Tag: Monsterverse

Posted on in News, Television News, Trailers

‘Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters’ Trailer: Godzilla Returns In Apple TV+ Series Coming November 17

Legendary is making sure that their Monsterverse franchise keeps expanding and a new spinoff series is expected to help with exactly that. Originally titled “Godzilla & The Titans,” the upcoming Apple TV+ series retitled “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is set to debut mid-November and aims to explore the origins of the secretive global organization Monarch. The group has been tasked for decades to not only keep the existence of Titans a secret but also have spent that same time researching them. It’s unknown if any of the new characters will make the ultimate jump to the feature films, but it wouldn’t be that shocking if the streaming series does end up planting seeds for the next solo “Godzilla” installment after “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is released next year.

The series has multiple directors handling episodes but the one that stands out is Matt Shakman, who previously worked on Marvel’s “WandaVision” and is still attached to helm their high-profile reboot of “The Fantastic Four.” It also sees both Kurt Russell and son Wyatt Russell (“The Falcon & The Winter Soldier,” “Overlord”) working together on the same project, as they play the same character on the show, Army Officer Lee Shaw. But in different periods of the character’s life as part of Monarch.

Apple has released a first-look teaser trailer, which you can view below. The 10-episode run will debut in November with the first two episodes, followed by one episode every Friday through January 12.

Here is the show’s official logline via Apple:

Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco, and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” tracks two siblings following in their father’s footsteps to uncover their family’s connection to the secretive organization known as Monarch. Clues lead them into the world of monsters and ultimately down the rabbit hole to Army Officer Lee Shaw (played by Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell), taking place in the 1950s and half a century later when Monarch is threatened by what Shaw knows. Based on the Monsterverse from Legendary, and starring Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett, and Elisa Lasowski, this dramatic saga — spanning three generations — reveals buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives.

As mentioned, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” will debut this November 17 on Apple TV+ and next year will see Adam Wingard’s “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” hit the big screen on April 12. Although given multiple release dates being shuffled around, it’s possible that the latter date could shift in the coming months.

SOURCE: APPLE

Posted on in News

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Sequel Set For March 2024 & Cast Assembled For Apple’s ‘Godzilla & The Titans’ Series 

Adam Wingard is back to direct the follow-up to the kaiju box office hit Godzilla vs. Kong, as the untitled film is aiming to begin shooting sometime this year in Australia and Warner Bros. has now announced that it will be ready to hit theaters on March 15, 2024. Although, it’s unclear what the movie is about there had been suggestions it could be a remake of Son of Kong or at least take elements from it (including Kong’s son Kiko).

There are a bunch of things that Legendary could pursue in this next installment such as Hollow Earth being a replacement location for Skull Island and could mean more giant apes or creatures similar to Godzilla hidden there. One big sci-fi element that hasn’t wiggled its way into the Monsterverse franchise, as of yet, is the presence of aliens which had been part of the Godzilla franchise for ages. Humanoid or ape-looking aliens could be thrown into the mix to give human characters something else to do between the battle scenes/city destruction.

As the film side seems to be chugging along, the Apple series directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision) has found the first group of actors assembled for Godzilla & The Titans. A Godzilla spinoff that is said to focus on Monarch and take place after the events of the first film in Legendary’s franchise reboot. 

The Monsterverse series follows the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking new reality that monsters are real. It will explore one family’s journey to uncover its buried secrets and a legacy linking them to the secret organization known as Monarch.

Deadline reports that the series has added Anna Sawai (Pachinko), Ren Watabe (461 Days of Bento), Kiersey Clemons (Hearts Beat Loud), Joe Tippett (Mare of Easttown), and Elisa Lasowski (Versailles) for the Monsterverse show and have shared character breakdowns. 

Watabe will portray ‘Kentaro,’ an intelligent, creative, and curious young man who has yet to find his own path. He will embark on a quest to learn more about his revered yet mysterious father and discover his own talents in the process. 

Clemons will portray ‘May,’ an American ex-pat with a roguish exterior that she uses to protect herself as well as others. Whether it be deciphering a code or finding the loophole, she is always three steps ahead of everyone around her.

Tippett will portray Tim, an office drone who dreams of secret agent adventure. His overconfidence gets him in trouble in the field, but he is determined not to fail his organization. 

Lasowski will portray ‘Duvall,’ an expert operative with unwavering confidence in herself and her skills. She also possesses a wry sense of humor, which she uses to guide her less field-oriented colleague.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Monarch series characters will end up crossing over into the films in the future. 

