Here are two travelers who won’t make the perilous journey to Skull Island after all. Recent Oscar nominee Michael Keaton and Oscar winner J.K. Simmons have both departed Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ KONG: SKULL ISLAND, Legendary’s ambitious retelling of the King Kong legend. Leading man Tom Hiddleston remains attached.
The reason cited is scheduling conflicts: KONG recently moved its start date back a few months, which apparently doesn’t work for either of the in-demand actors. The production team is already working on re-casting the roles, and shooting is now looking to kick off at the tail end of the year.
John Gatins (FLIGHT) and Max Borenstein (GODZILLA) co-wrote KONG, which is being produced by Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Alex Garcia, Mary Parent and Eric McLeod. Universal will distribute the film on March 10, 2017. (The original release date was November 4, 2016.)