Kong: Skull Island set in 1971 Detroit, says J.K. Simmons

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Even though we’ll be waiting a long, long time before we see the colossal ape—King Kong—on the big screen again, there has been no shortage of details regarding the Jordan Vogt-Roberts-directed KONG: SKULL ISLAND. Our latest update on the film comes to us from star J.K. Simmons, who talked to MTV about Vogt-Roberts’ vision and why he wanted to be a part of the franchise.

“When it first came to my attention, ‘There’s interest in you for a new King Kong,’ I thought, ‘Okay, why?’…But I met with Jordon Vogt-Roberts who’s going to be directing it, and John Gatins who’s gonna be writing, and Tom [Hiddleston]—Jordan was just so passionate and so smart and there’s such an interesting new take on it, and it’s set in Detroit in 1971 which is where I grew up, and we’re gonna shoot in Detroit during baseball season and I’ll be able to got to Tigers games, so there’s a lot to like about this movie.”

KONG: SKULL ISLAND promises to fully immerse audiences in the mysterious and dangerous home of the iconic ape as a team of explorers ventures deep inside the treacherous, primordial island.

Jordan Vogt-Roberts directs from a script written by John Gatins and Max Borenstein, Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni will produce with Alex Garcia, and Eric McLeod is executive producing. Universal Pictures will release the King Kong-inspired film in 3D and IMAX 3D on March 10, 2017.