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Godzilla & The Titans’ Series Spinoff At Apple Will Be Shot By ‘Ghost In The Shell’ Cinematographer Jess Hall

Legendary and Apple have teamed up for a series spinoff of their Godzilla/Monsterverse franchise with Godzilla & The Titans. It’s been already announced that Matt Shakman will be directing and we’ve learned he’s reuniting with a familiar director of photography.

The Ronin has been able to confirm that WandaVision cinematographer Jess Hall is joining the Apple TV+ series. Some of Hall’s feature film credits include things like the live-action Ghost In The Shell movie that starred MCU alumni Scarlett Johansson and Edgar Wright’s fantastic action-comedy Hot Fuzz, part of his Cornetto trilogy.

Interestingly enough, speaking of Ghost In The Shell, that film’s director Rupert Sanders worked on Apple’s big sci-fi show Foundation which is heading into its second season.

The creative team behind Godzilla & The Titans includes Chris Black (who will also serve as showrunner) Matt Fraction, Joby Harold, and Tory Tunnell.

Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking new reality that monsters are real, the series explores one family’s journey to uncover its buried secrets and a legacy linking them to the secret organization known as Monarch.

Legendary’s Monsterverse is an expansive story universe of multi-layered experiences centering around humanity’s battle to survive in a world that is under siege by a catastrophic new reality — the monsters of our myths and legends are real. Beginning in 2014 with “Godzilla” and continuing with 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island,” 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” and 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong,” Monsterverse films have accumulated close to two billion dollars globally at the box office and is ever-expanding with the latest iteration being a new anime series, “Skull Island.”

On the Monsterverse’s theatrical front, Adam Wingard is directing a sequel to Godzilla vs Kong and will begin shooting sometime this year in Australia. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that the next film, expected to explore the Hollow Earth, will feature dinosaurs after being previously teased in Kong: Skull Island.

Casting on Godzilla & The Titans is the next big step.

Posted on in Film News, News

Legendary Entertainment Reportedly Exploring Sale/Merger; Behind ‘Dune’ & ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’

After reports of Apple inquiring a potential purchase of A24 and Amazon picking up MGM Studios for a hefty $8.45 billion, it looks like another major production studio might end up on the auction block. Variety is reporting that Legendary Entertainment could be looking to be sold or merge with another company,. This comes after Bloomberg revealed that Legendary was working with investment bank LionTree LLC to develop possible deals.

Any deal would likely be for less than than the $3.5 billion that Dalian Wanda paid to acquire Legendary in 2016 from founder Thomas Tull, because that pact included the assumption of substantial debt. 

Legendary is behind recent releases such as Godzilla vs. Kong and the upcoming sci-fi epic Dune from director Denis Villeneuve. In the past, the company has had distribution deals with Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., however, there have been tension with the partnering companies over the years. There were multiple reports that Legendary was on the cusp of suing WarnerMedia over blocking a deal to offload Godzilla vs. Kong at Netflix for around $200 million. Instead, WarnerMedia with little notice announced plans to add Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune to their big day-and-date slate, that would the two pricey films dropped on HBO Max at the same time as theaters.

A sale could essentially dissolve distribution deals, meaning that future Dune and Monsterverse (pending Toho extending their rights deal) franchise installments could find a new home depending if there is a sale or merger on the horizon. That is unless WarnerMedia believes they want to acquire Legendary.

There a bunch of projects still in development including Dune: Part Two and a handful of Monsterverse movies such as the rumored Son of Kong from director Adam Wingard. It remains to be seen what this could mean for those films and other various things being worked on behind the scenes.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Has Worst Domestic Opening In The Monsterverse – Still Heading Towards $285M+ Globally

Godzilla vs. Kong might end up being one of the first films to make a major splash at the box office since the pandemic begin last year. However, despite some impressive numbers overseas in it’s international debut last weekend it still managed to have the lowest 3-day and 5-day domestic opening in the Monsterverse franchise at $32.2 million and $48.5 million. Of course, this is directly connected to the pandemic but it’s still worth mentioning where the numbers stack up against the other three films.

Here’s a rundown of the domestic openings of all four movies.

  • GODZILLA (2014): 3-Day $93.1M & 5-Day $107.8M 
  • KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017): 3-Day $61M & 5-Day $72.7M 
  • GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019): 3-Day $47.7M & 5-Day $57.1M 
  • GODZILLA VS KONG (2021): 3-Day $32.2M & 5-Day $48.5M

As you can see with the numbers listed above, Godzilla vs. Kong made less than half what Godzilla made over 5-days back in 2014. COVID aside, the box office numbers had already been decreasing which each Monsterverse installment. Putting the latest pic dead last in the domestic box office rankings.

