Warner Bros. has brought an end to the radio silence that engulfed its embryonic monsters universe today, confirming that the King of Monsters’ anticipated homecoming has been delayed.
Once slated for June 8, 2018, Godzilla 2 will now stomp into theaters on March 22, 2019, before Gareth Edwards’ towering, radioactive behemoth locks horns with a certain, colossal gorilla in time for Godzilla vs. Kong on May 29, 2020. There’s no mention of a director to helm the latter creature feature, though a nine-month delay to Godzilla 2 lends Edwards with an extended period of downtime once the director wraps up work on this year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
[zerg]The postponement represents a tactical move from Warner and Legendary, of course, pushing Edwards’ monstrous sequel away from Paramount’s sixth Transformers movie – said to be a Bumblebee spinoff – and into what is no doubt a quieter period in the movie calendar. It will, however, face competition from another Paramount feature in 2019: the studio’s Amusement Park.
Remaining in the shared monsters universe for the time being, Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ Kong: Skull Island stands as the second feature under the company’s new, interconnected universe. With Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson leading an all-star cast, it’s slated to arrive on March 10, 2017 and remains unaffected by Warner’s decision to reshuffle the proverbial deck.
Finally, there’s also news that Legendary’s long-gestating Pacific Rim 2 – once titled Maelstrom – has slotted into a December 31, 2018 release. Whether the Kaiju feature will remain on course for late 2018 is up for question, given its numerous setbacks, but we understand Daredevil‘s Steven S. DeKnight takes point at the helm in place of Guillermo del Toro.
Aiming for a “bigger and better” creature feature, screenwriter Max Borenstein has teased some the surprises in store for Godzilla 2, and we’ll get to see the King roar onto the big screen once again on March 22, 2019.