Let them fight
October 14, 2015 4:08 PM   Subscribe

Legendary and Warner Bros. announce some forthcoming movies: "The initial trio of films are 2017’s KONG: SKULL ISLAND; GODZILLA 2 in 2018; and then GODZILLA VS. KONG, arriving in theaters in 2020."

Press release: "All-powerful monsters become towering heroes for a new generation, revealing a mythology that brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new. Monarch, the human organization that uncovered Godzilla in the 2014 film, will expand their mission across multiple releases."

"Classic Toho monsters including King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan, as announced at Comic-Con 2014, may also join the Legendary pantheon of giant monster mayhem going forward."

Cinema Blend: "In addition to the two big hitters (who met on screen once in 1962’s King Kong Vs. Godzilla), Legendary also acquired the rights to side characters from Godzilla’s world, including the likes of Mothra (for whom there was an Easter egg in the last movie), Rodan, King Ghidorah, and more. "
posted by Wordshore (59 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Eh, I'll just wait until 2022 when they reboot this series. Studios and film-makers really need about two or three reboots until they get the kinks worked out anyway, you know?
posted by clockzero at 4:17 PM on October 14, 2015 [9 favorites]


Bryan Cranston Memorial Cinematic Universe
posted by Artw at 4:19 PM on October 14, 2015 [7 favorites]


I can't wait for the Godzookie cameo in the end credit scene
posted by The Whelk at 4:24 PM on October 14, 2015 [13 favorites]


I can't wait for the How Did This Get Made? podcasts for these!
posted by janey47 at 4:25 PM on October 14, 2015 [7 favorites]


The gorilla and the nuclear dinosaur guy are passe. Massive Gamera & Mothra franchises please. Their time has come.
posted by threecheesetrees at 4:25 PM on October 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


Could work. Could bomb.

BUT WHAT ABOUT PACIFIC RIM II AND ARYA PILOTING A JAGER?! Because that is what's truly great in life
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:28 PM on October 14, 2015 [7 favorites]


BUT WHAT ABOUT PACIFIC RIM II AND ARYA PILOTING A JAGER?!

Wait - is this a thing? Tell me that's really a thing. Any chance it's a prequel? Because Idris Elba.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:31 PM on October 14, 2015 [3 favorites]




Del Toro has said he would make it a thing if he could, but his thing-making skills are often hampered by stupid maters of money and practicality.
posted by Artw at 4:36 PM on October 14, 2015 [5 favorites]


Massive Gamera & Mothra franchises please.

After watching the first trailer, Jeff runs upstairs to his study. "Not like this!" he shouts and he rips open his desk drawer. "No! Not like this!" he wails again as he hoists a small strongbox onto the desk top. "Why!?" he sobs as shaking fingers slowly complete the combination. "How could you..." he whispers to the small, twisted thing he pulls from the box.

The next day, Jeff's lifeless body is found slumped in a chair. In one hand, a gun fired once. In the other, a monkey's paw wished on twice.

On the computer before him, this bit of dialog from the trailer for Gamera & Mothra: The Thin Monster plays on an endless loop:

Reporter: "Say listen, is Gamera working on a case?"
Mothra: "BWRRAAAACCK!!"*
Reporter: "What case?"
Mothra: "BBEEERRRRAHHH!"**

A sallow faced plainclothes detective turns off the computer. "What a senseless waste," he mutters.

* - "Yes, he is."
** - "A case of scotch. Pitch in and help him."

posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:39 PM on October 14, 2015 [8 favorites]


Andy Serkis is going to have work for a loooong time.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:41 PM on October 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


I really enjoyed the recent Godzilla remake. The fights were epic and it evoked the bleak, gritty tone of the first couple of Godzilla films. It was a (reasonably) coherent, respectful take by someone who was obviously a big fan and had cinematic chops.

