Talk about your ultimate showdown. Deadline reports that the new King Kong movie, Kong: Skull Island, is moving from Universal to Warner Bros. Legendary Pictures’ producer Thomas Tull is taking the prequel to Warner Bros. so it can join Legendary’s other big time property Godzilla. Yes, this actually means that it’s very likely that we’re going to see the two epic creatures duke it out in their own movie some day. As of now, Legendary and Warner Bros. plan on making the Godzilla sequel first before jumping into the mash-up, also leaving time for the new King Kong movie to smash its way into theaters. Production of Kong: Skull Island hopes to begin in early 2016 and has already cast Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Corey Hawkins, and Jason Mitchell, with Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, and Tom Wilkinson in talks to join them.
While Legendary itself moved from Warner Bros. to Universal in 2013, the decision to move the new King Kong movie was a matter of convenience, now that both franchises will be under the same studio roof. However, this does bring into question Universal’s position on the matter, since they are still set to release Kong: Skull Island on March 10, 2017.
It looks like creature features are indeed making a comeback. With the success of Godzilla last year and even Jurassic World this summer, there may be be a chance that these films will start taking over the summer season, possibly beating down superhero movies one giant monster movie at a time.