If you watched “Godzilla vs. Kong” over the weekend and noticed that Lance Reddick was listed in the opening credits but didn’t really appear in the film, you’re not the only one. The actor, who previously starred in the Adam Wingard film, “The Guest,” does have his name prominently in the credits but only appears in the final cut of “Godzilla vs. Kong” for approximately five seconds. It’s a strange, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role for someone that the filmmaker has worked with before. But according to Wingard, in the original version of the film, Reddick’s role was much bigger, but in the editing process, that was all changed.
Speaking to GamesRadar, Wingard explained the reason why some roles in “Godzilla vs. Kong” had to be greatly reduced.
“Originally, Lance’s part was a little bit bigger as he plays the Monarch director, he’s running the organization,” Wingard explained. “There was a scene earlier in the film, a big board room scene where they’re setting up the mission. He had a larger role, but ultimately we didn’t need that scene, we changed a couple of plot details during the editing process, so that earlier stuff got cut. Now, that stuff just counts as a fun cameo. He is still top credited, it’s still part of his contract. It’s funny because he shows up in the opening credits and then turns up for four lines, maybe three, in the movie ultimately.”
But before fans out there begin petitioning WB for a Wingard Cut of “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the director doesn’t want people to think there’s a whole bunch of stuff on the cutting room floor. In fact, because of his background, Wingard was able to be super economical with the additional scenes that he shot in reshoots and not cut as much as people might think.
He added, “This is the ultimate version of the film. We actually did the least amount of reshoots than any of those MonsterVerse films. Normally, they do about two weeks, but we only did five days. We did have to be quite surgical, as we did change one element of the plot and it affected a couple of scenes at the beginning and a couple of scenes at the end. That’s where my low-budget, no-budget background comes in. You have to be very crafty and able to think in those terms. We were very surgical in those terms. So, no, this is the ultimate version of the film, I would never do a different version of it.”
It wasn’t just Lance Reddick’s role that was greatly reduced. Also, there were expected to be roles for Jessica Henwick and Zhang Ziyi, but neither appeared in the final cut of the film.
You can watch Wingard’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” on HBO Max and in theaters now.