Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a 2024 American monster film directed by Adam Wingard. Produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and the fifth film in the MonsterVerse franchise. It also serves as the 38th film in the Godzilla franchise and the 13th in the King Kong franchise. The film stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen. Hall, Henry, and Hottle reprise their roles from the previous film. In this installment, Kong encounters more of his species in the Hollow Earth and must team up with Godzilla to stop the tyrannical Skar King and the powerful, frost-breathing Shimo from invading the Earth’s surface.

Following the success of Godzilla vs. Kong at the box office and on streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic, Legendary announced a sequel in March 2022, with filming starting later that year. In May 2022, it was confirmed that Wingard would return as director and that Stevens had been cast in a lead role. Filming took place from July to November 2022 on the Gold Coast, Australia.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on March 25, 2024, and was released in the United States on March 29. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who often compared it unfavorably to Godzilla Minus One. Despite this, it grossed $570 million worldwide on a $135–150 million budget, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 2024 and the highest-grossing film in both the MonsterVerse and the Godzilla and King Kong franchises. A sequel is planned for release on March 26, 2027.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Movie Trailer

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Movie Storyline

Three years after defeating Mechagodzilla,[b] Kong has established a new territory in the Hollow Earth and is searching for more of his kind. Meanwhile, on Earth’s surface, Godzilla continues to maintain order among humanity and the Titans, killing Titanus Scylla in Rome before resting in the Colosseum.

A Monarch observation outpost in the Hollow Earth detects an unidentified signal. On the surface, the signal causes Jia, the last known Iwi tribe survivor from Skull Island, to experience hallucinations and visions, worrying her adoptive mother and Kong expert, Dr. Ilene Andrews. Sensing the signal, Godzilla leaves Rome, attacks a nuclear plant in France to absorb radiation, and heads to the lair of Titan Tiamat in the Arctic. Monarch believes Godzilla is preparing for an impending threat.

When a sinkhole opens near his home, Kong discovers an uncharted realm where a tribe of his species has survived, including a juvenile named Suko. After a brief confrontation, Kong convinces Suko to lead him to the tribe’s lair, and they bond on their journey. The tribe’s tyrannical leader, Skar King, battles Kong with the help of an ancient ice-powered Titan, Shimo, whom he controls with a crystal that causes her pain. Shimo’s ice breath injures Kong’s right arm, but with Suko’s help, Kong escapes after losing his axe.

Andrews, Jia, Titan veterinarian Trapper, and conspiracy podcaster Bernie Hayes travel to Hollow Earth to locate the signal’s source. They find the Monarch outpost destroyed. Following the signal, they discover a temple housing a surviving Iwi tribe that communicates telepathically and lives beneath portals to the surface. Inspecting the temple, they realize the signal was a telepathic distress call sent by the Iwi.

Observing Jia socializing with the Iwi, Andrews confides in Trapper her fear that Jia might choose to stay with her people. Inside the temple, Andrews uncovers hieroglyphics depicting the past and future: Skar King once attempted to conquer the surface world, forced Shimo to trigger an ice age, and waged war against Godzilla’s species. Godzilla defeated him by trapping him and his tribe deep within the Hollow Earth. The prophecy also indicates that Jia would be key to reawakening Mothra. Sensing Jia, Kong locates the temple and is fitted with a prototype exoskeletal glove by Trapper to heal his frostbitten limb. Unbeknownst to them, another ape informs Skar King that the protective barrier to the surface portals has been opened. Jia successfully awakens the reborn Mothra.

Meanwhile, Godzilla kills Tiamat and absorbs cosmic radiation from her lair, turning his dorsal plates magenta. Hoping to lure Godzilla to Hollow Earth for assistance, Kong surfaces in Cairo and calls out to him. Despite Kong’s attempts to communicate, an enraged Godzilla attacks, leading to a brief fight until Mothra intervenes. Godzilla, Kong, and Mothra return to the Hollow Earth to battle Skar King and Shimo. During the fight, Kong loses his axe. Skar King and Shimo use a portal to escape to the surface, forcing Godzilla and Kong to chase them to Rio de Janeiro, where Shimo induces a second ice age at Skar King’s command. The factions are evenly matched until Suko arrives with Kong’s axe and destroys the crystal controlling Shimo. Shimo switches sides, freezes Skar King, and Kong shatters him into pieces.

After undoing the ice age with his atomic breath, Godzilla returns to rest in the Colosseum. Jia decides to stay with Andrews. Mothra restores the protective barrier of the Iwi’s home and the portals. Kong returns with Shimo and Suko to Hollow Earth, becoming the ape tribe’s new leader.

Box Office

• Budget
  • $135,000,000 (estimated)
• Gross US & Canada
  • $196,350,016
• Opening weekend US & Canada
  • $80,006,561
  • Mar 31, 2024
• Gross worldwide
  • $567,650,016

Technical Space

• Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
• Color
  • Color
• Sound mix
  • IMAX 6-Track
  • Dolby Digital
  • Dolby Surround 7.1
  • Dolby Atmos
• Aspect ratio
  • 2.39 : 1

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