The Big Picture
- Adam Wingard, director of Godzilla x Kong, will not return for sequel due to timing, not creative differences.
- Wingard’s departure from Monsterverse friendly, leaves franchise on record high spot.
- Legendary searching for new director for next installment, with franchise’s success attracting interest.
Adam Wingard, the puppeteer behind the two titans who have smashed up the worldwide box office, will not be returning to the Monsterverse for a sequel to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, according to an exclusive report by the Hollywood Reporter. Multiple sources have told the outlet that Wingard has stepped back after helming the previous two installments of the series. However, on a positive note, it’s claimed that the separation between the two parties is a friendly one and has stemmed from a timing issue rather than creative differences, with the door open for a future return to the franchise for the director.
Wingard has just finished the promotional trail having directed and co-written Godzilla x Kong: New Empire, which has grossed over $564 million worldwide since its March 29 domestic opening. During the promotional tour for the movie, Wingard intimated that he felt he had more stories to tell in the Monsterverse. However, given a combination of the desire of Legendary to move onto the next film in the franchise as soon as possible, striking while the iron was hot, and Wingard’s new original project entitled Onslaught, which has been picked up by A24 and will shoot this fall, the timing wasn’t suitable for both parties.
Legendary was clear in that they were keen for Wingard to return to the folk but when they hired Dave Callaham, the writer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, to pen the next installment of the series, it did seem as if the writing was on the wall for the two parties. They will now begin the hunt for the next director on the series but, given the immense success of the franchise to date, finding someone willing to step in shouldn’t be too problematic.
Did Adam Wingard Do a Good Job on ‘Godzilla x Kong’?
As for Wingard, he leaves the franchise on a record high spot. Godzilla x Kong is about to become the highest-grossing of the five MonsterVerse movies and is all but guaranteed to snatch the crown from 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, which peaked at $568 million, this weekend. It might also turn out to be the most profitable of the five movies in the series, as it only cost $135 million to make.
Wingard’s first Godzilla entry was Godzilla vs Kong, which was released during the pandemic both theatrically and on streaming service Max. The movie still grossed over $100 million domestically and $470 million worldwide and was one of the movies credited with bringing audiences back to theatres.
Stay tuned to Collider for more.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Kong and the fearsome Godzilla face off against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own.
- Release Date
- March 29, 2024
- Runtime
- 1h 55m
- Writers
- Terry Rossio , Simon Barrett , Jeremy Slater
