The follow-up to ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ may skip theatrical release in favor of going to a streamer, with Netflix reportedly already making a $200M offer for the movie.
- Nov 26, 2020
AceShowbiz – The wait is perhaps too long for Legendary Pictures until the time is right to release “Godzilla vs. Kong” in cinemas. After postponing it release date from November 2020 to May 21, 2021, the studio is reportedly considering to skip the planned theatrical release in favor of heading to a streamer.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Netflix is one of the streaming services interested in acquiring the rights to distribute the film. It reportedly has made an offer of more than $200 million for the film.
While it sounds like a lucrative deal, Legendary Pictures may not be sold that easily. Warner Bros., which currently holds the worldwide distribution rights for the movie except for in Japan, reportedly has blocked the deal and intends to bring it to its own streamer, HBO Max.
However, as of Wednesday night, November 25, Warner Bros. denied that there’s a plan for the movie to skip the theatrical release and head straight to streaming service. “We plan to release ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ theatrically next year as scheduled,” said a spokesperson for the studio.
Despite the unconfirmed reports, fans couldn’t help feeling disappointed should the sequel to 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island really head to a streamer. Reacting to the news on Twitter, they expressed their disagreement with the alleged plan for streaming debut.
“I hate this so much. #GodzillaVsKong deserves to be seen on the biggest movie screen possible. Don’t do this, @wbpictures,” one fan warned the studio. Another echoed the sentiment, “#GodzillavsKong is Made For IMAX and the big screen. Going to streaming is a big mistake!!!”
“Jesus… the theater industry is taking hit after hit over these moves to streaming. I can’t see this being good for any of them in the long run. This news makes me sad,” a third person lamented the movie industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another said that he’d rather wait longer to see it in theater rather than having the film released earlier on a streaming service. “@Legendary @wbpictures I’ll gladly wait another year to see Godzilla vs. Kong on the big screen, as intended. Please, please don’t skip the theatrical release!” the said person pleaded.
Someone else expressed her/his opinion, “Omg this is super big bruh moment if I don’t get to see Godzilla vs Kong the climatic rematch of the century on IMAX I’m a cry. I really wanted to see Godzilla and Kong again on the movie screen super badly!”
“Godzilla vs. Kong” wrapped filming in April 2019 with Adam Wingard serving behind the lens. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown and Rebecca Hall among others, it will pit Godzilla against King Kong, the two most powerful forces of nature, in a spectacular battle for the ages.
Source: Movies - aceshowbiz.com
