Godzilla X Kong director Adam Wingard is already leaving the new empire
Godzilla x Kong will be the end of his working relationship with the two stars… for now
Aux News Adam Wingard
Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures
Monster whisperer Adam Wingard is taking a break from the MonsterVerse. Following the massive box office returns on Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, a title that has made this movie far more confusing to type than it is worth, Warner Bros. Discover will continue presiding over this new empire without Wingard.
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire marked Wingard’s second time working with Godzilla and King Kong—both New Empire and its predecessor, Godzilla Vs. Kong, proved to be massive hits for the studio. The first entry became one of the few positive releases from WBD’s disastrous day-and-date experiment. Its sequel, which firmly established the formation of a New Empire, not to be confused with the Ghostbusters’ Frozen Empire, raked in more than $560 million.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, no one’s breathing atomic breath over the matter. The timing was the problem because Wingard is shooting an original movie, Onslaught, for A24 this fall. The director’s last original movie was the cult-favorite The Guest. After that, his output comprised a series of reboots and adaptations, helming Blair Witch and Death Note before climbing the Empire State Building with Godzilla Vs. Kong.
Earlier this year, Wingard told Discussing Film that he’s interested in making another entry in the MonsterVerse. “There’s more story to this, and I think I have more story to tell,” he said. “But it depends on how [Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire] does and how things kind of shape out […] I do have more story to tell with these monsters, and I know where I’d go with it. I would be very excited to be able to come back for another one if things worked out.”
Let’s be clear: Bryan Tyree Henry didn’t ask, “Is that a Mini Kong?” just so the series could end. The door is still open for Wingard to return should his schedule allow it. Nevertheless, WBD has hired Shang Chi And The Ten Rings writer Dave Callaham to write the continued adventures of Mini Kong. Rest assured, more Godzilla X Kong is coming as soon as Callaham thinks of an alternative to an ampersand.
17 Comments
I can’t wait to eat that monkey. And such large portions!
I thought those Godzilla/Kong movies that he did were bad. The worst of the Monsterverse movies. Would love it if they just kinda let it die. They don’t have anything for Godzilla to do and Kong is essentially unrecognizable.
This is one of those baffling successes, where if I squint I can kind of see the appeal, but this was one of the *stupidest* studio movies I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen every Fast and Furious movie), and I can’t quite understand why audiences went nuts for this particular movie.At times I couldn’t believe the human actors were able to keep a straight face with the material.
My nine-year-old thought it was THE GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME.
Never discount the kiddie market.
Great news. I think he’s a good director but these weren’t films for him and visually they were dull, not to mention the story. Then Godzilla Minus One came along and exposed how lacking his films were
In his defence, Godzilla Minus One exposed how lacking nearly everyone’s films are.
Absoluteley!
100%. he brought some charm and goofiness and i can’t imagine how hard it is to inject personality into gigantic projects like this. i’d love to see him back into guest-mode, though.
How the hell did that make $560 million?
Besides Kong’s one scene relatively early on the action was pretty terrible and the story was incredibly stupid.
I also didn’t realize it was such a success. Looks like it cost less and made more than Godzilla Vs Kong
Yet you spent money on it, despite it being bad. Weird, isn’t it?
We both saw it. So did a lot of other people 🤔
Sandwiching it closely between (your limited-vocabulary) descriptions of “massive box office returns” and “massive hit” sort of smothers your attempted snark of “a title that has made this movie far more confusing to type than it is worth”, no?
I’ve enjoyed seeing new takes on these films. I thought New Empire was better than I expected. My favorites are still Godzilla 2014 and Kong Skull Island. I’m always down for another one.
bring on Ben Wheatley!
GXKTNE was an improvement over GVK, but I don’t mind Wingard making more original movies.https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2024/03/31/titans-multiply-in-godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire/
Man, I feel like the latter movies focused too much on Kong. Godzilla: King of the Monsters was my total favorite. Everything felt so different after that. But I’d still happily welcome more of these movies either way. They’re just fun box office popcorn flicks.