So, Kong Vs Godzilla: how are they going to explain the disparity in size between 40 ft monkey and 300ft kaiju? In the original (which I am very fond of) it didn't really matter that Kong was suddenly 300ft tall, because by then the franchise was a (very enjoyable) cheeze-fest, and there were aliens and fairies etc etc and I was 12 years old when I saw it.

But now I'm 45 and I have adult cares and this shit is keeping me awake at night.
posted by misterbee at 4:44 PM on October 14, 2015 [11 favorites]


So, Kong Vs Godzilla: how are they going to explain the disparity in size between 40 ft monkey and 300ft kaiju

Ken Watanabe will look concerned.
posted by Artw at 4:47 PM on October 14, 2015 [14 favorites]


Massive Gamera & Mothra franchises please.

One turtle, comin' up!
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:48 PM on October 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


I guess King Kong will need to be 300 feet tall from the start, 'cause they're not going to make Godzilla smaller. Maybe he comes from a jungle where the trees are a mile tall. With bananas that weigh fifty pounds.

Man, if they went all hollow Earth with this, with crashed Nazi saucers and dinosaurs it could rock.
posted by Kevin Street at 4:49 PM on October 14, 2015 [5 favorites]


The recent Godzilla was OK but they need to find a better lead actor than that dull English guy with the hyphenated name. And if they hire actors like Juliette Binoche or Bryan Cranston, don't kill them off in the first act.
posted by octothorpe at 4:53 PM on October 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


How about some new monsters?
posted by mrgrimm at 5:00 PM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


So, Kong Vs Godzilla: how are they going to explain the disparity in size between 40 ft monkey and 300ft kaiju

Obviously for the close ups, they're going to need a Scully Box. Because otherwise the kiss will just look awkward.
posted by happyroach at 5:09 PM on October 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


Godzilla lives on radiation. 300ft tall King Kong lives on... radioactive bananas?
posted by Artw at 5:13 PM on October 14, 2015


How about some new monsters?

Since Warner Brothers is part of this deal, there shouldn't be any rights issues if they finally bring Quantis to the big screen. Cuteness is his most terrible weapon!
posted by Kevin Street at 5:15 PM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Mothra: "Have you put on weight, Kong? You seem bigger."
Gamera: "Like an order of magnitude bigger!"
Kong: "Yeah, I've been working out. Crossfit. Building up the pecs and delts..."
Gamera: *cough! cough! "Bullshit!" cough! cough!* "You're totally juicing, is what you're doing! Working on your rads and grays."
Kong: "Never!"

Godzilla bangs on the door.

Godzilla: "You got my money, asshole?!"
Kong: "Who the hell are you?!"
Godzilla: "I'm the one who knocks! Say my name!"
Kong: "McGwire?"
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:18 PM on October 14, 2015 [13 favorites]


They'll probably deal with the size disparity by having King Kong and Godzilla face off in a breakdance battle rather than a physical punch-up. That or really vicious pamphleteering.
posted by No-sword at 5:24 PM on October 14, 2015


Maybe Godzilla and King Kong team up, like a monster version of Every Which Way But Loose.
posted by um at 5:24 PM on October 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


Maybe Godzilla and King Kong team up, like a monster version of Any Which Way But Loose.

Or Master-Blaster in Mad Maxx?
posted by alex_skazat at 5:28 PM on October 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


I can already picture the trailer in my head!

a quarter-second flash of a mysterious jungle island as we approach from the sea
soundtrack goes: *baaaaarp*
a quarter-second flash of probably a big gate opening or whatever and we hear big thumpy footsteps coming from off-screen
soundtrack goes: *baaaaarp*
a quarter-second flash of a bit of monkey fur and also a tree getting knocked over
soundtrack goes: *baaaaarp*
a guy in a hat looks up at a thing that is tall
soundtrack goes: *baaaaarp*
generic distressed damsel being lifted up on a big black leather couch....OR IS IT?
soundtrack goes: *baaaaarp*
a closeup of a big monkey eye and then the big crazy monkey roars really loud
soundtrack goes: *BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARP*
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:39 PM on October 14, 2015 [20 favorites]


A brief look ahead...

