‘Skull Island’: A New King Kong Movie Announced At Comic Con

Legendary Pictures, the studio behind this year’s Godzilla reboot, has announced that it will explore the home of King Kong in an upcoming picture titled Skull Island.

According to a report from Deadline, the studio’s panel at this year’s San Diego Comic Con was filled with monsters including Godzilla; Mothra; Rodan; and King Ghidora. But no one expected to see King Kong, too.

At the close of its panel, Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull said they had been “tinkering around with one thing” and asked if the audience wanted to see it, according to Entertainment Weekly. The audience let him know that they wanted to see what he had for them, and that’s when he unveiled the teaser trailer for Skull Island.

The trailer began by showing a point-of-view shot of a “stormy ocean” before settling on an island. The voice-over narrator says:

“Long stretches of the world cut off forever … the earliest beginings of the world, when vegetation lined the earth. It came in the shape of an unrestful and noisy dream.”

The camera then takes the viewer through the jungle before coming across a cavern that looks like a human skull. And that’s when King Kong is revealed.

Skull Island won’t release until November 4, 2016. At the end of the panel, the studio issued a statement saying that past films have “touched on the island,” but this new film will explore it more.

“Previous works have touched on the island, but staying and exploring this mysterious and dangerous place offers Legendary the opportunity to take audiences deeper inside this rich world with a style and scope that parallels other Legendary productions.”

The film’s IMDb page has the movie currently labeled as Skull Island: Blood of the King with Neill Marshall (The Descent, Doomsday) attached as director. No cast is listed, but there is a brief synopsis:

“25 year after King Kong’s death in New York, Carl Denham’s son runs an expedition to Skull Island and tries to solve the decade long mystery.”

The page for Skull Island was last updated in April of this year, so it’s not confirmed if the plot has changed, and if any other information will be different from what is already listed.

Variety reports that it is unlikely that Skull Island will be a sequel or a reboot to the Peter Jackson-directed film from 2005. But it is expected that Universal Pictures will team up with Legendary to distribute the film.

Along with the announcement of Skull Island, Legendary Pictures also gave fans a look at Godzilla 2, according to a recent report from The Inquisitr. Gareth Edwards will return to direct, and the film will also feature Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah.

[Image credit: Universal Pictures via Comic Vine]