Earlier this year at San Diego Comic-Con 2014, Legendary Pictures announced that King Kong origins movie SKULL ISLAND was in the works; a project that coincidentally entered development after the monstrous success of Gareth Edwards’ GODZILLA reboot. Today it was announced that THOR actor Tom Hiddleston will be boarding the film, along with THE KINGS OF SUMMER director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. GODZILLA scribe Max Borenstein will also be penning the script for the film.
This is certainly a solid, interesting group of talent. Hiddleston has developed quite a following over the years, with his popular stint as Loki in THOR and THE AVENGERS, along with roles in the more dramatic WAR HORSE and THE DEEP BLUE SEA. More recently, the English actor just finished filming Guillermo del Toro’s gothic horror romance CRIMSON PEAK.
Jordan Vogt-Roberts, on the other hand, made a splash at Sundance with his charming coming-of-age independent film THE KINGS OF SUMMER, which was generally well-received by both critics and audiences alike. Some may find the choice for him as a director to be puzzling as he doesn’t exactly have big-budget blockbuster experience, but it seems that Legendary is taking a cue from the success of bringing on indie director Gareth Edwards for GODZILLA.
No word yet as to who will join Hiddleston and Vogt-Roberts, but there is certainly a lot of buzz about whether this means Legendary plans to eventually make a KING KONG/GODZILLA crossover film. It’ll be the mother of all monster mash-ups, for sure!
SKULL ISLAND will arrive in theaters on November 4, 2016.