Godzilla vs. Kong release date moves forward a week

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Legendary Entertainment has taken on the monumental task of building an all-new MonsterVerse around a pair of cinema icons, Godzilla and King Kong. Starting with 2014's GODZILLA, the company's plan has been to follow that up with a Kong film (this year's KONG: SKULL ISLAND) and a Godzilla sequel (GODZILLA: KING OF MONSTERS, which is scheduled to be released on March 22, 2019), building up to the monster mash crossover film GODZILLA VS. KONG in 2020. This is a rematch decades in the making, as the pair previously fought in 1962's KING KONG VS. GODZILLA.

GODZILLA VS. KONG had been set to come out on May 29, 2020, but I've always had the concern that it's going to be delayed. 2020 is only one year after the Godzilla sequel, and the movies before it have had two or three years between them. Then you have to take into account that they haven't even cracked the story for the mash-up yet. Back in March, Legendary formed a writers room for the project, assembling seven screenwriters – Terry Rossio, Patrick McKay, J.D. Payne, Lindsey Beer, Cat Vasko, T.S. Nowlin, and J. Michael Straczynski – to brainstorm ideas.

When I heard the news that GODZILLA VS. KONG had been given a new release date, I feared the worst. Then I saw that it hasn't been delayed. It has actually been moved forward.

Warner Bros. Pictures has shuffled the release dates of their upcoming films, and while doing so has moved GODZILLA VS. KONG ahead one week, giving it a Memorial Day weekend release on May 22, 2020.

I feel for the fans of Scooby Doo, as the animated film SCOOBY has been given the sort of delay I feared GODZILLA VS. KONG would get, being pushed back from September 21, 2018 to May 15, 2020, but I'm also very glad that the MonsterVerse is staying on track.

Here's hoping GODZILLA VS. KONG will actually be ready for May 22, 2020, and that those seven writers come up with ideas for more MonsterVerse movies after they've figured out the big battle.