The GODZILLA 2014 follow-up GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS had a whole lot more giant creatures in it than its predecessor did, but that wasn't enough to draw in a larger audience. The film was a box office disappointment, making just under $386 million worldwide on a budget of $170 million. GODZILLA 2014 had made about $525 million on a budget of $160 million. For whatever reason, the sequel's attempt to go "bigger and better" didn't pan out.
Luckily for us kaiju fans, another Godzilla movie was already in production by the time GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS was released, so Warner Bros. and Legendary didn't have a chance to rethink their MonsterVerse plans and put the film on hold after seeing the KOTM numbers. That Godzilla movie is a big one, as it will see the King of the Monsters going up against the Kong that was introduced in KONG: SKULL ISLAND (which made $566 million on a $185 million budget).
About two weeks after GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS was released, Warner Bros. chairman Toby Emmerich said that GODZILLA VS. KONG, which had been scheduled to reach theatres on March 13, 2020, "might come out later in the year, so we can deliver an A+ movie." Five and a half months later, we finally know where WB is moving the film.
The release of GODZILLA VS. KONG has been pushed back eight months, from March to November 20, 2020. So we still have less than a year to wait for it – and apparently this delay will boost the movie from whatever grade it would have received otherwise up to an A+.
Directed by Adam Wingard from a script by Mike Dougherty and Terry Rossio, GODZILLA VS. KONG has the following synopsis:
In a time when monsters walk the Earth, humanity’s fight for its future sets Godzilla and Kong on a collision course that will see the two most powerful forces of nature on the planet collide in a spectacular battle for the ages. As Monarch embarks on a perilous mission into uncharted terrain and unearths clues to the Titans’ origins, a human conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.
The film stars Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza Gonzalez, Jessica Henwick, Julian Dennison, Demian Bichir, Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, Shun Oguri, Godzilla, and Kong.