Development

In March 2019, producer Alex Garcia stated that Legendary Pictures hoped to produce more MonsterVerse films if they became successful, stating, "It's one brick at a time, each piece has to be as good as it can be, so right now it's all focused on this [Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong]. But could there be? Yeah, that's the hope if the movies turn out really well."^[9] In February 2021, Wingard commented on the future of the MonsterVerse, "I know where we could go potentially with future films." However, he noted that the MonsterVerse was created "to a certain degree" to lead towards Godzilla vs. Kong.^[10] He added that the MonsterVerse is at a "crossroads", stating, "It's really at the point where audiences have to kind of step forward and vote for more of these things. If this movie is a success obviously they will continue forward."^[11]

Godzilla vs. Kong was released on March 24, 2021, and became a box office and streaming hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[12] The film grossed $470 million worldwide against a break-even point of $330 million,^[12][13] and became the most pirated film of 2021.^[14] On April 4, 2021, Legendary's CEO Josh Grode commented on potential sequels, "we have a number of ideas for more movies."^[15] That same day, the hashtag #ContinueTheMonsterVerse began trending on Twitter, which was acknowledged by Legendary and garnered support from Jordan Vogt-Roberts, director of Kong: Skull Island (2017).^[16][17] On April 27, 2021, The Hollywood Reporter stated that Legendary was "quietly taking steps to stretch the series into one or more installments" while negotiating with Wingard to potentially return to direct. Various ideas were considered, with Son of Kong being one potential title.^[18] In August 2021, MonsterVerse writer Max Borenstein stated that "there will be some new, interesting installments coming" due to the success of Godzilla vs. Kong.^[19]

On March 20, 2022, it was announced that a sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong was scheduled to commence filming later in the year in the Gold Coast, Queensland, and other locations in South East Queensland.^[20] In May 2022, it was announced that Wingard would return to direct and that Dan Stevens had been cast as a lead. Wingard and Stevens had previously worked together on The Guest (2014).^[21] In May 2022, Production Weekly reported that the film's working title was Origins.^[22] On June 30, 2022, it was revealed that Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Eric McLeod, Brian Rogers, Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni would return to produce.^[23][24] On July 1, 2022, Toho confirmed that the film would feature Godzilla.^[25]

Pre-production

Wingard recalled that preproduction on the film began in January 2022.^[26] In August 2022, Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary announced a new synopsis and that Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle would reprise their roles from Godzilla vs Kong while Fala Chen, Alex Ferns and Rachel House would join the cast as well. It was also revealed that Wingard would collaborate once more with production designer Tom Hammock, editor Josh Schaeffer, composer Tom Holkenborg, and that Terry Rossio had returned to write the script with Jeremy Slater and Wingard's frequent collaborator Simon Barrett.^[27][24] Ultimately, Rossio, Barrett, and Slater received "screenplay by" credit, while Rossio, Wingard, and Barrett received "story by" credit; Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields, both of whom co-wrote Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong, shared off-screen "additional literary material" credit with James Ashcroft, Eli Kent, and Nicole Perlman.^[28][29]

Filming

Principal photography commenced in the Gold Coast, Queensland, on July 29, 2022.^[30] At the start of production, Ben Seresin was confirmed to have returned as director of photography.^[31] In November 2022, it was reported that filming had finished in Australia and that crew gear revealed the film's potential title, at the time, as Godzilla and Kong.^[32]

Post-production

The film's visual effects were supervised by Alessandro Ongaro.^[33] After watching the trailer for Godzilla Minus One (2023), Wingard and Ongaro decided to pay tribute to that film by recreating a shot of the ground bursting beneath Godzilla's footfall for the film's Rome sequence.^[33] Wingard confirmed that Mothra's inclusion was always part of the plan. However, Legendary did not have the rights to Mothra by the time that post-production began and used a placeholder character named "Phosphera" until the rights were secured. Wingard also refuted rumors that Phosphera was replaced with Mothra due to poor testing, iterating that Mothra was included as far back as the first draft.^[34]

Box office

As of April 16, 2024^[update], Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has grossed $160.4 million in the United States and Canada and over $279.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $440.3 million.^[5][6]

