‘Kong: Skull Island’ Release Date, Cast, New Trailer, and Story with ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’

Jul 28, 2016 12:48 PM EDT

It has been over a decade since Peter Jackson brought King Kong to the big screen once again.  These days, the turnaround time for a reboot is getting shorter, so it seems appropriate that the giant ape will be back again.  Sure enough, next year will be the time when audiences will meet the King of the Apes again in Kong: Skull Island.  This is what is known about Kong: Skull Island with its new trailer, cast, story, and the big master monster plan for Godzilla vs. Kong.  

According to CNET, Comic-Con brought audiences the first trailer for Kong: Skull Island.  From what we have previously reported, the story will take place in the 1970s.  By now, you are probably familiar with the King Kong set up, and from the looks of the film's trailer, it follows it pretty closely. 

Generally, it happens that someone wants to bring all the characters to Skull Island, but this time, it doesn't look like there is a movie involved.  Instead, John Goodman will play a character named Randa who is some kind of government agent.  No doubt he has promised this crew that the trip to Skull Island will probably come off without a hitch. 

Yeah, the trip to Disneyland has just become a trip to Jurassic Park, and there is an excellent voiceover where the one and only Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Lieutenant Colonel Packard, says:  "you are going to tell me everything that I don't know, or I'm going to blow your head off".  Then, it is your typical Skull Island shtick of meeting giant bugs, possibly dinosaurs, and the big old ape himself. 

There are other celebrities in the mix like Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson, and it looks like they are the romantic couple in this film.  Both of these two have ties with the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hiddleston is best known for playing Loki in the Thor and Avengers movies, and Brie Larson will be playing Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel

Kong: Skull Island is part of a connected universe, which is a trend these days in films.  Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures have been planning this for a while, and it started with 2014's Godzilla.  Eventually, there will be Godzilla 2 to be released on March 22, 2019.  Then, the two monster titans will fight each other in the titanic Godzilla vs. Kong with a release date on May 29, 2020. 

Okay, so if this Kong (just Kong, sans King) takes place in the 1970s, and Godzilla takes place in modern times, then it is technically a prequel.  It is possible that no one makes it off Skull Island alive, which I've got no problem with, honestly.  This could be more of a horror story than an action film, and I've got no problem with that. 

You should be able to see Kong: Skull Island in theaters on March 10, 2017.