We're still over a month away from Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but that movie is only a stop along the road to the main event. Godzilla is getting ready to go head to head with King Kong, and that battle is now one step closer to the big screen as filming has apparently wrapped on what is currently set to be the finale of the giant monster smashing cinematic universe.
Adam Wingard, director of Godzilla vs. Kong announced at the end of the last week on Instagram (via EW) that the production had hit the "final slate" meaning that the last piece of filming for the project was now done. Now the move goes into post-production for the creation of what will certainly be a large number of digital effects.
The announcement comes two weeks after Wingard announced the end of production in Australia. It wasn't clear at that point if wrapping in Australia meant the end of principal photography. We know now there was a bit more work to do, but now the movie is ready.
The new western version of Godzilla was introduced in the 2014 movie named after the creature, which was then followed by Kong: Skull Island in 2017. Godzilla: King of the Monsters will arrive in May, which will likely help set up Godzilla vs. Kong which is set to come out next year.
There clearly was confidence that this franchise would work. No secret was made of the fact that Godzilla vs. Kong was the goal when both creatures were announced to be getting new reboots, and the fact that almost as soon as Godzilla: King of the Monsters finished filming, Godzilla vs. Kong got started, shows that the studio was quite sure the project was a sure bet.
Based on the fact that 2014's Godzilla saw a domestic opening weekend of just short of $100 million on its way to a half billion dollar global box office, it almost certainly seemed to be the case. Kong: Skull Island didn't do quite as well domestically, but actually outperformed Godzilla internationally, making it another significant hit.
Currently, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is looking at a domestic opening closer to that of Kong: Skull Island, which might mean it won't be quite the massive hit that the first Godzilla was, but it will almost certainly still bring in strong international numbers and be a financially successful movie.
By the same token, Godzilla vs. Kong seems destined to be a success. It's one of the most epic battles in cinematic history and it's one that audiences haven't seen in decades.
The films have been so successful that it seems highly unlikely that we've seen the end of them. While we have no idea what is planned after Godzilla vs. Kong, there's a good chance we will see something. We haven't even seen Mechagodzilla yet.
