-converted.
• One IMAX poster for this film is patterned after the poster for the film Apocalypse Now. In addition, the character James Conrad is most likely named after Joseph Conrad, author of Heart of Darkness, the novella upon which Apocalypse Now is based, while the character Hank Marlow is most likely named after Marlow, the book's protagonist.
• The Grey Fox is named after a character from the Metal Gear series. Vogt-Roberts is currently attached to direct a Metal Gear Solid film adaptation.
• Kong: Skull Island was the first major motion picture to film a significant number of scenes in Vietnam.
• The beached ship repurposed as an Iwi shrine to Kong, the S.S. Wanderer, is named after the boat that travels to Skull Island in the novelization of the original 1933 film. Hank Marlow states that the Wanderer came to the island about a decade before his own arrival in 1944.
• The names of the U.S. Senator and his secretary that Randa and Houston Brooks meet with at the beginning of the film are Willis and O'Brien, respectively, a reference to Willis O'Brien, who created the stop-motion effects that brought Kong and the other creatures to life in the original 1933 film.
  • One of the documents that Randa presents to Senator Willis mentions "Cooper Schoedsack", named after the original King Kong's co-directors, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack.
• Kong: Skull Island marks the first official appearances of Godzilla in a non-Godzilla kaiju film, as well as the first official appearances of Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah in a film not produced by Toho.
• One version of the film's post-credit sequence involved the characters watching Godzilla surface in the Arctic Ocean. It was rejected because Godzilla stated that he had not been sighted since 1954.
• Kong: Skull Island is the first American-made live-action King Kong film where Kong is not killed or seemingly killed at the film's end.
  • This is also the only live-action King Kong film where Kong never leaves his island and is brought to a modern civilization.
• The attire worn by Randa in this film is reminiscent of that worn by Carl Denham in the original 1933 film.
• The patch and slogan on the back of Hank Marlow's jacket in this film are a reference to the character Dr. Steve Brule, who is portrayed by John C. Reilly in Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule, as well as the jacket worn by Kaneda in Katsuhiro Otomo's manga AKIRA and its 1988 anime film adaptation.
• The design of the Skullcrawlers in this film was inspired by the Two-Legged Lizard from the original King Kong. Other influences included Sachiel from Neon Genesis Evangelion, No Face from Spirited Away, and Cubone from Pokémon.
• The Mother Longlegs creature in this film may be inspired by the crab-spiders from the infamous lost spider pit sequence from the original King Kong.
• The Mire Squid that Kong briefly battles in this film is a reference to the Giant Octopus he fought in King Kong vs. Godzilla. Kong's use of a tree as a weapon in the final battle with the giant Skullcrawler may also be a nod to his famous use of a tree against Godzilla in the film.
• During the film's final battle, Kong appears to attempt to pry open and break the Skull Devil's jaws. This is a reference to Kong's preferred tactic of breaking an opponent's jaws, which he demonstrates in the original film, King Kong Escapes, and the 1976 and 2005 remakes.
• The close-up of Kong eating Mire Squid tentacles is a reference to a scene in the film Oldboy where Oh Dae-su eats a live octopus.
• Other influences on Kong: Skull Island include the films Aliens, Fitzcarraldo, Full Metal Jacket, Hell in the Pacific, Bong Joon-ho's The Host, The Good, the Bad, the Weird, Platoon, Princess Mononoke, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Thin Red Line, the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, and the video game Shadow of the Colossus.
• Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has said that the filmmakers intentionally tried to differentiate the Kong design in this film from the design featured in the 2005 film directed by Peter Jackson. Rather than making the design resemble a gigantic silverback gorilla that walks on all four limbs like in Jackson's film, the designers chose to have Kong stand upright like a human. A major reason for this was to show that Kong is his own species that has its "own set of rules, so [the filmmakers] can do what we want and [they] really wanted to pay homage to what came before...and yet do something completely different."
• The helicopters that Kong destroys early in the film are UH-1 Iroquois, the same type of choppers that seemingly killed Kong in the climax of the 1976 remake.
• The Japanese fighter pilot who befriended Hank Marlow, Gunpei Ikari, is named after the late Japanese game designer Gunpei Yokoi and the character Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
• Many creatures were conceptualized and designed for Kong: Skull Island that do not make an appearance in the finished film. Some of these creatures, such as the Magma Turtle, Sirenjaw, Death Jackal, Swamp Locust, and Psychovulture, were ultimately featured in the film's official tie-in comic, Skull Island: The Birth of Kong. Even more creature designs appeared in the film's Chinese marketing and the "Monarch Files 2.0" bonus feature on home video releases, like the Spirit Tiger, Vinestrangler, and the bat-like Cave Fishers. In 2021, the Spirit Tiger appeared in the graphic novel Kingdom Kong and the picture book Kong and Me.
• Marc Evan Jackson originally read for the role of Victor Nieves, though John Ortiz was ultimately cast. Vogt-Roberts, who directed Jackson in The Kings of Summer, invented a part for him by reassigning nearly every line and action from unnamed Landsat employees to a single new character named Steve Gibson.
• The Mother Longlegs leg that nearly impales Joe Reles (Eugene Cordero) was a practical effect. Vogt-Roberts came within "millimeters" of stabbing Cordero in the crotch while demonstrating how he wanted the shot to look.
• The Iwi village set was constructed in the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex outside Ninh Bình, Vietnam. The city rebuilt the set and the Grey Fox as a tourist attraction in April 2017, even hiring the extras who played the Iwi to interact with visitors. As Trang An is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the agency recommended striking the set to avoid damaging and misrepresenting the area. Ninh Bình agreed to do so in September 2019.
• Vogt-Roberts initially wanted to call the Skullcrawlers "MacArthur", in the same way that a pet dog might have a human name. John C. Reilly felt that "Skullcrawler" was ridiculous and didn't want to say it, leading to an improvised exchange between Marlow, Conrad, and Weaver about the name.
• The baseball on the Grey Fox was signed by Bill Nicholson, an All-Star right fielder for the Chicago Cubs in the 1940s.
• A scene of Maj. Jack Chapman gazing into a Skullcrawler pit appears in the film's first trailer, but was ultimately cut.
• This is the only Monsterverse film to date where there is not a scene where a monster is decapitated.
• The initial marketing for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire implied that the red handprint seen in the film belongs to the Skar King. The "Meet The Titans" section on the film's Prime Video rental page additionally states that he "leav[es] a menacing bloody handprint as his calling card across the history of the Monsterverse."

External links

• Official site
• Official Twitter page
• Official Facebook page
• Offcial Instagram account
• discoverskullisland.com - Viral marketing campaign site
• Official site (Japan)
• Production notes
• List of firearms used in the film
• Official character bios
• Tie-in products which will be sold in theaters
• Entertainment Tonight set report
• Moviefone set visit
• Nerdist set visit
• Google Maps listing for Skull Island

References

This is a list of references for Kong: Skull Island. 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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