Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting 2 may be the current cover star, but the latest issue of Empire Magazine isn’t solely concerned with Renton and the gang. Case in point: this fiery new piece of concept art for Kong: Skull Island, Jordan Vogt-Robert’s 2017 reboot that looks set to reintroduce the mighty simian with some style.
Standing at 100ft tall, the King Kong featured in next year’s Skull Island is set to be the biggest of them all, which ought to come in handy for that tussle with the real King of Monsters in Godzilla Vs. Kong. It’s tentatively set for release in 2020, by which time moviegoers will be long acquainted with that towering, and curiously lonely deity.
He won’t be the only abomination to appear in Jordan Vogt-Robert’s creature feature though, after last month’s trailer confirmed that Skull Island is home to massive, serpentine beasts known as Skull Crawlers. It may sound stupid when you say it out loud, but those creatures will pose a threat to not only Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and their team of fellow explorers, but Kong himself.
When quizzed about the striking, orange-hued aesthetic of Kong: Skull Island, Vogt-Robert confirmed to Empire that the movie actually takes place during the height of the Vietnam war.
“The script I first read took place in 1917. But when I started talking to the Legendary [Entertainment] guys, I was thinking, ‘What weird King Kong movie would I want to see?’ So I pitched them the Vietnam War connection, literally thinking they were gonna laugh me out of the room. And to Legendary’s credit, they said, ‘Cool. Let’s figure it out.’ The aesthetics of that time mixed with King Kong makes for an incredible genre mash-up.”
Kong: Skull Island is set to make its mighty debut on March 10, 2017, when Vogt-Robert’s redo will no doubt have everyone talking – for better or worse. Rounding out the starry lineup are Samuel L. Jackson, Jing Tian, Straight Outta Compton breakout and 24: Legacy star Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham and Toby Kebbell.
