“Kong: Skull Island” rumbles into cinemas this weekend, marking the next chapter in Warner Bros.‘ monster-movie franchise. Right now, the plan is for the series to continue with 2019’s “Godzilla” sequel, “Godzilla: King Of The Monsters,” and then wrap up with 2020’s “Godzilla vs. Kong.” And the studio is putting together the team to help figure out that story.
Terry Rossio (“Pirates Of The Caribbean“) will be leading the writers room who will crack the story for the creature-feature showdown, with Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne (“Star Trek Beyond“), Lindsey Beer (“Barbie“), Cat Vasko (“Queen Of The Air“), T.S. Nowlin (“The Maze Runner“) and J. Michael Straczynski (“World War Z“) all putting their talents in the pool. THR says that “Godzilla vs. Kong” is supposed to be the “culmination” of the series, but you don’t shell out this kind of money on a writing team without trying to figure out how to keep the franchise moving (especially with rivals Universal set to launch their own creature franchise series this summer, starting with “The Mummy“).
The big question the writers room will face, at least for now, is how to get the ’70s-set “Kong: Skull Island” to connect with the contemporary “Godzilla” movies in a way that feels organic, but they’ve got some time to figure that out. I would also imagine they’re going to try to drum up ideas for a new King Kong movie, particularly if “Kong: Skull Island” does well this weekend. Thoughts? Let us know below.