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The Monsterverse (also stylized as MonsterVerse) is an American multimedia franchise and shared universe featuring Godzilla, King Kong, and other characters owned and created by Toho. The franchise consists of five films and two television series that have been produced by Legendary Pictures, with Warner Bros. Pictures co-financing and distributing the films and the TV series being released for streaming on Netflix and Apple TV+.
The franchise has received a generally positive critical reception and has grossed $2.525 billion worldwide at the box office.
Legendary confirmed at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con that it had acquired the licensing rights to Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah from Toho and revealed concept footage with the closing title cards reading "Conflict: inevitable. Let them fight". In September 2015, Legendary announced that the film Kong: Skull Island would not be developed with Universal Pictures. Instead, it would be developed with Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and Kong would appear in a film together.
In October 2015, Legendary announced plans to unite Godzilla and Kong in a film titled Godzilla vs. Kong, set for a 2020 release date. Legendary planned to create a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" (the secret government agency which debuted in 2014's Godzilla) and that "brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other Kaiju, both classic and new". Later in October, it was announced that Kong: Skull Island would have references to Monarch.
In May 2016, Warner Bros. announced that Godzilla vs. Kong would be released on May 29, 2020, later pushed back to May 21, 2021, and that Godzilla: King of the Monsters would be pushed back from its original June 8, 2018 release date to March 22, 2019, however the film was later pushed back again to May 31, 2019. In October 2016, Legendary announced that Godzilla: King of the Monsters would be filmed at its parent company Wanda's Oriental Movie Metropolis facility in Qingdao, China, along with . That same month, it was revealed that Legendary was planning a writers room to create their Godzilla–Kong cinematic universe, with Alex Garcia overseeing the project for Legendary.
In January 2017, Thomas Tull, founder of Legendary, resigned from the company but would remain as producer for the Godzilla–Kong series, which was revealed as the "Monsterverse". In March 2017, Legendary assembled a writers room led by Terry Rossio to develop the story for Godzilla vs. Kong.
Legendary's license to Godzilla expired in 2020, however it has since been renewed, as Toho announced in July 2022 that Godzilla would be featured in a sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong. In January 2022, Legendary announced plans for a live-action TV series centered on Godzilla and other Titans.
Per the contract between Toho and Legendary, the former is contractually prohibited from releasing Toho-produced Godzilla films in the same year that Legendary would release their own Godzilla films. The contract, however, does not extend to television; in 2021, Toho released the anime TV series Godzilla Singular Point a few weeks after Legendary released Godzilla vs. Kong, and in 2023, Toho released the film Godzilla Minus One in the same month that Legendary's was released.
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In 2004, director Yoshimitsu Banno acquired permission from Toho to produce a short IMAX Godzilla film which was in development for several years until the project was eventually turned over to Legendary Pictures. In March 2010, Legendary announced to have acquired the rights to Godzilla for a feature film reboot. In January 2011, Gareth Edwards was announced as the director for the film. The film was co-produced with Warner Bros. Pictures with filming completed in 2013 in Canada and the United States for release in 2014. Godzilla was released on May 16, 2014, to positive reviews, and was a box office success, grossing $529 million worldwide against a budget of $160 million.
In July 2014 at San Diego Comic-Con, Legendary announced a King Kong origin story, initially titled Skull Island, with a release date of November 4, 2016, and Universal Pictures distributing. In September 2014, Jordan Vogt-Roberts was announced as the film's director. In September 2015, Legendary moved development of the film from Universal Pictures to Warner Bros. to create an expanded cinematic universe. Principal photography began on October 19, 2015, in Hawaii and Vietnam. Kong: Skull Island was released on March 10, 2017, to positive reviews, and was a box office success, grossing $566 million worldwide against a budget of $185 million. The film received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 90th Academy Awards.
Prior to announcing a shared cinematic universe between Godzilla and Kong, Legendary originally intended to produce a Godzilla trilogy, with Gareth Edwards attached to direct all films. However, Edwards left the sequel in May 2016 to work on smaller scale projects. In January 2017, Michael Dougherty was announced as the director and co-writer for the film. Principal photography began in June 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia and wrapped in September 2017. The film was released on May 31, 2019, to mixed reviews, and was a box office disappointment, grossing $387 million worldwide against a budget between $170–200 million.
The project was announced in October 2015 when Legendary announced plans for a shared cinematic universe between Godzilla and King Kong. The film's writers room was assembled in March 2017 and Adam Wingard was announced as the director in May 2017. Principal photography began in November 2018 in Hawaii and Australia and concluded in April 2019. After being delayed from a November 2020 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was theatrically released internationally on March 24, 2021, and was released in the United States on March 31, 2021, where it was released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. The film received generally positive reviews and was a box office success, breaking pandemic records and grossing $470 million. It was also a streaming hit, becoming the most successful launch item in HBO Max's history until it was overtaken by Mortal Kombat.
Following the box office and streaming success of Godzilla vs. Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic, Legendary announced a sequel in March 2022 and that filming would commence later in the year in Gold Coast, Queensland and other locations in South East Queensland. In May 2022, it was announced that Wingard would return to direct and that Dan Stevens had been cast as the lead. Wingard and Stevens had previously worked together on The Guest. The film was theatrically released internationally on March 27, 2024, and in the United States on March 29, 2024.
