It was all the way back in May of last year that it was announced director Gareth Edwards would no longer be taking the helm of the upcoming Godzilla 2. Since then we've wondered exactly who would be the person to replace him, and now it seems we have our answer. Mike Dougherty, the filmmaker behind the horror films Trick 'r Treat and Krampus, has been tapped by Legendary Entertainment to take the gig.
If you're vaguely remembering a past link between Mike Dougherty and Godzilla 2, then you're probably thinking back to the report in October 2016, when it was said that he and co-writer Zach Shields would be co-writing the script for the feature. Around that same time it was suggested that Dougherty make take on the role of director as well, but evidently those were just early talks. According to Variety, it was only after watching Dougherty for months in the writer's room that Legendary decided that he would be the right man for the job.
Godzilla 2 - which is rumored to be titled Godzilla: King of Monsters - won't be Mike Dougherty's first time working with Legendary, as Trick 'r Treat was one of the production company's first features, but the blockbuster will certainly be the filmmaker's biggest movie to date. Both of Dougherty's first two movies have developed cult popularity, but they are also very tiny productions (Krampus had a budget of just $15 million). He'll be playing in a whole new ballgame making the next Godzilla movie, though as fans of his work we definitely wish him luck.
At this time, next to nothing is known about the plot of Godzilla 2, but we do know that it is part of some major plans being cooked up over at Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. The blockbuster, which is scheduled for release on March 22, 2019, is expected to be the third chapter in a growing cinematic universe, following both Gareth Edwards' Godzilla and Jordan Vogt-Roberts' Kong: Skull Island (which is being released on March 10th). The franchise's big crossover movie is lined up for 2020, with Godzilla vs. Kong on the calendar for May 29th of that year.
Given the scale of the plans that are in development, we are very much keeping a close eye on Godzilla 2, so be sure to stay tuned for more details as it continues to work its way through pre-production. It's not entirely clear at this point when the movie is actually planning to start filming, but you can expect a flurry of announcements and reveals in the weeks leading up to that date. At the very least, we should here some big news about the project come out in early July during 2017's San Diego Comic-Con.
