We recently heard reports that two of the most legendary creatures in cinematic history, King Kong and Godzilla, could possibly collide on screen at some point in the future. As incredible as that sounds, and as much as fanboys across the land have dreamed of such a scenario, there is one giant logistical hurdle to overcome: size.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, over the course of discussions about such a massive crossover potentially happening, one big point was repeatedly brought up that could prove to be an insurmountable obstacle. As huge as the greatest of the great apes is, the King of the Monsters is much, much bigger.
While King Kong is big enough to grab Fay Wray (or Naomi Watts depending on which version you're talking about) and scale the Empire State Building, swatting at pesky airplanes and helicopters along the way, Godzilla is the same height as the skyscrapers. Godzilla would basically just step on King Kong, light him on fire with his atomic breath for good measure, and call it an early night.
The prevailing logic is that, in order to make this clash feasible---or for the two to potentially become allies against some greater enemy---there will have to be some kind of alteration in the respective size of the iconic beasts. However, as difficult as this may seem, a source close to Legendary says that they are confident that they can come up with a way to even the playing field a bit, and perhaps even explain how the two can become the best of friends.
All of this started earlier in the week when Universal let Legendary Pictures, with whom they have a partnership deal in place, take their upcoming Kong: Skull Island over to the folks at Warner Bros. Legendary had a similar eight-year relationship with WB that recently came to an end---the two co-produced Gareth Edwards' 2014 Godzilla before that union dissolved. These reports indicated that the move to take Skull Island over to WB is predicated on Legendary's interest in crossing the two franchises over in the near future.
Godzilla 2 is still in the works, but the tentative plan appears to be that after that happens, King Gong and Godzilla will somehow meet up on movie screens world wide. Again, this is all contingent on if they can figure out how to contend with the size disparity. As it stands, the latest Godzilla is roughly 350 feet tall (the original incarnation is apparently only 164 feet), while King Kong is generally considered to be around 50 feet tall---then again, we haven't seen the Skull Island version yet, so perhaps he's a bit larger than the traditional Kong.
To be honest, I don't know how serious or realistic any of this talk is. It sounds suspiciously like one of those ideas that is destined to be kicked around forever but never actually materialize. Though stranger things have happened. Also, it won't be the first time these two have met, as Ishiro Honda's King Kong vs. Godzilla was released all the way back in 1962 (they figured out a way to make it work).
All of this also likely hinges on whether or not Kong: Skull Island is a financial success or not, and right now, the film is something of a question mark. It has a great cast, including Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Toby Kebbell, Corey Hawkins, Tom Wilkinson, and John C. Reilly, and a creative team that features writer Derek Connolly (Jurassic World) and director Jordan Vogt Roberts (Kings of Summer). It's also supposedly set in the 1970s, so we're not entirely sure how a crossover will work.
Kong: Skull Island is scheduled for release in March of 2017, while Godzilla 2 will stomp through theaters in 2018. From there we'll see if these two crazy kids will ever get together again.
