Following the global success of 2014’sGodzillaand this year’sKong: Skull Island, comes the next chapter in Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' cinematic MonsterVerse: an epic action adventure that pits Godzilla against some of the most popular monsters in pop culture history. It was believed thatGodzilla 2was being calledGodzilla: King of Monsters, which riffs on a classic title in the JapaneseGodzillacatalogue. But the official PR fromWarner Bros.doesn’t reveal the official title yet. And it’s possible that he final title will incorporate the franchise universe title of ‘Monsterverse’.
The film, which begins principal photography today, is being directed by Michael Dougherty (Krampus), and starsOscar nominees Vera Farmiga(Up in the Air,The Conjuringfilms), and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai) and Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), both reprising theirGodzillaroles; Kyle Chandler (The Wolf of Wall Street,Manchester by the Sea); Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) in herfeature film debut; Bradley Whitford (Get Out); Thomas Middleditch (HBO’sSilicon Valley); Charles Dance (HBO’sGame of Thrones); O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton); Aisha Hinds (Star Trek Into Darkness); and Golden Globe nominee Zhang Ziyi (Memoirs of a Geisha,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).
The new story follows the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient super-species-thought to be mere myths-rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.
Dougherty directs from a script he wrote with Zach Shields. The film is being produced by Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Brian Rogers and Thomas Tull, with Barry H. Waldman, Zach Shields, Yoshimitsu Banno and Kenji Okuhira serving as executive producers and Alexandra Mendes co-producing for Legendary.
Behind the scenes,Dougherty’s creative teamincludes director of photography Lawrence Sher, whose past credits includeWar DogsandGodzilla, for which he handled additional photography; production designer Scott Chambliss (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,Star Trek Into Darkness); editor Roger Barton (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, theTransformersfilms); costume designer Louise Migenbach (theX-MenandHangoverfilms); and Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Guillaume Rocheron (Godzilla,Ghost in the Shell, and part of the Oscar-winning team behindLife of Pi).
Filming is taking place mainly in Atlanta, Georgia. A presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, the film is currently scheduled for release inMarch 2019, and will be distributed in 3D and 2D and in select IMAX theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, except in Japan, where it will be distributed by Toho Co., Ltd.
