Adam Wingard, who directed the last two of Legendary’s MonsterVerse movies, Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), revealed why he decided not to return to direct the third Godzilla x Kong movie.
In a recent interview with SlashFilm, Wingard said he felt he had “hit a peak” after directing two $150 million-plus Godzilla movies. He felt the franchise “can’t get much bigger than this” for him as a filmmaker.
After reaching that career goal, Wingard wanted to explore “what’s next” for him. He wanted to step away from preexisting IP and focus on “Who am I?” as a filmmaker. Wingard wanted to make a film that “solidified who I was as a filmmaker.” His goal was to create a story that “solidified what my style was as a filmmaker.”
Wingard said, “Okay, if I’m going to step back out of this franchise world, which, I’ve hit a peak here — it’s like not only have I done one $150 million plus Godzilla movie, I’ve done two. I’ve made other stuff. I’ve explored things, gone around the world doing all this stuff. It can’t get much bigger than this. And now that I’ve hit that kind of goal for myself, what’s next?” And really, the next thing was I wanted to do a film that I think solidified who I was as a filmmaker. Taking away all the preexisting IP stuff, it’s like, “Who am I?” And it was almost like I felt like it’s been so long since I’ve done one of my movies that I don’t feel like … either people ever knew who I was, or they’ve kind of forgotten or whatever. I felt like I needed to do a story that solidified what my style was as a filmmaker, and this is it.
Wingard explained how working on Godzilla movies limited his creative freedom. He said that while filmmakers can take an interesting idea as far as possible, every creative decision has to consider what the studio will actually allow.
Wingard wanted to take certain ideas much further, but he had to plan with the understanding that the final result might be more limited than his original vision. He described this as a situation where his creative considerations were “very stifled” by studio limitations.
Despite those limitations, Wingard said he was “really, really proud” of the Godzilla movies and was not trying to criticize them.
Adam Wingard Was Already Setting Up the Godzilla x Kong Sequel
Wingard revealed that he had already been planning ideas for a potential Godzilla x Kong sequel, “even laying Easter eggs in the last movie.” He says that many of the titles of Bernie’s podcast in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire were written by him to hint at where he wanted to take the story in the sequel. “We were talking about the follow-up and I was even laying Easter eggs in the last movie.”
Legendary and Wingard had even entered negotiations for him to return, but Wingard wanted to make his R-rated film Onslaught first. Legendary couldn’t wait, forcing Wingard to make a “Sophie’s Choice” between spending the next few years making another Godzilla movie or finally pursuing the smaller, more personal project he had been putting off for a decade. He described it as “a difficult choice.”
The upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong sequel, Godzilla X Kong: Supernova, will be directed by Grant Sputore, with a screenplay by David Callaham and Michael Lloyd Green. It continues the story of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) and stands as the sixth MonsterVerse film, the 40th Godzilla movie, and the 14th King Kong installment.
The film stars Kaitlyn Dever, Dan Stevens as Trapper, Jack O’Connell, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Delroy Lindo as a Monarch boss, Matthew Modine as a general, Sam Neill, Josh Thomson as Ledon, Bronte Pearce as EDN Tech Gardner, and Sami Afuni as Lieutenant Payne.
The film is produced by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.
Godzilla x Kong: Supernova is scheduled to hit theaters in the United States on March 26, 2027, from Warner Bros. Pictures.
Preferred Source
Google Discover
Google News
