50 Fun Facts About Godzilla Vs. Kong

Who directed Godzilla vs. Kong?

He was announced in May 2017 and prepared by watching every Godzilla and King Kong film ever made.

Godzilla vs. Kong is which numbered film in Legendary's Monsterverse?

It follows Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).

At the start of the film, where is Kong being kept by Monarch?

The island has been struck by a perpetual storm, and Ilene Andrews fears it will eventually consume the whole place.

How does Jia, the young Iwi girl, communicate with Kong?

Kaylee Hottle, who plays her, is deaf herself, and Alexander Skarsgård learned sign language to communicate with her on set.

Which corporation is secretly building Mechagodzilla?

The film's working title during production was simply 'Apex'.

What does Bernie Hayes host on the side of his day job as an Apex technician?

Brian Tyree Henry likened Bernie to Anonymous, someone who can see the injustices but whom nobody listens to.

Which US city's Apex facility does Godzilla attack early in the film?

Bernie stumbles on a massive device emitting a beacon during the rampage, which sets Madison and Josh on the trail.

What does HEAV stand for in the film?

The craft are needed because of a strong reverse-gravitational effect that killed Nathan Lind's brother on an earlier expedition.

Through which continent is the entrance to the Titans' underground homeworld reached?

Kong is carried there by barge under US Navy escort, which is where Godzilla ambushes the convoy for round one.

Who is Ren, the telepathic pilot of Mechagodzilla?

Shun Oguri, making his Hollywood debut, said Ren followed in his father's footsteps but never felt heard by him.

Mechagodzilla's neural network is built from the severed head of which monster?

The consciousness left in the skull eventually possesses the mech, which kills Walter and electrocutes Ren.

How do Madison, Josh and Bernie get from Florida to Apex's headquarters?

They had only meant to sneak into the wrecked base and instead discovered a secret underground facility.

What is the glowing axe that Kong finds in his ancestors' throne room made from?

Godzilla later charges the axe with his atomic breath so Kong can destroy Mechagodzilla with it.

In which city does the final battle take place?

Wingard had pictured a 'synthwave-style futuristic city' backdrop before he had even read a script.

Which Titan is left standing when the one-on-one fight in Hong Kong ends?

Wingard insisted on a definitive victor while letting the loser keep his dignity, so the pair 'earn each other's respect'.

How does Nathan Lind revive the dying Kong?

Jia then convinces the revived Kong to go and help Godzilla against the mech.

What does Josh use to short-circuit Mechagodzilla's controls at the crucial moment?

Julian Dennison called Josh Madison's 'tech wingman' and 'the realist in the duo'.

Where does Kong end up ruling at the close of the film?

Monarch sets up an observation post there, which is where Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire picks up in 2024.

Who plays Dr. Nathan Lind?

He called the character a homage to 1980s heroes like Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone, 'not an alpha, bad-ass'.

Rebecca Hall described her character Ilene Andrews as 'the Jane Goodall of' whom?

It was Hall's first project after her pregnancy, an experience she called overwhelming but thrilling.

Which Stranger Things actress returns as Madison Russell?

She and Kyle Chandler are the only cast members carrying over from Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Which actress's King of the Monsters reprise was cut entirely from the finished film?

Jessica Henwick was also cut completely; Eiza González later said much of the original story changed in post-production.

Lance Reddick plays Guillerman, the director of Monarch. What happened to his role?

Wingard said a big boardroom scene setting up the mission was dropped because 'ultimately we didn't need that scene'.

Which screenwriter led the writers' room assembled by Legendary in March 2017?

He had co-written an early unproduced Godzilla script for TriStar in the 1990s, and said this was his first time running a writers' room.

What was the film's working title during principal photography?

Filming began on November 12, 2018, in Hawaii and Australia and had originally been slated for October 1.

Which historic battleship was used as a filming location in Hawaii?

The crew also shot at Manoa Falls and in Downtown Honolulu, and camped along the Kalanianaole Highway.

Most of the studio shooting took place at Village Roadshow Studios in which Australian city?