2017 - Kong: Skull Island
2018 - Godzilla 2
2020 - Godzilla v. Kong
2028 - Kongzilla
2031 - Tron 3
2039 - Kong v. Tron
2042 - Kongtron
2078 - Just Four Mothras Battling Each Other
posted by Fizz at 5:40 PM on October 14, 2015 [13 favorites]


Somewhere, a man trapped on a satellite and two robots are crying.
posted by JHarris at 5:45 PM on October 14, 2015 [23 favorites]


a guy in a hat looks up at a thing that is tall

Mario? Is that you?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:53 PM on October 14, 2015


2078 - Just Four Mothras Battling Each Other

They best get that sorted before 2078 as I'll be dead by then.

Also agree with upthread comment about Godzookie making an appearance at some point. Godzookie vs Son of Mothra would be a good start.
posted by marienbad at 5:56 PM on October 14, 2015


I'm holding out for Godzilla v. Kong; Rumble in Apellate Court

feat. amicus briefs from Rodan and the Jane Goodall Foundation

posted by Existential Dread at 6:26 PM on October 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


>Massive Gamera & Mothra franchises please.

Gamera 2015.

(Is this a real thing? I don't know. Supposedly this was shown at NY ComicCon this year.)
posted by Sing Or Swim at 6:32 PM on October 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


2008: The Marvel cinematic universe
2019: The McDonalds cinematic universe
2031: The Monsanto cinematic universe
posted by oulipian at 6:42 PM on October 14, 2015 [6 favorites]


Is it full of meat? Really neat? If it is it is a real thing. Gamera. That's the thing.
posted by vrakatar at 6:42 PM on October 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


Metafilter: Soundtrack goes *baaaaarp*
posted by PlusDistance at 6:48 PM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


The Gamera trailer is pretty elaborate for a fan-made effort. On the other hand, it seems like if it were a real thing, there would be a lot of people saying, "Wow! Gamera! Is a real! Thing!" And there haven't been, so far as I've noticed.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 6:58 PM on October 14, 2015


How about some new monsters?

No one wants to see a movie about giant irradiated Republican presidential candidates.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:13 PM on October 14, 2015


wants to see a movie about giant irradiated Republican presidential candidates. scientists

“Oh no...it is the Curies....we must flee.”
posted by Fizz at 7:21 PM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


I recently learned Lou Reed was an iconic monster, so let's go with "GODZILLA VS LOU: CONEY ISLAND".
posted by davebush at 7:24 PM on October 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


Will there be obnoxious comic relief in the form of 10 year old Japanese boys in disturbingly short shorts? Because if not, forget it.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:32 PM on October 14, 2015


No one wants to see a movie about giant irradiated Republican presidential candidates.

Nah, that could totally work. We'd just need a defender who's "twelve stories high, made of radiation."
posted by mordax at 8:38 PM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Maybe Godzilla and King Kong team up, like a monster version of Every Which Way But Loose.

I prefer it be more like BJ and the Bear.
posted by srboisvert at 8:50 PM on October 14, 2015


Hmmm... come to think of it, how about Gamera & Mothra but like Sideways? Gamera (voiced by Paul Giamatti) is an aging washed up Kaiju working on his memoirs, Mothra (Thomas Haden Church, or maybe Will Arnett to mix it up a bit) is his happy-go-lucky longtime crony. They decide to go on a spontaneous spree and wipe out Tokyo one last time, but can it ward off their existential angst?...
posted by threecheesetrees at 9:00 PM on October 14, 2015 [3 favorites]


Although I am seriously pumped for Gamera 2015 if that's a real thing. Thanks guys!
posted by threecheesetrees at 9:01 PM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


When the Godzilla reboot came out a few years ago I told a friend that America had enough monsters already and that we were being greedy by trying to draft Japan's premier monster to our team. He said that it would be okay if we instituted a monster draft whereby we got to keep Godzilla but in exchange they got some of our monsters. We tried to figure out who we could send their way and we ultimately settled on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre crew; we both agreed that a Takashi Miike directed version of TCM that took place entirely in Japan would be amazing.

