The King of the Monsters is back and he's brought some friends...and someone who isn't so friendly. Perhaps you've heard of them?
At the Legendary panel at SDCC 2014, Godzilla 2was announced. Director Gareth Edwards announced he would be returning to the franchise through a prerecorded message. He then showed grainy, historical footage that talked of other threats out there worth worrying about. With their names appearing onto the screen along with clips from the old monster movies, we got confirmation on Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah being in the sequel.
Last May's Godzillaturned out to be one of the more successful blockbusters of the summer, so it's no surprise that the franchise would continue. It's just a bit of a surprise that we'd get word on it so quickly.
While Godzilla has taken on all three of those monsters back in the day, Rodan and Mothra became his go-to buddies and regularly teamed up with Godzilla to fight other threats. Each was introduced in their own self-titled films (Rodan in 1956 and Mothra in 1961) before being roped into the Godzilla movie franchise. King Ghidorah, introduced in 1964's Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, has always been seen as Godzilla's main nemesis, so his inclusion isn't entirely shocking, but still incredibly welcome. Now we're only one step away from getting Gigan into the mix.
No word on any of the human characters or their drama, but does anyone really care? You know, unless one of the characters is, "Man who invents Jet Jaguar."
The reboot decided not to go with the expected style of, "Godzilla is an unstoppable force of nature destroying cities and the army is no use against him," that we got from the original movie and instead went with a more modern take on the 60's/70's incarnation of the gargantuan where he was a destructive defender of the world that fought against more sinister beasts. Ticket sales and reviews supported the decision and here we are with some news on the sequel.
Legendary also announced a movie Skull Island, which will tell the tale of King Kong's home of origin. The film will be released November 4, 2016, and already people are speculating on whether or not Legendary plans to do their own take on the schlock classic King Kong vs. Godzilla, considering they have both names under their umbrella. I suppose the new King Kong's height may hint at it one way or another, so keep an eye out for that.
Said Legendary in a press release:
Today in Hall H, Legendary also revealed it will be making a feature film based on the famed Skull Island, the cinematic origins of another classic beast, King Kong. Previous works have touched on the island, but staying and exploring this mysterious and dangerous place offers Legendary the opportunity to take audiences deeper inside this rich world with a style and scope that parallels other Legendary productions.
Speaking of Godzilla movies, the less-desirable 1998 movie will be broadcast across theaters nationwide on August 14 and made fun of relentlessly as part ofRiffTrax Live.
Happy SDCC 2014! Keep it locked here for all of your SDCC information! Be sure to follow Den of Geek on Twitter as we report live on-site from San Diego Comic-Con.
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