Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire Release Date, Cast, Plot, Trailer And More Details

When it comes to monster movies, audiences know the likes of 1954's "Godzilla" and 1933's "King Kong" constitute the gold standard for the kaiju genre. But the MonsterVerse has already delivered its own stunning versions of the classic beasts, introducing them with 2014's "Godzilla" and 2017's "Kong: Skull Island." The shared universe approach is held together by a shadowy watchdog organization called Monarch — think Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D., but with massive monsters — as they keep an eye on the various creatures across the world, as well as trying to stop them from decimating the planet.

But as with any good cinematic universe, the two behemoths were destined for a crossover of epic proportions, and "Godzilla vs. Kong" eventually made its way to some theaters, as well as the Max streaming service, back in March 2021. It provided a much-needed dose of blockbuster escapism in the middle of the pandemic, and it made an impressive $468 million. Director Adam Wingard clearly managed to win MonsterVerse fans over too since the film currently has a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. All this was enough to persuade Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. to give the green light for another installment in the series, "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," and here's everything we know about the next installment in the MonsterVerse franchise.

The fifth entry in the ever-growing MonsterVerse, "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" was originally meant to hit theaters on March 15, 2024. However, due to the combined forces of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Warner Bros. decided to reshuffle their release schedule. Their biggest move was kicking "Dune: Part Two" from 2023 to March 2024, and as a result, "Godzilla x Kong" was pushed back to April 12 where it stayed forever ... right?

Well, not so fast. The monster flick sat on its April 12 release date for a bit before it was finally bumped up to March 29, 2024. The creature feature will come in the wake of "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," so March will be a great month for fans of genre fare. One weekend, you'll get some ghosts. The next, you'll get some Godzilla. Sounds like a fun time at the theaters to us. 

The makers of "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," as well as its distributors at Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros, have yet to divulge too many details about the plot of the highly anticipated sequel. However, in April 2023 — nearly a year before the film's scheduled release — the studios did publish a super short synopsis teasing the former monstrous foes will team up to wage war against a force bigger than the both of them put together, "a world-ending threat so terrifying that neither could survive alone." 

This new enemy goes by the name of the Skar King — an evil orangutan-like kaiju who plans on wiping out as many humans and as many monsters as possible. Speaking with Total Film (via GamesRadar), director Adam Wingard explained that the Skar King "represents an upscaled version of the worst parts of humanity, just as Kong represents some of the best parts of humanity." There are also rumors the Skar King will be accompanied by a four-legged reptile named Shimu, who will make life pretty complicated for our buddies Godzilla and King Kong. In addition to the upcoming showdown, the official press release for the film tells us that the sequel will explore the backstories of both titular Titans and answer some outstanding questions about their origins, motivations, and the mysterious Skull Island.

"Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" is a direct follow-up to 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong," and as such, it will similarly depict the ongoing monster-tracking exploits of the Monarch organization. Several main characters from that side of things will return for the sequel, as will the actors who portrayed them. Rebecca Hall will once more play Dr. Ilene Andrews, Monarch's anthropological linguist. Brian Tyree Henry will return as cybernetics technician and whistleblower Bernie Hayes, and Kalyee Hottle is set to come back as Jia, Ilene's adopted daughter who possesses a special and profound connection with Kong.

New cast members to the MonsterVerse and the Godzilla-meets-Kong world include Fala Chen ("Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings"), Alex Ferns ("The Batman"), and Rachel House ("Thor: Ragnarok"). We'll also see Dan Stevens, who previously worked with "Godzilla vs. Kong" director Adam Wingard on the cult classic horror movie "The Guest," but he's best known for his work on "Legion," "Downton Abbey," and the live-action "Beauty and the Beast." Here, he'll be playing a Titan specialist by the name of Trapper.

Horror director Adam Wingard — previously best known for works like the "V/H/S" films, the 2016 "Blair Witch" reboot," and "You're Next" — was given the biggest budget of his career and placed in charge of 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong," the fourth entry in Legendary Pictures' growing MonsterVerse franchise. The film was incredibly successful, earning nearly half a billion dollars at the box office and impressing critics. 

In fact, it was so successful that executives hired Wingard to execute the next entry in the saga, "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire." As pandemic-era restrictions limited the first film's reach, the sequel — made with Wingard's uninterrupted vision — could very well outperform its predecessor. Wingard will direct from a script composed by quite the impressive team. The director's frequent collaborator Simon Barrett will participate, as will Jeremy Slater (of the Disney+ series "Moon Knight") and Terry Rossio (who's worked on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" blockbuster series).

Warner Bros. unveiled a brief teaser for "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" in April 2023, in which a scary-looking ape sits atop a stone throne as the camera pans out to reveal piles of remains of other monsters. The teaser ends with a shot of two massive skulls — which eerily resemble Godzilla and King Kong.

At Brazil's 2023 CCXP event, Warner Bros. screened the first official trailer for "Godzilla x Kong." The package kicks off with a machine detecting extreme seismic activity while helicopters and flying reptiles dart through the clouds of Hollow Earth. "For most of human civilization, we believed that life could only exist on the surface of our planet," Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) says about the kaiju world beneath our feet. "What else were we wrong about?" 

Well, they probably didn't expect to find a bloody handprint running the entire length of a gigantic, ancient wall. "That's not Kong," Dr. Andrews declares before the trailer cuts to footage of a society of Kongs reeling from the destruction and death caused by this heretofore unseen menace. When this new simian threat makes its way to the surface world, Kong will have to stop his rival with the aid of an enemy turned ally: Godzilla — who emerges from an ice cap, spine aglow with electric fire. Kong is also seen sporting some sort of mechanical glove that will no doubt even the odds against the evil ape, and the trailer also gives us a pretty cute glimpse of a baby Kong, as well as an epic shot of Godzilla and Kong sprinting into action together.