'Godzilla vs. Kong' in talks to go to a streamer
Nov 27, 2020
Washington [US], November 27 : The forthcoming monster movie 'Godzilla vs. Kong', from Legendary Pictures is likely to be the latest big franchise movie to head to a streamer.
According to knowledgeable sources to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has made an offer of more than USD 200 million for the film while WarnerMedia has blocked the deal while preparing an offer of its own for its streamer, HBO Max.
The production company- Legendary declined to comment while a Warner Bros. spokesperson said: "We plan to release Godzilla vs. Kong theatrically next year as scheduled."
The Netflix offer undoubtedly had an allure for Legendary, which financed 75 per cent of the budget. As Netflix does not have a presence in China, the film could have played theatrically there.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, the monster verse movies, which are the cornerstone of Legendary's slate, are big international players, especially in China: Just over a third of 'King of the Monsters'' USD 386 million global box office came from the movie's China release. 'Skull Island' grossed USD 168 million in China, about 30 per cent of the movie's USD 567 million gross.
'Godzilla vs. Kong', the fourth entry in the series, is slated for a May 21, 2021 opening but it is far from clear that U.S. theatres will be fully back in business by then and even if they are, the studios face a pile-up of major releases that were pushed due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Legendary is stuck with the cost of carrying an unreleased big-budget film. Though Warner Bros. has only a 25 percent stake in the movie, it controls the release.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, the decisions on the movie's fate are being handled at the highest level, with WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar and Warner Bros. Chairman Ann Sarnoff figuring out an offer for a streaming release on HBO Max that in theory also includes a theatrical component. (On November 18, WarnerMedia said that tentpole Wonder Woman 1984 would bow in theatres on December 25 and be available to stream on HBO Max in a deal that Kilar described as "unprecedented.")
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the monster universe of Legendary began with 2014's 'Godzilla', which rebooted the franchise featuring the Japanese nuclear-created lizard and nabbed USD 514 million globally in theatres. Then 2017's 'Kong: Skull Island' re-introduced audiences to King Kong. The last entry released was 2019's 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters.'
'Godzilla vs. Kong' was directed by Adam Wingard, who cut his teeth with low-budget thrillers and horror flicks, and features actors Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall and Kyle Chandler.
