Skull Island Director Opts Out Of Godzilla vs. Kong Return

Warner Brothers are clearly onto a winner with their ever expanding MonsterVerse franchise. This year's title Kong: Skull Island took home a terrific haul of $559m from the global box office and with 2014's Godzilla paving the way for the two giants to lock horns, the crossover Godzilla vs. Kong will hit the big screen on May 29, 2020.

While Michael Dougherty will helm the 2019 sequel Godzilla: King of Monsters, the slot has been wide open for one of the pair to direct the showdown piece. Speaking about the project, Skull Island's Jordan Vogt-Roberts has stepped aside from any talk of a return to leave the position vacant.

Director: WB Let Me Make Weird Monster Movie

Wanting to thank the studio for taking a gamble on his on vision for the movie, Vogt-Roberts is of the opinion that he cannot really top what he has accomplished. Kong: Skull Island not only did well in box office numbers, but maintains a 77% Fresh rating for Rotten Tomatoes to boot.

"I think I'm done with giant monsters for a little bit," he admitted. "Look, I'm really proud of this world, and I'm super proud of, I think in general, and this is out there too, the response being 'Why do we need a new Kong movie?' and that was my response. I'm really proud of how weird this movie is and how much people embraced that stuff and actually called out how strange the movie is, and I wanted it to have a voice. I'm so proud of what we did and how I think it is very non-traditional blockbuster in 2017. I'm so proud of what Legendary and Warner Brothers and those guys allowed me to do and the collaboration we had, but I definitely don't think I got (Godzilla vs. Kong) in me. You never say never, I'm so proud of the Kong we made and the vibe of him and the energy of him and the vibe of the creatures on the island and everything, but yeah it would be tough for me right now."

Studio Gives JVR Room For Standalone Material

Kong: Skull Island

Having to juggle the duties of setting up storylines beyond his involvement, the director praised Warner Brothers for keeping that crossover material to a minimum.

"I was very loud, and probably very annoying, about saying, halfway through these (shared universe) movies, there's a 15-minute departure, trying to set up a movie that comes out in four years. It's just such a bummer to me. I was very loud about saying, this is not just about this franchise and this universe, we're playing with King Kong. King Kong is film history. There are a bunch of people who will show up to this movie that have no interest in Godzilla vs. Kong, have never seen Godzilla, and Kong is film history. Yeah, there is a ton of stuff in the movie that sets up the worlds and merges them, but I am proud and very thankful to the studios that they let us try to make something as self-contained as possible."

Source: Screen Junkies News

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