Following the blockbuster success of Godzilla vs Kong, which boasts the highest international box office debut of the pandemic era, Adam Wingard is in talks to direct the next MonsterVese film for Legendary Entertainment.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, given that 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters grossed only USD $386 million against a USD $170 million budget (not to mention a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 42%), “Legendary insiders had viewed Godzilla vs. Kong as perhaps the end of the current version of the franchise.”
Instead, the film — which had its release date pushed six months due to the pandemic — made USD $123.1 million from 38 overseas markets and AUD $8,095,099 in its first five days of screenings in Australia.
The majority of the movie was filmed in South-East Queensland with additional scenes shot in Hawaii and Hong Kong.
Shot at Village Roadshow Studios, and on location around the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Ipswich, Godzilla vs. Kong employed over 1200 local crew members, cast, extras, and stunt performers and injected an estimated $36.5 million into the Queensland economy.
The MonsterVerse blockbuster has since made over $400 million globally and is still yet to premiere in major markets such as the U.K., Brazil and Japan, which has likely promoted Legendary to reconsider their plans to move on from the franchise.
Wingard currently has a full slate of projects so it is not clear as to when he might be able to return to the MonsterVerse for a subsequent film. The sought-after director is set to helm a live-action feature of Thundercats for Warner Bros and a Face/Off sequel for Paramount.
While no timetable, cast or even screenwriter has been spoken about to be attached to the potential project, The Hollywood Reporter offers that the title Son of Kong is being floated around internally.
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