In the United States and Canada, Godzilla x Kong was initially projected to gross $50–55 million from 3,850 theaters in its opening weekend, as well as an additional $80–90 million from 63 international territories.^[3] After making $37 million on its first day, including $10 million from Thursday previews, the best-ever total for a MonsterVerse film, estimates were raised to $75 million over the domestic weekend. It went on to debut at $80 million, topping the box office and becoming the second-best opening weekend of the series and the fifth-best Easter weekend of all time, behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Furious 7 (2015), The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and The Fate of the Furious (2017).^[43] In its second weekend, the film made $31.2 million (a drop of 61%), remaining in first.^[44] In its third weekend the film made $15.5 million, finishing second behind newcomer Civil War.^[45]

Critical response

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire received mixed reviews from critics.^[46] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 54% of 228 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Come to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire for the sheer monster-mashing spectacle -- and stay for that too, because the movie doesn't have much else to offer."^[47] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 47 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[48] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 96% of audience members said the film "met or exceeded their expectations."^[43]

Several critics compared the film negatively to Toho's Godzilla Minus One (2023).^{[lower-alpha 3]} Owen Gleiberman of Variety found Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire mediocre, likening it more to a superhero film, but felt that it was misfortunate that the film was released too soon after Godzilla Minus One, comparing that film with "lyrical majesty" and Godzilla x Kong more like a "product", but admitted that the film delivers on the monster battles, praising the Rome battle.^[49] Pete Hammond from Deadline Hollywood likened the scenes with the Ape tribe to Planet of the Apes and noted that Godzilla, despite getting top billing and referenced repeatedly in the film, mostly plays a supporting role. He felt the human characters were the same "one dimensional caricatures" typically found in monster films, but admitted that they had a "nice rapport" regardless. Like Gleiberman, Hammond compared the film to Godzilla Minus One, calling it "far more impressive" than Godzilla x Kong and suggested that Legendary hire that film's team next.^[50] James Berardinelli also expressed dissatisfaction for the film and suggested that Godzilla Minus One writer-director Takashi Yamazaki make the next Monsterverse film.^[51]

A review in The Guardian praised the choreography and structure but criticized some aspects of the actors' roles, stating, "Dan Stevens and a returning Brian Tyree Henry are both lumped with the comedy and both struggle to make any of it work, which for a portion of the middle stretch, devoid of crashing and smashing, starts to become a problem." and concluding, " If the next chapter ended up being Godzilla Minus People, that wouldn’t be a loss."^[55] In a review for The New York Times, Alissa Wilkinson wrote: "Godzilla x Kong is evidence the original thread has been lost entirely — a shame, in an era haunted by monsters the movies can only hint at, from climate catastrophe, destructive weaponry and geopolitical strife to power-hungry, brutal authoritarianism. There's no reflection here at all, not even space to contemplate what might lie beyond the literal. Beyond the main cast, the humans in this movie exist only to get squashed like ants by falling debris and mangled buildings." and wondered, "When will Hollywood have the guts to make a fun blockbuster like this that dares to acknowledge the real menacing monsters?"^[56]

Writing for IndieWire, David Ehrlich awarded the film a C-grade, calling it a "goofy-ass, clumsily assembled Saturday morning cartoon" that was curated to "overstimulate ten-year olds." He criticized the CGI for being dull and not taking full advantage of its potential, feeling that the filmmakers should have used Godzilla (2014) as a reference point to emphasize the gravitas of the monster scenes.^[57] In a more positive review, Amon Warmann of Empire awarded the film three stars out of five, stating "at its best, it delivers a fun slice of monster mayhem, even if we have to wait too long for the titular duo to charge into battle together." However, Warmann noted that the film prioritizes Kong over Godzilla and the film's journey to the climax is a "mixed bag", feeling that the characters were "shallow but fun."^[58]

The Los Angeles Times called the film "a roaring headache" but noted "two impressively goopy moments" in the beginning and the horror-like approach brought by the director "with a penchant for gleeful experimentation and over-the-top style", including "a heavy emphasis on crystals as both plot device and aesthetic, offering this film a retro feel".^[59] Robbie Collin of the Telegraph awarded the movie two stars out of five, lamenting that “Godzilla and Kong stomp off on adventures that turn out to be thunderously boring.”^[60]