Some people get into the movie business because they see an opportunity to make money. Other people get into the movie business to do something that they love (but also make money). Thomas Tull, the CEO of Legendary Entertainment, appears to be one of the latter. He’s a fan of movies like the rest of us. It’s easy enough to assume that the plan for the upcoming Godzilla vs. King Kong came about because number crunchers at a studio figured it would make money, but Tull had much more basic reasons for wanting to get the movie made. Pretty much the same reasons that you want to see it made.
Speaking at a conference earlier this week, the founder of Legendary Entertainment had a very basic reason behind his plan to pit Godzilla against King Kong. According to Variety, it’s because he wants to see the fight.
I’m juvenile. I wanted to see them fight.
Right? It’s really the only good reason to make this movie, isn’t it? While certainly we want to see a good movie made, the point of the movie is something else entirely, to watch giant monsters fight each other. It was all the best parts of the Godzilla reboot. If we’re being honest, that movie needed a lot more giant monster fighting, it likely would have been much better if there had been more. It’s the reason we all went to see Pacific Rim, another Legendary production, and it’s the reason we’re all going to go see the sequel if they’ll ever stop wasting time and make that happen.
It’s actually wonderful to see this kind of response from a CEO. We live in an era where the people who grew up with the blockbuster movie now have an opportunity to make their own blockbuster. They feel an obligation not only to shareholders but to fans, because they were, and in fact still are, fans themselves. It’s the same mentality that leads a Star Wars fan like J.J. Abrams to direct The Force Awakens. He has the ability to add to the legacy of films that he loves. In the same vein, Thomas Tull has the ability to make Godzilla and King Kong fight each other on screen. So why wouldn’t he do that?
It will still be a little bit before we see the two monsters go at it however. We still have to wait for King Kong to get his own film reboot when Kong: Skull Island hits in 2017. Then we’ll get a Godzilla sequel in 2018. Then the battle for the ages will occur sometime around 2020 as the plan currently stands. Are you looking forward to seeing these two fight? Does anything else even matter?
