Godzilla vs. Kong Gets An October Filming Start Date

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2020’s Godzilla vs. Kong has set an October 2018 filming start date, with production on the film – pitting the Sea Lizard and the Giant King of the Jungle against one another – taking place largely on sound stages in Atlanta.

Death Note director Adam Wingard’s monster movie mash-up promises to be dark and depressing, despite the obvious action-romp qualities inherent in a creature feature showdown. Wingard plans to explore the reality of the destruction left behind by the cryptids’ epic (and dangerous) battle. The goal is to pay reverence to the original films’ Hiroshima symbolism. Kong: Skull Island director, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, has expressed his confidence in Wingard as a director, praising him for his ability to recognize the “anime, manga, mech sensibility” he brought to Skull Island and his ability to incorporate that into Godzilla vs. Kong. And, of course, Wingard has promised that the film will have a clear winner of the epic battle.

OmegaUnderground is reporting that Godzilla vs. Kong has set an October 1 filming start date for this year, with production taking place in Atlanta, Georgia. The movie is expected to wrap sometime in February of 2019, giving the project over a year of post-production time before its theatrical release date on May 22, 2020, a week earlier than the originally planned debut.
 

Casting has not yet begun and details have not been fully announced, but Wingard has previously declared his intentions to tie Godzilla vs. Kong to Godzilla 2, incorporating characters from the film in the crossover. This opens up the possibility of seeing Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, and/or Ken Watanabe in the film. However, given Skull Island‘s 1970s setting, it seems unlikely that Kong‘s equally star-studded cast (featuring the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, and Samuel L. Jackson) will be given the opportunity to reprise their roles, save for maybe flashbacks.

Despite the ongoing debate over the future of the cinematic universe model, the Godzilla/Kong MonsterVerse seems poised to revitalize the genre. Fans have even speculated that the Kaiju from the Pacific Rim franchsie could join the oversized battle one day, with Pacific Rim Uprising director Steven DeKnight leaving the door open for a future crossover, when asked. Legendary has said that there are currently “no plans” for a Pacific Rim, Godzilla, and Kong mashup, but has dropped hints about a bigger and even more surprising event being in the works right now.