Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard didn't feel the need to course-correct in response to reactions to the most recent MonsterVerse movie, Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
"Well, I mean, one of the reasons why [Warner Bros.] brought me on is I think a follow up to King of Monsters is because I am so different than Michael Dougherty as a director," Wingard told Collider. "I mean he definitely leans more into the kind of horror realm, and his approach to Godzilla is really kind of scary in a lot of ways, and I think that they knew that the next film after that had to be different regardless of how it was going to be received, and I think I was kind of chosen ultimately because my take was always going to be [tonally very fun and] colorful and all those kinds of things, and so fortunately it didn't really affect us too much in a literal way."
Released in 2019, Godzilla: King of the Monsters grossed $386.6 million at the box office, which was less than the previous two films in the MonsterVerse (2014's Godzilla and 2017's Kong: Skull Island). It also earned mixed to negative reviews, leading some to speculate that Warner Bros. would alter Godzilla vs. Kong to address the more common criticisms surrounding the Godzilla sequel. Wingard acknowledged he was aware of "some of the stuff where, you know, people felt like [King of the Monsters] was like too dark in places, or there was too many particle effects and stuff... [But] ultimately that didn't totally factor in because my version was always kind of what you see right now."
The Godzilla vs. Kong trailers show Godzilla and King Kong fighting in a variety of locations, including what Wingard described as a "magic hour sunset kind of looking scene" aboard a freighter in the middle of the ocean and in the middle of a "neon futuristic synth wave city." Wingard said that he had conceived these images for the film early on during pre-production and was able to remain true to his vision throughout shooting. "But who knows what people are talking about behind the scenes, you know, at different levels," he added.
Directed by Adam Wingard and written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, Godzilla vs. Kong stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry. The film arrives in theaters and on HBO Max March 31.
Source: Collider