The latest edition to Legendary's Monsterverse franchise Godzilla vs. Kong has been smashing the box office for the last month. While the film was released simultaneously on HBO Max and in theatres, as per Warner Bros' other 2021 film releases, the monster movie has been making a ton of money, raking in over $400 million globally. With that success, the film's director, Adam Wingard, looks to be continuing his foray into the MonsterVerse.
Legendary's MonsterVerse started back in 2014 with Gareth Edwards' Godzilla a 21st-century update to the Kaiju franchise. The film was succeeded by 2017's Kong: Skull Island, a 1970s era Vietnam War movie focused on the famous prehistoric ape King Kong. These two films were intended to start off the cinematic universe that Legendary was hoping to create, re-introducing audiences to two of the most famous giant movie monsters and giving them new and unique origins. Both movies did pretty well both financially and critically, and they still both hold about 75 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. But then along came 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which seemingly made everything come crashing down.
King of the Monsters didn't do as well as the studio was hoping. The film cost a whopping $170 million, grossing only $386 million, and currently sits at a dismal 42 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, this didn't stop the studio from making the next movie, Godzilla vs. Kong, which was clearly the movie all these previous entries were leading up to. It seemed like the new movie would likely be the end of the Monsterverse, that is until Godzilla vs. Kong finally came out last month. Godzilla vs. Kong received decent reviews and grossed the second-highest amount of the Monsterverse franchise so far, right behind Kong: Skull Island. Now, it seems like the studio is changing course once again, hoping to revitalize the franchise, and it looks like director Wingard is being brought back into the fold.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wingard has been instrumental in shaping the future of Legendary's MonsterVerse and is very likely to return for a follow-up film, which is rumored to be the titled Son of Kong. Per the outlet, Legendary is moving towards continuing the MonsterVerse with one or more installments and is currently in talks with Wingard to helm another entry, which would make him the first director to return to the franchise should the deal close. At this time there is not a timetable for a project nor a writer attached.
Wingard is known for his horror/thriller films You're Next, The Guest, and the live-action Netflix adaptation of Death Note. Godzilla vs. Kong is arguably his biggest movie to date, and its continued success seems to be paving an all-new road for the director as he has also been tapped to direct a live-action ThunderCats movie for Warner Bros. and a remake of the Nicolas Cage/John Travolta action movie Face/Off.
While Wingard's current monster movie is doing well, it's hard to say whether the success of Godzilla vs. Kong can be attributed to the film itself or the fact that many now-vaccinated audience members are just eager to return to their local theatre. Either way, it looks like fans can expect more from Wingard and the Monsterverse going forward.
Godzilla vs. Kong is now playing in theatres and streaming on HBO Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter