While other formerly titanic franchises have recently stumbled (hi, Marvel!), one has been implacably bestriding the pop cultural landscape like a veritable colossus, having hit the sweet spot of being just entertaining enough to watch, but yet not popular enough to argue about on the internet.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
We’re speaking of the MonsterVerse, Legendary/Warners’ surprisingly solid, reliably bombastic suite of giant monster movies. They kicked off with Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla in 2014, looped in everyone’s fave from the cave with 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, and will soon encompass a total of five films and two TV series, with more planned to come. Slow and steady, folks, slow and steady.
Movie number five is the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, about which few details have so far emerged. But we do have a release date! Fans of movies that evoke the response “Yeah, it was pretty good.” will be happy to know that Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire hits New Zealand cinemas on April 11, 2024.
In terms of plot, we have the official synopsis to go by: “This latest entry follows up the explosive showdown of Godzilla vs. Kong with an all-new cinematic adventure, pitting the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own. The epic new film will delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.”
And in terms of cast, we have a solid ensemble on hand to humanise the monster-on-monster action. Some of whom are returning, such as Rebecca Hall, Kaylee Cottle, and Brian Tyree Henry. And some of whom are new to the game, like Dan Stevens, Fala Chen, alex Ferns, and Rachel House. In all honesty we thought for a second that Dan Stevens had been in another one of these, but it turns out it was Alexander Skarsgård.
And that’s all we got until we get a full trailer! But we do have this groovy title announcement teaser to pontificate over, which hints at a new war against King Louie from The Jungle Book.
