King Kong Prequel Skull Island Retitled And Pushed Back To 2017

Universal and Legendary Pictures have changed the title of their upcoming ‘King Kong’ prequel ‘Skull Island’ to (wait for it) ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ and pushed back the release date by four months.

The monster movie epic, set to see Tom Hiddleston go head-to-head with the greatest ape of them all, was originally scheduled to hit cinemas on 4 November 2016 - notably, the same date Marvel Studios are set to release ‘Doctor Strange,’ starring that other well-loved British actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

Maybe Marvel scared them off, maybe they just wanted a bit more time - but either way, Universal will now release ‘Kong: Skull Island’ on 10 March 2017 instead.

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Legendary say ‘Kong: Skull Island’ will be “in the spirit of its worldwide blockbuster ‘Godzilla,’” and promise to “fully immerse audiences in the mysterious and dangerous home of the king of the apes as a team of explorers ventures deep inside the treacherous, primordial island.

"Legendary’s story honors the foundations of existing King Kong lore, but places it in an entirely new, distinct timeline."

'Godzilla' screenwriter Max Borenstein is once again on script duties, while the director will be Jordan Vogt-Roberts ('The Kings of Summer').

RKO Studios’ original 1933 ‘King Kong’ from directors Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack remains the benchmark by which all other monster movies are judged. It spawned an underseen follow-up ‘Son of Kong’ later that same year.

Universal have since remade ‘King Kong’ twice, in the 1976 John Guillerman film (which spawned the 1986 sequel ‘King Kong Lives’) and the 2005 Peter Jackson film.

Famously, Toho Studios also revived the character to face off against that other well-loved monster in 1962’s ‘King Kong Vs. Godzilla’. Given that Legendary now hold the rights to both these characters, many fans have been wondering whether a rematch might be in the pipeline - although there’s no indication that this might be happening anytime soon.

Legendary have a lot of giant monster action on their plate either way, as they also have Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pacific Rim’ sequel scheduled for 2017, with hopes for a third film in that series to follow.

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Picture Credit: RKO/Universal