Legendary Pictures is doubling down on Queensland as the premium playground for its mammoth MonsterVerse franchise, with production now underway on the next installment.
Fresh off the colossal success of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which became the highest-grossing entry in the franchise and the biggest Godzilla film of all time, the studio is once again calling Village Roadshow Studios home for its latest monster mash. The production marks the fourth Monsterverse title to shoot in Queensland, following “Kong: Skull Island” (2017), “Godzilla vs. Kong” (2021) and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” (2024).
Australian helmer Grant Sputore (“I Am Mother”) is directing the feature, which sees Dan Stevens reprising his role as Trapper alongside an ensemble including Kaitlyn Dever (“The Last of Us”), Jack O’Connell (“Sinners”), Alycia Debnam-Carey (“Apple Cider Vinegar”), Sam Neill (“Jurassic Park”), Matthew Modine (“Oppenheimer”) and Delroy Lindo (“The Good Fight”).
Plot details reveal that fan favorites Godzilla and Kong will unite against “a cataclysmic world-ending threat,” continuing the franchise’s penchant for apocalyptic stakes. Scribes Dave Callaham (“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”) and Michael Lloyd Green (“I Am Mother”) wrote the screenplay.
Behind the camera, Sputore has assembled an A-list crew including cinematographer Dan Mindel (“Twisters”), production designer Stefan Dechant (“Kong: Skull Island”), editor Josh Schaeffer (“Godzilla x Kong”), and VFX supervisor Kelly Port (“Avengers: Endgame”).
Queensland’s Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek noted the production will employ north of 400 cast and crew while injecting an estimated AUD93 million ($59.3 million) into local coffers.
“Queensland has built an international reputation as a production paradise, which is solidified by the number of blockbuster films currently using our great state as a big screen backdrop,” Langbroek said.
The MonsterVerse, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, has generated over $2.5 billion at the global box office across its four theatrical releases and expanded into streaming with Apple TV+’s “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.”
“We’re glad to extend our collaboration with Queensland as we bring to life a new installment in this epic franchise,” said Legendary’s Alex Garcia. “The state’s world-class production infrastructure and exceptional workforce have been critical to the global success of the MonsterVerse film franchise.”
The production receives financial support from the Australian Government’s Location Offset, the Queensland Government’s Production Attraction Strategy, and the City of Gold Coast.
