King Kong vs. Godzilla (キングコング対ゴジラ Kingu Kongu tai Gojira) is a 1962 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the third film in the Godzilla franchise, and the first of two Toho-produced films featuring King Kong. It is also the first time that both characters appeared on film in color and widescreen.[3] The film stars Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, Yū Fujiki, Ichirō Arishima, and Mie Hama, with Shoichi Hirose as King Kong and Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla. In the film, as Godzilla is reawakened by an American submarine, a pharmaceutical company captures King Kong for promotional uses, which culminates into a battle on Mount Fuji.

The project began with a story outline that featured King Kong battling a giant Frankenstein monster, written by Willis H. O'Brien. O'Brien handed the outline to producer John Beck for development. Behind O'Brien's back, Beck would eventually take the project to Toho to produce the film, replacing the Frankenstein monster with Godzilla and scrapping O'Brien's story.[4]

King Kong vs. Godzilla was released theatrically in Japan on August 11, 1962. The film remains the most attended Godzilla film in the franchise to date,[5] and it is credited with encouraging Toho to prioritize the continuation of the Godzilla series after seven years of dormancy. A heavily edited version was released by Universal International Inc. theatrically in the United States on June 26, 1963.

Godzilla is a 2014 American monster film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Max Borenstein, from a story by David Callaham. The film is a reboot of Toho's Godzilla franchise and is the 30th film in the Godzilla franchise, the first film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, and the second Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio.[a] The film stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston. In the film, a soldier attempts to return to his family while caught in the crossfire of an ancient rivalry between Godzilla and two monsters known as MUTOs.

The project began as an IMAX short film in 2004 but was transferred to Legendary in 2009 to be redeveloped as a feature film. The film was officially announced in March 2010 and Edwards was announced as the director in January 2011. Principal photography began in March 2013 in the United States and Canada and ended in July 2013.

Godzilla was theatrically released on May 16, 2014 to positive reviews, with criticisms aimed at Godzilla's screen-time and underdeveloped characters, but praise towards the film's direction, visual effects, musical score, cinematography, respect to the source material, and Cranston's performance.[9] The film was a box office success, grossing $529.1 million worldwide. The film's success prompted Toho to produce a reboot of their own and Legendary to proceed with sequels, with Godzilla: King of the Monsters released on May 31, 2019 and Godzilla vs. Kong to be released in 2020.

The MonsterVerse[1] is an American multimedia franchise and shared fictional universe featuring Godzilla, King Kong, and other Toho monster characters. The franchise is produced by Legendary Pictures and co-produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The first installment was Godzilla (2014), a reboot[2] of the Godzilla franchise, which was followed by Kong: Skull Island (2017), a reboot[3] of the King Kong franchise, Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). The franchise received a generally positive reception and has been commercially successful with a combined gross of $1.950 billion worldwide.

The franchise will continue with two television series and an untitled Godzilla vs. Kong sequel concurrently in development.

Development

Writer Max Borenstein stated that the MonsterVerse did not begin as a franchise but as an American reboot of Godzilla. Borenstein credits Legendary Entertainment's founder and then CEO Thomas Tull as the one responsible for the MonsterVerse, having acquired the rights to Godzilla and negotiated the complicated rights to King Kong. Tull had offered Borenstein the opportunity to write the first draft for Kong: Skull Island, with the goal to establish Kong in the same universe as Legendary's Godzilla film. Tull's vision was for the films to one day lead to Godzilla vs. Kong.

Legendary confirmed at the July 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International that it had acquired the licensing rights to Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah from Toho and revealed concept footage with the closing title cards reading "Conflict: inevitable. Let them fight". In September 2015, Legendary announced that the film Kong: Skull Island would not be developed with Universal Studios. Instead, it would be developed with Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and Kong would appear in a film together.

In October 2015, Legendary announced plans to unite Godzilla and Kong in a film titled Godzilla vs. Kong, set for a 2020 release date. Legendary planned to create a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" (the secret government agency which debuted in 2014's Godzilla) and that "brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new". Later in October, it was announced that Kong: Skull Island would have references to Monarch.

In May 2016, Warner Bros. announced that Godzilla vs. Kong would be released on May 29, 2020, later pushed back to May 21, 2021, and that Godzilla: King of the Monsters would be pushed back from its original June 8, 2018 release date to March 22, 2019,[10] however, the film was later pushed back again to May 31, 2019. In October 2016, Legendary announced that Godzilla: King of the Monsters would be filmed at its parent company Wanda's Oriental Movie Metropolis facility in Qingdao, China, along with Pacific Rim: Uprising.That same month, it was revealed that Legendary was planning a writers room to create their Godzilla–Kong cinematic universe, with Alex Garcia overseeing the project for Legendary.

In early January 2017, Thomas Tull, founder of Legendary, resigned from the company but would remain as producer for the Godzilla–Kong series, which was revealed as the "MonsterVerse". In March 2017, Legendary assembled a writers room led by Terry Rossio to develop the story for Godzilla vs. Kong.

Legendary's license to Godzilla expired in 2020.