Filming there ran for an additional 26 weeks from January 2019, with only six or seven stages to rotate sets through.

Which of these setbacks did Wingard say hit the production during filming?

The camera operator also broke his foot on the third day, and cinematographer Ben Seresin needed hospital treatment for a spider bite.

Which three companies created the visual effects, dividing the work by location rather than by monster?

Splitting Godzilla and Kong between studios was rejected because both had to come from one team in shots where they fought.

Roughly how many complicated effects shots did Wingard say the film had?

The delay to a November 2020 release gave the effects teams more time to get them right.

Wingard said there was footage for a version of what length, though he refused a director's cut?

He said he had always intended the film to be two hours or under, and that 'for better or worse, this is my movie'.

Who composed the score?

Better known as Junkie XL, he had been writing Godzilla music for fun years before he was hired.

The composer asked for a bass drum about ten feet across. How wide was the one built?

Lower brass and huge timpani were used to make Godzilla's theme feel slow and sluggish, like the monster.

Which Hollies song plays over the credits scene?

The trailers, like earlier Legendary Godzilla trailers, used Ligeti's 'Requiem' followed by Chris Classic's 'Here We Go'.

Why did Wingard decide not to reuse Akira Ifukube's classic themes from the Japanese films?

He wanted themes unique to the Monsterverse Godzilla while paying homage to the influences.

Which Japanese band contributed the track 'Into the Deep' for the film's Japanese release?

The Japanese release was itself postponed indefinitely by Toho in April 2021 and finally opened on July 2, 2021.

On which streaming service was the film released in the US on the same day as cinemas?

It streamed there exclusively for a month and became the service's most successful launch title until Mortal Kombat overtook it.

Which streamer reportedly offered $200-250 million for the film before WarnerMedia blocked the deal?

Legendary, which had financed $120 million of the budget, was reportedly given no notice of the simultaneous-release plan and considered legal action.

Approximately how much did Godzilla vs. Kong gross worldwide?

That made it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2021, and Deadline estimated a net profit of $96.4 million.

Which country was the film's largest overseas market, contributing $69.2 million to the opening weekend?

Its $123.1 million worldwide debut was the biggest for any Hollywood film during the pandemic to that point.

Which earlier film's $58.5 million did Godzilla vs. Kong pass to become the top domestic release of the pandemic?

It later became only the second pandemic-era release to cross $100 million domestically, after A Quiet Place Part II.

What CinemaScore grade did audiences give the film, the highest of any Monsterverse entry?

Critics were cooler: 76% on Rotten Tomatoes and 59 on Metacritic, with most reviews praising the fights and shrugging at the humans.

According to Akamai, what dubious distinction did Godzilla vs. Kong earn in 2021?

Samba TV counted 5.8 million US households watching on HBO Max in its first 30 days.

The first full look at the film, released January 24, 2021, set what record?

It drew 25.6 million YouTube views in 24 hours across Warner's channels.

Which wrestling show staged a Godzilla vs. Kong-themed match on April 7, 2021, as a tie-in?

The show airs on TNT, a WarnerMedia channel; Forbes put the film's promotional spend at $70 million.

Which actor led Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, reuniting with Wingard from The Guest?

Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle all returned for the sequel, shot again on the Gold Coast.

Which unproduced project had Wingard once been considered to direct, before Legendary hired him?

Mary Parent offered him Godzilla vs. Kong and he said he 'jumped at it immediately' to answer the age-old 'who would win?'.

Which organisation honoured the film for Kaylee Hottle's role as Jia?

The Seal of Authentic Representation recognises authentic casting of actors with disabilities.

What was the name of the brand-new monster revealed through leaked toy images in April 2020?

Leaked Playmates figures also revealed different forms for Godzilla and Kong plus Mechagodzilla, months before any official trailer.

Of the film's financing, how much did Legendary put up alongside the $40M from Warner Bros.?

Wingard cited the 1976 King Kong remake and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah as touchstones for giving the monsters empathy.