Godzilla vs King Kong was released internationally on March 24, 2021, and domestically on March 31, 2021.

Plot

Five years after Godzilla defeated King Ghidorah, Kong is monitored by Monarch within a giant dome on Skull Island. Kong is visited by Jia (played by Kaylee Hottle), the last Iwi native and Kong expert Ilene Andrews’ adopted daughter, who is deaf and communicates with Kong via sign language.

Bernie Hayes (played by Brian Tyree Henry), an employee of Apex Cybernetics and host of a Titan conspiracy theory podcast, extracts data suggesting sinister activities at a Pensacola facility. However, Godzilla suddenly attacks the facility, during the rampage, Bernie stumbles on a massive device. Madison Russell (played by Millie Bobby Brown), a fan of Bernie’s podcast, enlists her friend Josh (played by Julian Dennison) to investigate Godzilla’s attacks.

Apex CEO Walter Simmons’s recruits Nathan Lind (played by Alexander Skarsgard), former Monarch scientist and Hollow Earth theorist, to guide a search for a power source into the Hollow Earth, the home world of the Titans. Nathan is initially hesitant as his brother died in an expedition to the Hollow Earth due to a strong reverse-gravitational effect. He agrees after Walter reveals that Apex has developed HEAVs, specialized crafts able to withstand the pressure exerted by the gravity field.

Nathan meets with Ilene and convinces her to let Kong guide them through the Hollow Earth via an outpost in Antarctica. Nathan, Ilene, and an Apex team led by Walter’s daughter Maia (played by Eiza Gonzalez) board a modified barge escorted by the U.S. Navy that carries a sedated and restrained Kong. Godzilla attacks the convoy and defeats Kong but retreats after the ships disable their power and trick him into thinking they are destroyed. To avoid alerting Godzilla, Kong is airlifted to the Hollow Earth entrance, and Jia convinces him to enter the tunnel while the team follows him in the HEAVs.

Madison and Josh find Bernie, who joins their investigation. They sneak into the wrecked Apex base, discover a secret facility underground, and are inadvertently locked into an underground monorail transport to Apex headquarters in Hong Kong, where they unwittingly stumble on a test of Mechagodzilla. It is telepathically controlled by Ren Serizawa (played by Shun Oguri), the son of the late Ishirō Serizawa, through the neural networks from the skull of a severed Ghidorah head but is hobbled by its power supply’s limitations. Walter intends to harness the Hollow Earth’s energy to overcome Mechagodzilla’s limitations.

Inside the Hollow Earth, Kong and the team find an ecosystem like Skull Island. They discover his species’ ancestral throne room, where they find remains of an ancient war with Godzilla’s kind and a glowing axe made from another Godzilla’s dorsal plates. As they identify the power source, the Apex team sends its signature back to their Hong Kong base despite Ilene’s protests. Attracted by Mechagodzilla’s activation, Godzilla arrives in Hong Kong, and sensing Kong, he directly drills a shaft to the throne room with his atomic breath. In the ensuing mayhem, Maia and the Apex team attempt to escape but their HEAV is crushed by Kong. Kong, Ilene, Jia, and Nathan ascend to Hong Kong, where Godzilla and Kong battle. Godzilla is initially overpowered by Kong, but Godzilla emerges victorious. Kong loses consciousness after being defeated by Godzilla.

Madison, Josh, and Bernie are caught by security and taken to Walter. Despite Ren’s concerns over the power source’s volatility, Walter orders him to activate Mechagodzilla. They lose control of Mechagodzilla, who kills Walter, electrocutes Ren and then attacks Hong Kong. Godzilla and Mechagodzilla battle, but Godzilla is overwhelmed. Nathan revives Kong by destroying the HEAV, and Jia convinces him to help Godzilla. As Mechagodzilla overpowers both Titans, Josh short-circuits Mechagodzilla’s controls with Bernie’s flask of liquor, momentarily interrupting the mech. Godzilla supercharges Kong’s axe with his atomic breath, allowing Kong to destroy Mechagodzilla. Madison, Bernie, and Josh reunite with Mark Russell, while Godzilla and Kong acknowledge each other before the two go their separate ways.

Sometime later, Monarch has established an observation post in the Hollow Earth, where Kong now rules.

Box Office and Revenue

In December 2020, Variety and Deadline Hollywood reported that Legendary Entertainment, financiers, and talent with backend deals were not pleased with WarnerMedia’s multi-release plans and non-transparent intentions. Legendary was not given advanced notice of the multi-release decision nor given a say in how ‘Dune’ and ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ would be distributed. The studio planned to have discussions with Warner Bros. regarding a more “generous deal” however legal action was considered. A few weeks later, Deadline reported that the film could keep its HBO Max release but only if Warner Bros. matches Netflix’s $250 million bid. In January 2021, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a legal battle was averted due to Legendary and WarnerMedia nearing an agreement to keep the film’s simultaneous release.

As of April 25, 2021, ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ has grossed $90.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $325.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $415.6 million. Variety reported the film needed to gross at least $330 million in order to break even, with Deadline Hollywood estimating it would turn a net profit of $96.4 million when factoring together all expenses and revenue.

A week prior to its United States release, the film was released in 38 overseas countries and was projected to gross around $70 million over its first five days. In China, where it was projected to debut at around $50 million, the film made $21.5 million (RMB 140 million) on its first day. The film exceeded predictions and debuted at $123.1 million worldwide, the biggest worldwide opening of the pandemic. Its largest markets were China ($69.2 million; RMB 450.5 million), Mexico ($6.5 million), Australia ($6.3 million), Russia ($5.9 million), Taiwan ($5.3 million), India ($4.9 million), Thailand ($3.3 million), South Korea ($2.8 million), Vietnam ($2.5 million), Malaysia ($2.1 million), and Spain ($1.7 million). In Indonesia, the film earned $850,000 (Rp. 12.3 billion).

In the United States and Canada, ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ was initially projected to gross around $23 million over its five-day opening weekend, compared to debuting to around $68 million in a pre-COVID marketplace. It made $9.6 million from 2,409 theaters on its first day, the best opening day figure of the pandemic. After grossing $6.7 million on its second day, five-day projections were increased to $30–40 million. Playing in 3,064 theaters by Friday, the film went on to debut to $32.2 million ($48.5 million over the five days), the best opening weekend of the pandemic. Collider attributed the film’s box office results to “positive word-of-mouth.” The film grossed $13.3 million in its second weekend, remaining in first and becoming the highest-grossing domestic release of the pandemic (passing Tenet’s $58.5 million).

Overall Thoughts

The monsters look fantastic, and the battle scenes were amazing. The scene where Kong and Godzilla join forces and face off against Mega Godzilla was honestly the best scene in the movie. Before looking at this new release, you should watch the previous films. With this, the film could easily have a shot at being movie of the year.

Rating: 5/5