In December of 2015, the folks at Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. extended an offer no sci-fi/fantasy geek journalist could resist: the chance to spend two days on the Hawaii set of their then mystery-laden adventure film Kong: Skull Island.
At the time, little was known about Kong but speculation was rampant: Was the film a sequel or prequel to Peter Jackson’s 2005 King Kong or any other previous Kong adventures? Or was it a complete reboot, a la Legendary’s Godzilla (2014)? And, if the latter, what kind of connective tissue would it have with that film in light of the company’s recently announced Kong vs. Godzilla, set for release in 2020? We packed our bags in search of answers.
1. This Kong Is a True Original
The first person we met with during our two-day set visit was Legendary’s EVP of Production and Kong Executive Producer Alex Garcia, who clarified that this Kong is neither a remake, prequel or sequel to any existing Kong film but is its own creature, so to speak.
“To tell the same story didn’t feel right,” said Garcia, referring to the classic 1933 King Kong narrative remade in 2005 by Peter Jackson.
Instead, this Kong features an original story with original characters, other than the titular Kong. Monarch, the secret scientific organization featured in Legendary’s Godzilla, will also make an appearance, linking it to the cinematic universe of that film and helping set the stage for 2020’s Kong vs. Godzilla.
Fans of giant-monster movies will be happy to know Kong shows up much sooner than Godzilla did in that 2014 film. “We meet [him] pretty quickly in our movie,” said Garcia, before showing us concept art for the film’s World War II-set prologue. In this opening sequence, an American and Japanese pilot engaged in a dogfight end up gunned down on Skull Island, where their hand-to-hand conflict is interrupted by the first appearance of Kong.
2. Kong Is Huge -- and Lonely
Garcia said, “Our Kong is in the range of 80 feet or so,” meaning this Kong will stand at least 55 feet taller on-screen than the 25-foot one seen in Jackson’s King Kong.
Of Kong’s design, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts added, “I think the [2014 Godzilla design] was really well received because it paid homage to what came before it but also felt like something fresh.”
Vogt-Roberts said, “We’re getting a little bit more into the backstory of where [Kong] came from and what the island is… there's a loneliness to him and an emotion to the fact that he is the last of [his kind], which is [visible] in the way that he walks and the way that he strides.
"There's a loneliness to him and an emotion to the fact that he is the last of [his kind.]" -- Jordan Vogt-Roberts
“We want our Kong to feel very human in ways but also very godlike -- where you stare up at this thing and it towers over you as this sort of godlike figure… this old, lonely god, something from prehistory.”
3. The Ape Is Not Leaving the Island
In addition to the size of its titular beast, Garcia said this Kong has a fresh narrative that doesn’t end with the ape dangling from the Empire State Building.
“The heart of the movie essentially takes place all on Skull Island,” said Garcia, adding: “We’re not actually taking Kong off of the island.”
4. The Island Has a Totally Unique Ecology
Filmmakers set out to populate Skull Island with original and fantastic creatures – all of them deadly. “They’re all unique to this movie and this world,” said Garcia. Included in this wildlife are supersize CGI daddy longlegs spiders and a giant, lizardlike creature mysteriously referred to as “the Dweller.”
Vogt-Roberts said, “We wanted each of the creatures to feel like individual gods of their own domain. Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke was actually a big reference. So a big thing was trying to design creatures that felt realistic and could exist in an ecosystem that feels sort of wild and out there but also felt beautiful and horrifying.
“Because we truly want Skull Island to feel like a tactile place, we’re shooting so much of this practically, from Hawaii to Australia to Vietnam. It’s a huge help to the actors to be in real jungles and real settings and that adds to that reality when you’re staring up at this completely fictional, fake thing.”
The crew also built many practical sets in these locations, including the Skull Island Bone Yard, a massive outdoor set comprised of myriad skeletal structures made of the same materials local Hawaiian manufacturers use to make surfboards. “We’re trying to do as little green screen and as little CG as possible.” (Fans may recognize the Bone Yard as the setting that played host to the Gallimimus stampede in the original Jurassic Park.)
5. The Vietnam War Is an Influence
While brainstorming ideas for an original story, Vogt-Roberts found his mind drifting through the purple haze of a chaotic episode in history: The Vietnam War.
Said the director, “I started thinking about [how to make this Kong different]. I started talking about the ‘70s—choppers and napalm—and everything that is Apocalypse Now and Platoon and those movies mixed with King Kong.”
One of the most striking pieces of concept art we see during our visit perfectly captures this potential genre movie mash-up: In it, King Kong swats away at a fleet of approaching helicopters against the backdrop of a setting orange sun. Illustrated by renowned concept artist Mark “Crash” McCreery, whose credits include the Jurassic series, the panel reinforces the idea of an Apocalypse Now-meets-Kong aesthetic.
6. How the Island Is Discovered
In Kong, the fictional discovery of Skull Island via NASA’s 1972 satellite mapping program Landsat serves as the movie’s story engine. “During this mapping, they discover a previously unchartered island that’s incredibly difficult to reach and difficult to ascertain its existence because of storm systems and weather abnormalities and all of that, “ Garcia said. “[And] a team of people comes together to go and survey the island.”
Although he won’t fully divulge individual character motives, Garcia assures us that they all share a common goal once they land on Skull Island: staying alive. “Essentially, [it] becomes a survival gauntlet.”
7. The Team
In his first heroic leading-man role, Tom Hiddleston said his character, British SAS Captain James Conrad, “Makes good choices that are heroic in terms of trying to help the rest of the crew who are less equipped in their skill set and trying to save them and keep them alive but without any arrogant, destructive attitude toward Kong himself.”
Brie Larson is Weaver, the team’s photojournalist and lone female, though she’s no shrinking violet like past Kong actresses. “You see at the beginning of the movie that she’s very capable of taking control of a situation and creating boundaries,” said Larson. “And it really ends quite quickly – any sense of belittling [from the others].”
Hoary Vietnam vet Colonel Packard, played by Samuel L. Jackson, has a different view of the monstrous ape. “He doesn’t [hate him] until he encounters him and [the hate] happens because of what happens to the people that he’s with. It’s a war experience: when you have an enemy, you fight the enemy. And when they get here, the enemy is presented.”
8 How It Sets Up Kong vs. Godzilla
In building the world of Skull Island, Garcia said the studio was careful to make sure they didn’t “conflict or directly negate anything that’s in [Godzilla]” in order to set up the eventual showdown between this new Kong and Godzilla in 2020. “They’re in the same timeline, essentially,” he added. For now, the primary focus is to establish the beast in its own right.
When asked how they plan to size up the 80-foot Kong to take on the 350-foot Godzilla, Garcia said cryptically, “He’s still not Godzilla-sized but remember, this film is set in the 1970s and Godzilla is set in 2000, so there’s a lot time to go before he’d be ready to face off.”
And, rest assured, the eventual on-screen matchup will not bear any resemblance to 1962’s shoddy King Kong vs. Godzilla. “The idea is to not remake that movie,” said Garcia. But once he and his team at Legendary have firmly established Kong and Godzilla, “it should feel right for them to come together, so hopefully we’ll put that off.”
Kong: Skull Island opens in theaters everywhere March 10.
