With the exception of 2015, when the only high-profile creature feature to claw its way out of Hollywood arrived in the form of Krampus, over the past few years moviegoers have been treated to a fairly diverse melange of monster movies. From the fantastical Pacific Rim to Gareth Edwards’ dark, brooding Godzilla reboot, the silver screen has played host to an array of jaw-dropping creatures, and that trend continued just recently thanks to the launch of Kong: Skull Island.
Indeed, Legendary’s MonsterVerse is currently housing another two in-development creature features in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and 2020’s Godzilla Vs. Kong – the event film to end all event films – but there’s another big-budget monster flick gestating in Hollywood, and its name is Rampage.
Loosely based on Midway’s iconic arcade title, New Line and Brad Peyton’s blockbuster just entered production last week ahead of its planned release in 2018, and the first story details have now emerged via Splash Report. We should warn you that while Rampage is shaping up to be an unashamedly big, dumb blockbuster – the core premise revolves around three grossly mutated animals duking it out in Chicago – the following extract delves deep into spoilers.
Still with us? According to Splash Report’s findings, Rampage‘s story will seemingly toe the line between government conspiracy and full-blown CG carnage to create a popcorn movie that culminates in the Windy City playing host to a beastly gladiator match between a wolf, a gorilla, and an alligator. Caught up somewhere in the midst of that anarchy is Dwayne Johnson’s zoologist.
The first privately owned space station is destroyed by a mysterious experiment done onboard. Three canisters from the crash land on Earth. One lands in the gorilla enclosure at the San Diego Zoo, the other in the plains of Wyoming and the last one in the Florida Everglades. The Griffin Technologies Group, headed by two siblings (Malin Akerman and Jake Lacy), tries to destroy any evidence of wrongdoing before the government finds out. It’s too late because the canisters have infected a gorilla named George, a wolf in Wyoming and an alligator. They start evolving and growing exponentially. To cover their track, the Griffin idiots decided to unleash a beacon that will make all three large animals head toward one destination: their head office located in the Willis Tower in Chicago.
With Malin Akerman and Jake Lacy taking point as the human villains, Rampage also has room on its casting docket for Naomie Harris, Joe Manganiello, Marley Shelton, P.J. Byrne, Jack Quaid, Matt Gerald, Breanne Hill and The Walking Dead‘s Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
The cameras are now rolling on New Line’s Rampage ahead of its planned April 20th, 2018 release. As always, watch this space for more.
