A recent trend for blockbuster movies is for the studios to pluck a rising independent filmmaker from relative obscurity with only a handful of low budget efforts under their belt, and hand them the reins of a mega budget effects-driven epic. Unsurprisingly, the method has yielded incredibly mixed results so far.
At one end of the spectrum sits the likes of Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, the Russo brothers’ Captain America: Civil War and Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World, all of which did huge business at the box office and were warmly received by critics. However, at the complete opposite end of the scale we have Gavin Hood’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Carl Rinsch’s 47 Ronin and Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four.
Legendary’s MonsterVerse has followed suit, with Gareth Edwards making the jump from the $500,000 Monsters to $160 million epic Godzilla, while Jordan Vogt-Roberts followed up The Kings of Summer with Kong: Skull Island. They both fared better than Michael Dougherty, who helmed Christmas horror comedy Krampus before tackling Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and audiences are now waiting to find out how Adam Wingard does with Godzilla vs. Kong.
The first trailer certainly got people talking, but King of the Monsters boasted some of the best promos of 2018 only to leave fans and reviewers underwhelmed. Still, fingers crossed that Wingard has pulled it off. Either way, we’ll find out soon enough and the horror veteran recently took to social media to celebrate the release of the trailer and tease that there’s much more to come from Godzilla vs. Kong.
The GVK trailer is finally here! I’m beyond thrilled to be able to share the insane epic mayhem. I know it looks like it shows alot but this is only the tip of the monster iceberg. Let me know if you are team Godzilla or team Kong!
Wingard at least has the benefit of experience, with ten features in his back catalogue already at the age of 38. But let’s just hope that Godzilla vs. Kong sees him take to blockbuster cinema like a kaiju to water.