Earlier this year, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire made it to the 2024 film schedule, coming in three years after its release Godzilla vs. Kong and just two months after the end of the TV series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, which can be streamed with an Apple TV+ subscription. The last MonsterVerse movie did quite well at the box office and now the sequel is in the works. However, unlike the last two films, Adam Wingard won’t be directing it, but now his successor has been revealed, and he’s someone with interesting sci-fi credentials.
Grant Sputore has been tapped to direct the Godzilla x Kong sequel, per THR. If the name doesn’t sound familiar, that’s because he’s worked mostly in commercials. That said, he made his feature directorial debut with the cyberpunk thriller I am the mother, which was about a young girl raised by a robot helping to repopulate Earth after an extinction event. This film starring Rose Byrne, Hilary Swank and Clara Rugaard premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019 and was then released to Netflix subscribers the following June.
I am the mother received positive critical reception, holding an 89% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 75% Audience Rating. The Godzilla x Kong sequel will be Sputore’s first film after the Netflix release, but apparently Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures believe he can get the job done following the departure of Adam Wingard. Although Wingard had originally expressed interest in making a third Godzilla/Kong film to form a trilogy, he decided to make A24’s Attack as his next project, and also has the Face-off continuity and live action Thundercats here comes the film adaptation.
Grant Sputore is now the fifth director to make his mark on the cinematic side of the MonsterVerse, following Wingard, GodzillaGareth Edwards, Kong: Skull Island‘s Jordan Vogt-Roberts and Godzilla: King of the MonstersMichael Dougherty. Along with Sputore boarding, Shang-Chi and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Writer Dave Callaham was tapped to write the screenplay. No release date has been set yet.
Although Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire met with mixed reviews, as already mentioned, it has shone brightly on the commercial front. At the time of this writing, it has grossed over $567 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing MonsterVerse film. Kong: Skull Island still holds the top spot, but Godzilla x Kong it costs around $1 million to top the 2017 film, so any day now we can expect it to become the franchise’s new box office champion.
While we wait for the next big update for the Godzilla x Kong next, remember that the first four MonsterVerse movies can be streamed with a Max subscription. Also, Apple TV+ has been ordered Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2, which is part of a deal between the streaming platform and Legendary, also includes “multiple spinoff series based on the franchise.”