The event film is still doing well overall heading towards $285.5 million globally it’s first two weekends and most likely will turn a profit when the dust settles.

GODZILLA VS. KONG – Legends collide in Godzilla vs. Kong as these mythic adversaries meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Kong and his protectors undertake a perilous journey to find his true home, and with them is Jia, a young orphaned girl with whom he has formed a unique and powerful bond. But they unexpectedly find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla, cutting a swath of destruction across the globe. The epic clash between the two titans—instigated by unseen forces—is only the beginning of the mystery that lies deep within the core of the Earth.

SOURCE: DEADLINE & BOX OFFICE MOJO

Posted on in Film News

UPDATE: ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ Earns Estimated $70M In China & $122M Internationally

Despite multiple countries still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a handful staring down the barrel of a fourth wave because of the increased variants (alongside folks ignoring medical recommendations), the international box office seems to be returning in some markets.

Legendary’s Godzilla vs Kong made a big splash when it’s first trailer dropped and the marketing campaign has seemingly resonated with audiences that had been previously lukewarm about previous installments like Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of The Monsters.

Will this equate into a huge box office hit?

Well, internationally that seems to be the case and is becoming the biggest debut since the pandemic started. Deadline is reporting that after the film had a spectacular Friday opening of $21.1 million in China it seems to be lumbering towards an estimated haul of $70.4 million in the Middle Kingdom. This means the kaiju showdown is expected to cross $100+ million opening weekend internationally and has surpassed the Chinese opening of Godzilla: King of The Monsters. It’s worth mentioning that foreign movies don’t tend to stick around very long in the Chinese market compared to their local releases and the studio hopes to make hay as long as they can.

UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter adds that the intentional estimate is now $121.8 million.

Godzilla vs Kong won’t be debuting domestically until March 31.

However, WarnerMedia is offering the film free for a month on HBO Max which will certainly have an impact on domestic box office earnings. While there has been positive estimates, we’ll have to wait and see if folks will be piling into indoor theaters as a fourth wave of COVID-19 looms or will opt for the free alternative available on HBO Max with a subscription.

Bob Odenkirk’s action flick Nobody took the top spot this weekend domestically with $6.7 million which is good for a movie budgeted at $16 million. This isn’t exactly the sign of box office strength you want to see with Godzilla vs Kong’s release on the horizon later in the week.

With a budget of $165 million, Godzilla vs Kong will need to continue to be successful overseas to turn a profit when movies like Wonder Woman 1984 were reportedly said to take $100 million loss. The hybrid release model from WarnerMedia has yet to be seen as box office benefit to the Warner Bros. division, but we’ll see if this changes with films such as Godzilla vs Kong.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Trailer Teases Mechagodzilla – Pulls In 21M+ Views

It seems like people have been starving for a new blockbuster trailer, Legendary’s latest entry in the Monsterverse, Godzilla vs. Kong, has feed that need becoming quite the online hit because of the lack of big trailer releases over the last couple of months. 

How big of a hit?

Within the first 20 hours, the Godzilla vs. Kong trailer saw an impressive 13 million views from the Warner Bros. YouTube channel and then another 8 million from various official Twitter accounts connected to the film (HBO Max, Legendary, and Godzilla vs. Kong) that posted the trailer. 

I have to say the visual effects on display here are a huge improvement from the previous two Godzilla movies where the filmmakers and effects department made the shots so dark you couldn’t even figure out what was going on, which sort of makes these expensive VFX (kind of the point of the whole film) useless if they’re obscured too much by poor lighting or muddy textures on the creatures. So, a big thumbs up from me for that.

There is also a huge tease towards the inclusion of Mechagodzilla, a giant robotic version of the King of Monsters seen in the screenshot below. 

The film will be released in theaters and HBO Max (for a month) on March 26th. 

GODZILLA VS. KONG – Legends collide in Godzilla vs. Kong as these mythic adversaries meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Kong and his protectors undertake a perilous journey to find his true home, and with them is Jia, a young orphaned girl with whom he has formed a unique and powerful bond. But they unexpectedly find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla, cutting a swath of destruction across the globe. The epic clash between the two titans—instigated by unseen forces—is only the beginning of the mystery that lies deep within the core of the Earth. 