On May 10, 2024, Legendary announced that a follow-up to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has entered development and would be written by David Callaham, who wrote the early drafts to Godzilla (2014) The following week, Legendary announced that Wingard would not return to direct due to scheduling conflicts, but had expressed interest in having Wingard return. In June 2024, Legendary announced Grant Sputore (director of I Am Mother) as the new director and that the film would be released on March 26, 2027. Pre-production began in January 2025, with performers being cast such as Kaitlyn Dever, Jack O'Connell, Delroy Lindo, Dan Stevens (reprises his role from the previous film), Matthew Modine, Alycia Debnam-Carey, and Sam Neill.
In February 2021, Wingard stated, "I know where we could go potentially with future films." However, he noted that the Monsterverse was created "to a certain degree" to lead towards Godzilla vs. Kong. Wingard added that the Monsterverse is at a "crossroads", stating, "It’s really at the point where audiences have to kind of step forward and vote for more of these things. If this movie is a success obviously they will continue forward."
In April 2024, Legendary announced that under their new contract with Apple TV+ they will proceed with a second season of , as well as multiple spin-off series. The following month, Legendary announced that development has commenced on a sequel to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, with Grant Sputore directing and slated for March 26, 2027. In October 2024, it was announced that a sequel to the cross-over comic series Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong would be released in 2025. In March 2025, Legendary Comics announced a partnership with Titan Comics to expand Skull Island into a comic series titled Return to Skull Island. The first issues of Return to Skull Island and Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 are set to be released on June 4, 2025.
In October 2023, Duffield stated that the script for the second season had been completed; while creatives were waiting for an official season two renewal from Netflix.
In April 2024, the series was renewed for a second season. Photos on social media verified that principal photography on the second season began in July 2024.
| colspan="5" | Jack O'Connell | colspan="2" |
| colspan="5" | Delroy Lindo | colspan="2" |
| colspan="5" | Matthew Modine | colspan="2" |
| colspan="5" | Alycia Debnam-Carey | colspan="2" |
| colspan="5" | Sam Neill | colspan="2" |
For Godzilla (2014), Alexandre Desplat was announced as the film's composer in August 2013. Director Gareth Edwards chose Desplat after creating a music playlist, stating, "I dragged and dropped all my favorite soundtracks, and the person who got high score was Alexandre Desplat." Desplat accepted the job because he was impressed with Edwards' directorial debut Monsters (2010) and had never composed a monster film, adding that he always attempted to accept disparate films. Desplat had organized a large orchestra that he described as "stupidly big, as big as Godzilla". He explained that the orchestra had to be big in order to avoid filling gaps in the score with electronics. Desplat had described his score as "non-stop fortissimo, with lots of brass, Japanese drums, and electric violin". He echoed the film's Japanese origins and influence by applying a shakuhachi bamboo flute and taiko drums throughout the score. While the themes by Akira Ifukube, composer of various Godzilla films, were not used for the film, Edwards likened Desplat's score as "very much in the same tone of Akira". However, Desplat paid homage to Ifukube during the track "Godzilla!" by flaring the brass to reflect sounds similar to Ifukube's themes.
For (2017), Henry Jackman blended 1970s Psychedelic rock into the score, which was considered to be a combination of mixing Electronic music sounds with symphony orchestra. Jackman stated that "The great thing about a monster movie is that it opens the door to use the symphony orchestra in its most sumptuous way. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts was happy to celebrate the gravity and history that comes with a full orchestra, but we also explored less traditional elements. That's a field day for a composer". Vogt-Roberts also used rock music from the Vietnam-era and hits from the 70s, stating, "this provides a striking dichotomy, sets the tone and gives us great moments of fun".
For (2019), it was announced during Comic-Con 2018 that Bear McCreary would compose the score and utilize Ifukube's themes and Yūji Koseki's Mothra theme. He chose to adapt Ifukube and Koseki's themes to form a "connection between Ifukube’s uniquely brilliant style and the aesthetics of modern blockbusters". For the film's soundtrack, McCreary produced a cover of Blue Öyster Cult's "Godzilla", that featured Serj Tankian on vocals, as well as Brendon Small, Gene Hoglan, and other members of Dethklok contributing to the cover. McCreary described the cover as "the most audacious piece of music" he had produced in his career.
For Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), Tom Holkenborg was announced as the film's composer in June 2020. During a meeting in 2018, Holkenborg admitted to director Adam Wingard to being a Godzilla fan and had composed a Godzilla theme recreationally. Wingard chose not to recycle Ifukube's theme, feeling it was "insincere" since he associated them with Toho's Godzilla. Instead, Wingard wanted to use new themes that embraced the Monsterverse's Godzilla while honoring its influences. Holkenborg requested a bass drum roughly ten feet in diameter, but the builder was only able to scale it down to eight feet. He wanted to create a Godzilla theme that "lived and breathed" the history behind monster themes and that was slow and sluggish to reflect Godzilla. Lower brass and big Timpani were used to underscore Godzilla's power. For Kong's theme, Holkenborg used an "organic approach". The sound was interwoven with electronic and sound design elements. The score began with melody and "got colors and orchestration and different types of electronic instruments with it".
For (2024), Tom Holkenborg was announced to return to compose the film's score in August 2022, after previously doing so for Godzilla vs. Kong. In December 2023, it was announced that Antonio Di Iorio would co-compose the score with Holkenborg. A single was released on March 13, 2024, by WaterTower Music, titled “Main Title Theme.” The full soundtrack album was released on March 22, 2024.
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