Godzilla vs Kong Writers Room Set By Legendary, Warner Bros.
03/10/2017 01:03 pm EST
In what was the logical step for the soon-to-be Monsters Universe, the team at Legendary is setting a writers room to generate ideas for a Godzilla vs Kong movie.
The Hollywood Reporter released the news that Terry Rossio -- most notable for his role with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise -- will head the crew of writers.
A writers room has become a more common practice in the industry as expansion into "Universes" requires more planning than simple, one-off movies. Legendary, along with Warner Bros., is wise to congregate talented minds with the goal of tabbing a singular writer and it has brought in some heavy-hitters.
THR identified the following members:
- Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, co-writers of Star Trek Beyond and currently on Star Trek 4
- Lindsey Beer, currently adapting The Kingkiller Chronicles for Lionsgate Films
- Cat Vasko, currently working on the Warner Bros.' adaptation of Queen of the Air
- T.S. Nowlin, wrote the Maze Runner movies and already worked for Legendary on Pacific Rim 2
- J. Michael Straczynski, who is best known as a comic book writer and creator of 1990s sci-fi show Babylon 5
Kong: Skull Island is set to open March 10 and has been receiving critical praise for its action scenes. The ComicBook.com User Anticipation Ratings have a more mixed reception with audiences expecting a 3.59-of-5.
Godzilla was released in 2014 and it was designed as the first entry into an expanded universe based on the classic movie monsters. The film company is currently in the preliminary casting stages of a sequel to Godzilla, titled Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which has a tentative release of March 22, 2019, and has landed Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga and Millie Bobby Brown.
The now-discussed Godzilla vs Kong has a tentative release date of May 29, 2020.
After it was announced Kong: Skull Island would take place in the same film universe as the newest Godzilla film, and that both would build to an epic clash between the characters, many speculated how the next King Kong film would build onto that.
Warner Bros. released the credit roll to the forthcoming Kong: Skull Island which were then picked up by SciFi Japan, showing the full list of cast, crew, and music credits used in the film.
Most interesting, however, is the ownership statement of Godzilla and other monsters referenced in the film, owned by Toho.
The full line states:
'Characters of "Godzilla," "King Ghidorah," "Mothra" and "Rodan" created and owned by Toho Co., Ltd.'
This line would not be required if the characters were merely hinted at, but legal ownership must be clarified if they are shown on screen or referenced by name. So expect to see or hear about the classic Godzilla monsters in some capacity.
With Godzilla: King of Monsters currently set to start production in Atlanta soon, and the Godzilla vs. Kong film set to hit theaters in 2020, it makes sense that Kong: Skull Island will begin to build the connective tissue established in Godzilla.
Disclosure: PopCulture. is owned by Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.