There was no question who the stars were on 鈥淕odzilla x Kong: The New Empire." It wasn鈥檛 Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens or any of the humans. As actors have known since the early days of cinema, the star is the one with their character鈥檚 name in the title, even if in this case they never actually, technically, came to set.
鈥淭hey are the stars of the movie,鈥� Hall told The Associated Press. 鈥淲e鈥檙e the scale.鈥�
Or, as Stevens put it: 鈥淲e鈥檙e just the side show.鈥�
The film, in theaters everywhere March 29, is a sequel to 鈥� ,鈥� the . It鈥檚 also continuation of Legendary鈥檚 Monsterverse that goes back to 2014's 鈥淕odzilla鈥� and 2017's 鈥淜ong: Skull Island.鈥� If there seems to be an inherent stakes issue of 鈥渨here do you go after the versus,鈥� for filmmaker Adam Wingard the path seemed clear. He heard the screams and cheers in the theater when the giants battled Mechagodzilla together: For the sequel, he knew they needed to team up.
鈥淭he last film on the surface looks like an everything in the kitchen sink type movie: We battle all over the world, we do all these crazy things. But there鈥檚 still so much left to do,鈥� Wingard said. 鈥淭hese movies can hold up with the Titans, the monsters, as the point of view.鈥�
鈥淕odzilla x Kong鈥� contains long sequences of dialogue-free storytelling focused only on the monsters 鈥� especially Kong, who has found his home in Hollow Earth but is a little lonely. He also introduces several new titans, including Skar King (318 feet tall), and a mini Kong named Suko (149 feet tall).
For Wingard, it felt both groundbreaking to do on a film of this scale and also like a lifetime dream come true. It is, he said, the movie he wanted to see at age 10, when he first fell for Godzilla films.
鈥淭he whole drive I had for myself as a filmmaker in making this movie was trying to appeal to the inner 10-year-old in me,鈥� Wingard said. 鈥淏ecause that was my initiation into the whole thing I think I鈥檓 still sort of aiming towards that kid, trying to show him a good time.鈥�
THE HUMAN FACTOR
Loving Godzilla movies and making one is a different proposition entirely. Just ask the actors.
鈥淭he first movie I didn鈥檛 know what to expect. I didn鈥檛 know how big the movie actually was,鈥� said Kaylee Hottle, who is deaf, through an interpreter. 鈥淎nd at the end I thought to myself, oh, that was cool.鈥�
She was only 10 during the first movie and 15 while filming the second, working most closely with Hall, who plays her adoptive mother.
鈥淭here was a very steep learning curve that she completely scaled in no time at all,鈥� Hall said. 鈥淚n this one she was that much older and wiser and smart to the whole thing.鈥�
Hall was also excited to finally share some scenes (and dialogue) with Henry, back as the monster fanboy/conspiracy blogger Bernie Hayes.
鈥淚 remember on the first one I was quite sad that Brian and I only had one day of filming together for the end scene,鈥� Hall recalled.
Henry agreed, saying 鈥渢here was a lot of play that we wanted to have on this one" and they knew they were in good hands with Wingard, who is a 鈥渒id at heart.鈥� On Halloween, he came to set dressed as 1930s director.
The newcomer was Stevens, who starred in Wingard鈥檚 2014 thriller 鈥淭he Guest." His character, Trapper, is a Titan veterinarian in a Hawaiian shirt.
鈥淚 think his pitch to me was a particular scene where my character gets to fly this crazy spaceship through electrical buzzing creatures, saying cool lines,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榯hat sounds great.鈥欌��
Henry said the character was a bit like Patrick Swayze鈥檚 in 鈥淩oad House.鈥�
Stevens added: 鈥淲ith a sprinkling of Ace Ventura in there.鈥�
FILMING WITH(OUT) MONSTERS
They kept one another sane on the green or blue screen days of filming with a guy with a foam finger or a tennis ball on a stick to help get their eyes looking in the right place. All agree that 鈥淜ong neck鈥� (getting your neck at the proper angle to gaze upon the titans for extended periods of time) can be a real struggle.
And just as actors don鈥檛 quite formally train for 鈥淜ong neck,鈥� directors also don鈥檛 get instructions on just how to make a movie like this. Wingard said by the end of the first, he鈥檇 just started to feel comfortable.
鈥淵ou can read every back issue of Cinefex Magazine that exists, but until you鈥檙e actually making one of these things and learning how to frame eyelines for characters looking up at 300-foot-tall monsters and trying to get emotional reactions out of that? There鈥檚 only so many ways to create these monsters too,鈥� he said. 鈥淎lmost half of it is fully animated sequences. It鈥檚 like you鈥檙e making an animated film, it鈥檚 just hyper realistic.鈥�
That鈥檚 part of the reason why he made sure to take his actors and crew to real locations every chance they got, including the Daintree Rainforest in Australia. There were giant anacondas and cassowaries around, but the biggest anxiety was doing any harm to the environment. Many meetings were had about not touching anything, which is especially funny for a Godzilla movie. But it was all worth it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so easy to shoot everything in front of a green screen,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut at the end of the day there鈥檚 an artificiality to that.鈥�
Hall and the other actors noted how important the sets and locations were to the experience 鈥� especially with two no-show stars who had to be added later.
鈥淜ong and Godzilla wouldn鈥檛 show up to set, so you had to make believe,鈥� Hall said.
鈥淪tayed in their trailer all day,鈥� Stevens joked.
NO COMPETING GODZILLAS
If it seems like there鈥檚 a lot of 鈥淕odzilla鈥� in theaters lately, it鈥檚 true. 鈥� ,鈥� the first Toho Godzilla film since 2016鈥檚 鈥淪hin Godzilla,鈥� . It also did well in U.S. theaters in December and January, but had to make a graceful exit by February because of the licensing deal with Legendary.
That doesn鈥檛 mean there鈥檚 ill will between the productions. 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� director Takashi Yamazaki and Wingard have and how their cats inspired their Godzillas. But it could also take some time before 鈥淕odzilla Minus One鈥� gets a streaming release stateside, at least until the dust settles from 鈥淕odzilla x Kong.鈥�
Warner Bros., which has released several hits in recent months including 鈥� 鈥� and 鈥� ,鈥� is rolling 鈥淕odzilla x Kong鈥� out nationwide and exclusively in theaters. Like the first 鈥淒une,鈥� 鈥淕odzilla vs. Kong鈥� was part of the company鈥檚 2021 day-and-date release strategy. And yet it still did business, both and on streaming where it was for a time the streamer's biggest hit.
Wingard liked being part of that moment when theater owners were reassured that audiences still wanted to come to the cinemas. But he鈥檚 excited to just get a normal release this time, without the pandemic caveat. Both Godzilla and Kong are some of the oldest movie stars still in action, after all.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so massive in scale. It鈥檚 so grand,鈥� Henry said. 鈥淭his is the kind of movie you go to the theaters for because you don鈥檛 want to be the only one Kong necking.鈥�
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
