Adam Wingard has long been one of luminaries of the modern horror scene, having helmed some of two of this century’s most striking and innovative shockers in You’re Next and The Guest. Last year, however, the young director showed that perhaps his enthusiasm for horror has waned with the colossally disappointing Blair Witch. He pivoted somewhat by shepherding Netflix’s forthcoming Death Note adaptation, but his new project is rocketing him into an entirely new stratosphere.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wingard will be helming Godzilla vs. Kong for Warner Bros. It will be the fourth film in the franchise that launched with 2014’s Godzilla reboot. The seeds for Godzilla vs. Kong were sown during the final moments of this year’s Kong: Skull Island, and a sequel to Godzilla, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, is currently in production.
Wingard will not be joined by his longtime writing partner, Simon Barrett, for the production. Instead, Terry Rossio, a co-writer on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, has been constructing the script in writer’s rooms with the likes of J.D. Payne (Star Trek Beyond), J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5), and more.
While not a horror movie, Kong: Skull Island was frequently horrific, so we’re curious to see the ways Wingard will be able to translate the intimacy and creeping dread of his previous films to a broader canvas.
Godzilla vs. Kong is due for release on May 22nd, 2020.
