You’re Next and Blair Witch director Adam Wingard has been hired to direct Godzilla vs. Kong according to The Hollywood Reporter, bringing his widely praised horror skills to the giant-monster mash-up movie.
The film, which pits famous “King of the Monsters” Godzilla against the giant ape King Kong, follows on both creatures’ solo introductions in 2014’s Godzilla (directed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story filmmaker Gareth Edwards) and this year’s Kong: Skull Island (directed by The Kings of Summer‘s Jordan Vogt-Roberts), respectively. Wingard reportedly finalized his deal to direct the project, although an official announcement by studios Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures has yet to be made.
Godzilla vs. Kong is currently scheduled to hit theaters May 22, 2020, and features a script penned by a writers room led by Terry Rossio, who’s credited as a writer on 1998’s Godzilla and also co-wrote all of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, among other projects. The writers room for Godzilla vs. Kong also includes acclaimed film, television, and comic book writer J. Michael Straczynski (World War Z, Babylon 5, Thor), as well as Star Trek Beyond co-writers Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, Jack Paglen (Transcendence), Lindsey Beer (The Kingkiller Chronicle), Cat Vasko (Queen of the Air), and T.S. Nowlin (Maze Runner, Pacific Rim: Uprising).
As for Wingard, the filmmaker is best known for his work in the horror-thriller genre, with critically praised films The Guest and You’re Next generating positive buzz early on in his career. He later directed Blair Witch, the 2016 sequel to The Blair Witch Project, and the upcoming live-action adaptation of the manga series Death Note for Netflix.
Although audiences will need to wait until 2020 for Godzilla vs. Kong, the film will be preceded by Godzilla sequel Godzilla: King of the Monsters on March 22, 2019. Directed by Trick r’ Treat and Krampus filmmaker Michael Dougherty, King of the Monsters stars Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring), and Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things). The film is expected to bring some of the other legendary monsters from Godzilla’s creature-filled rogues gallery into the studio’s cinematic universe, such as Mothra and Rodan.
