At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the world was transfixed by Marvel’s typically-grandiose Hall H presentation. However, they weren’t the only studio on hand to deliver bombshells to the film industry in attendance. During their spot in the limelight, Legendary Studios revealed plans for a King Kong prequel titled Skull Island.
While news has been on the slow side, there are a few elements firmly in place. From the offset, Godzilla scribe Max Borenstein was brought on board to work on the script, which seemed to have satisfied the studio as they granted the pic a 2016 release date. Moving on a few months and news landed that Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, had signed on to take the leading role under the direction of Jordan Vogt-Roberts.
Today’s news, which Deadline broke earlier, now reveals that Borenstein is off the project as he’s busy penning the sequel to Godzilla. This left a gap in the development slate, but it has now been filled by Flight writer, John Gatins. The decision to go with Gatins I think is a confident move by Legendary, as he’s got a solid grip on the human stakes surrounding unbelievable situations. Plus, he’s no stranger to genre, as he also penned robot-boxing pic, Real Steel, which is still massively underrated.
Be sure to check out Legendary’s initial press release below for further details on what to expect from Skull Island, which is set for release on November 4th, 2016.
Legendary announced its plans to make a feature film [Skull Island] based on the cinematic origins of King Kong during this year’s San Diego Comic Con with an original draft of the script by Max Borenstein. Previous works have touched on the island, but staying on 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. Universal Pictures will distribute the film on November 4, 2016.
Vogt-Roberts directed and executive produced the Sundance darling THE KINGS OF SUMMER. He has also directed the pilot and multiple episodes of FX’s new series “You’re the Worst” and is set to direct METAL GEAR SOLID for Sony. His other credits include directing the pilot of “Cocked” for Amazon Studios and directing and executive producing the concert documentary NICK OFFERMAN: AMERICAN HAM. He is represented by UTA, 3 Arts Entertainment and attorneys Alan Wertheimer and Andy Gawker.
Published: Oct 30, 2014 05:07 pm