The film stars Alexander Skarsgård (“Big Little Lies,” “The Little Drummer Girl”), Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”), Rebecca Hall (“Christine,” “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women”), Brian Tyree Henry (“Joker,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), Shun Oguri (“Weathering with You”), Eiza González (“Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”), Julian Dennison (“Deadpool 2”), with Kyle Chandler (“Godzilla: King of the Monsters”) and Demián Bichir (“The Nun,” “The Hateful Eight”).

Posted on in Film News

Legendary May Sue WarnerMedia Over HBO Max Announcement For ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ and ‘Dune’ – Didn’t Give Them Advance Notice

It doesn’t sound like Legendary Entertainment is terribly happy with WarnerMedia’s announcement last week to throw two of their expensive films such as Dune and Godzilla vs Kong on HBO Max as part of their new day-and-date model for the entire 2021 Warner Bros. release slate, all 17 films.

The announcement was just as shocking to Legendary Entertainment as it was to everyone else because they weren’t given advance notice or even knew it was happening. Deadline reports that Legendary is aiming to challenge the move by WarnerMedia as they never gave them advance notice before the announcement, the latter is something that both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter have mentioned in separate reports.

I’m hearing that Legendary Entertainment either has or will send legal letters to Warner Bros as soon as today, challenging the decision to put the Denis Villenueve-directed Dune into the HBO Max deal, and maybe Godzilla vs Kong as well.

WarnerMedia blocked a hefty $250 million offer from Netflix which likely only adds to Legendary’s frustrations.

On the latter, Legendary reportedly had Netflix ready to pull the film from Warner Bros for around $250 million, before WarnerMedia blocked it. Sources said Legendary had no advance notice before last week’s announcement that both Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong were part of the HBO Max plan.

Variety also adding that this might turn into a lawsuit if a deal isn’t agreed upon.

Legendary Entertainment, the production company that co-financed Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong, may take legal action against Warner Bros. over the studio’s decision to send its movies to HBO Max at the same time they debut in cinemas.

Sources familiar with the situation say top brass at Legendary are trying to have conversations with Warner Bros. regarding its upcoming films… Legendary is hoping to first negotiate a more generous deal, but isn’t taking legal action off the table should the two companies fail to come to a compromise. One possibility is that Warner Bros. would buy the films outright from Legendary. No legal challenge has been filed yet, but a suit could materialize early this week. It’s unclear what legal grounds Legendary would use to challenge the decision, though it would likely involve some breach of contract.

While WarnerMedia dodged questions concerning if the day-and-date model would continue into 2022 and beyond, AT&T CEO John Stankey alluded to The Washington Post they won’t be going back even post-pandemic giving the impression the model is staying.

STANKEY: “In March, we unleashed a new normal in society. That horse left the barn. I don’t think any of us are going to change that dynamic.”

SOURCE: DEADLINE & VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

Robert Rodriguez Thriller ‘Hypnotic’ Starring Ben Affleck To Begin Shooting July 27th At Troublemaker Studios In Austin

Despite Robert Rodriguez’s original intention to shoot his next film Hypnotic in California, the film starring Ben Affleck is instead reportedly heading to Austin, Texas. 

Even though Texas has become a new hot-spot in the United States for coronavirus, the Austin Chronicle is reporting that the Affleck project is going to attempt to begin shooting next month in the state at Robert’s Troublemaker Studios facility located in East Austin around July 27th. 

The high-end estimates of Hypnotic’s budget are said to be in the range of $80 million. However, with the explosion of new cases in Texas, I wouldn’t be shocked if the shoot is delayed beyond the summer. Production was originally planned to begin in late April.

The film’s script was penned by Rodriguez and Monsterverse screenwriter Max Borenstein (Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of The Monsters, Godzilla vs Kong). 

Ben Affleck has been set to star in Robert Rodriguez’s action-thriller Hypnotic, playing a detective who, while investigating a string of impossible high-end heists, becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program.

Robert recently worked on the Netflix superhero film We Can Be Heroes along with directing on Season 2 of the Star Wars live-action series The Mandalorian for Lucasfilm/Disney. He also released the cyberpunk film Alita: Battle Angel last year for 20th Century Studios, the manga adaption was a collaboration with blockbuster filmmaker and producer James Cameron. 

I’ve learned that cinematographer David Klein, who worked with Robert on The Mandalorian, is expected to reunite with him on Hypnotic. 

If they do end up starting production this summer or fall there is a good shot that it’ll be ready for release sometime next year.

Affleck had wrapped his erotic thriller Deep Water with co-star Ana de Armas and had been shooting a smaller role in Ridley Scott’s period drama The Last Duel before the production shutdown earlier this year.

SOURCE: AUSTIN CHRONICLE