‘Kong: Skull Island’ New Name For Giant Ape Prequel

Originally it was called Skull Island, and the concept was simple enough: Tell the origin story of King Kong. Now, however, according to Deadline, the film has been given a clearer title: Kong: Skull Island. In addition to the name change, Legendary Pictures also moved the release date for the film back from November 4, 2016 to March 10, 2017.

Kong: Skull Island is set on the fictional home of King Kong — that being Skull Island — and will star Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers). Hiddleston’s character reportedly leads a group of explorers into the heart of Skull Island in what Legendary is calling a “new, distinct timeline” within the giant ape’s canon. The film will be directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts.

Kong: Skull Island — then, just known as Skull Island — was announced last summer at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con via a teaser trailer slapped together by Universal and Legendary. Screenrant stated that the teaser opened on a remote jungle island, and at first, many in the audience thought the clip was for the new Jurassic Park film, Jurassic World.

“The film’s first teaser trailer began playing what could have been read as a ‘Jurassic World’ teaser (and certainly was by many in attendance): a secluded tropical island home to swinging primates, and barely-visible beasts in the water itself. With narration describing an entity that was ‘improbable,’ and using passages from Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ describing a soul that had been driven mad by being alone in the wilderness, the trailer ended with a massive gorilla – King Kong himself – emerging from the trees with a roar, and a furious bout of chest-beating.”

King Kong is interesting in that he was created solely for the movies. The giant ape from Skull Island (supposedly located somewhere in the South Pacific) came solely from the mind of filmmaker Merian C. Cooper. Kong wasn’t based on any prior books or legends, it was just considered an interesting idea — a “beauty and the beast” meets “fish out of water” tale — that might be fun to make. The idea of bringing a 50-foot gorilla from a mysterious tropic island and having it escape in New York City, combined with the stunning visual stop-motion effects created by Willis O’Brien and the wonderful performance by Fay Wray, was a hit in 1933.

Several sequels and remakes have been made throughout the decades since King Kong’s first appearance. The latest remake by Peter Jackson was met with mixed reviews in 2005. It should be noted that Legendary brought Godzilla back from the dead last summer when it dove back into that franchise, and perhaps it can do the same with Kong: Skull Island.

And who knows, maybe there will be a brand new Godzilla versus King Kong film on the horizon.

[Image via King Kong Wikia]