...And I gotta say, that still sounds better to me than what we're actually getting.
posted by Kiablokirk at 9:10 PM on October 14, 2015 [3 favorites]


Is this a real thing? I don't know. Supposedly this was shown at NY ComicCon this year.

Yes! Yes it is!

And here is a thing on the NYCC presentation.
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 9:37 PM on October 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


Even when I was a kid, I somehow knew intuitively that any movie with "vs." in the title was not going to be good. With the exception of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, that rule of thumb has served me pretty well so far.
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:00 PM on October 14, 2015


I thought they came up with a pretty good excuse in the Cranston Godzilla movie ("They eat nukes!") for the humans to have some agency beyond just trying to run away and dodge falling buildings while the monsters fight.
posted by straight at 10:08 PM on October 14, 2015


the problem with the latest movie is that it never lived up to it's (fairly awesome) title sequence showing the progress of "Project Monarch". That's the movie I wanted to see, some super shadowy pan-national splinter science group trying desperately to understand this horrible new thing they've managed to just almost contain and can never, ever talk about. It gets loose for the last 30 minutes and you get some building knocking down action but that's not the focus.
posted by The Whelk at 10:19 PM on October 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


That title sequence is so much better than almost anything it possibly could have preceded.
posted by Artw at 10:22 PM on October 14, 2015


My movie theater played the 2D version for a bit, then realized it was wrong and put on the 3D so I got to see it TWICE.
posted by The Whelk at 10:24 PM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


The timing on blocking out the text in that intro sequence was (at least for me) infuriatingly perfect, showing me the words then censoring them just an instant before I could read them, tricking me into starting with the part they weren't going to erase and missing the part that would be removed.
posted by straight at 10:35 PM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Maybe when movies stop being dreary, explode-y retreads of things that've come (multiple times) before I'll start going to the cinema again. Doesn't look like I'll need to change my social calendar any time soon.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 11:32 PM on October 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Warner Brothers just released PAN, with a budget $150,000,000 (IMDB) and an (estimated) US gross of $18,422,250

Okay, it just opened, but still, that's gotta hurt. An expensive King Kong remake makes as much sense to me as an expensive Peter Pan remake. The whole concept of King Kong comes from the idea of adventurers going to exotic locales and finding hidden ancient beasts--something that probably appealed to our grandparents generation.

Now Gozilla is something we can more easily culturally identify with and, indeed, it was a big budget movie that made them a profit.

So, Warner Brothers, my advice: skip the Kong, and go straight to the Godzilla.
posted by eye of newt at 12:06 AM on October 15, 2015


misterbee: how are they going to explain the disparity in size between 40 ft monkey and 300ft kaiju?

Scott Lang will figure out how to reverse Pym Particles and become Giant-Man. Kong will get his peanut butter in Lang's chocolate.
posted by djeo at 8:21 AM on October 15, 2015


Scott Lang will figure out how to reverse Pym Particles and become Giant-Man

Ibuki Goro will figure that out and use that knowledge to build Jet Jaguar.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:36 AM on October 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


maybe it will be like 3-4 kongs standing on each others shoulders inside a huge trench coat
posted by poffin boffin at 9:49 AM on October 15, 2015 [7 favorites]


It'll be like a Puppet Master movie but massively scaled up.
posted by brundlefly at 2:21 PM on October 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Like Attack on Titan via In the Hills, the Cities.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:47 PM on October 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


maybe it will be like 3-4 kongs standing on each others shoulders inside a huge trench coat

*cracking voice* "Bottle of Wild Irish Rose and a pack of Chesterfields please sir."
*shopkeeper eyes them suspiciously*
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:56 PM on October 15, 2015 [4 favorites]


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