In the 1970s, a team of explorers is brought together to venture deep into an uncharted island in the Pacific—as beautiful as it is treacherous—unaware that they are crossing into the domain of the mythical giant gorilla known as Kong.
When the Vietnam War ends, Bill Randa and his partner Houston Brooks from the Monarch organization succeed to get the financing for an expedition to the recently discovered Skull Island from Senator Willis. He hires the former Captain James Conrad to guide the expedition; a group of soldiers under the command of Colonel Preston Packard; and the awarded journalist and photographer Mason Weaver.
On the arrival, the helicopters need to cross a storm and soon they drop bombs on the forest to map the seismology of the island. Soon they are attacked by a huge gorilla called Kong that destroys the helicopters and kills part of the crew and scatter the rest through the island. The group commanded by Conrad meets Hank Marlow, a survivor from the World War II that lives with a tribe of natives. He explains that Kong protects the island and the natives from underground monsters and shall not be killed. But Colonel Packard is insane seeking revenge for his men that died.
Kong: Skull Island is an American monster film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and written by Max Borenstein, John Gatins, Dan Gilroy and Derek Connolly. The film is a reboot of the King Kong franchise and will serve as the second installment in Legendary’s Godzilla–Kong film series. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Jing Tian, John Ortiz, Terry Notary, and John C. Reilly.
Principal photography began on October 19, 2015 in Hawaii. Kong: Skull Island is scheduled to be released in the United States on March 10, 2017 in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D.
About the Story
In 1973, former British Special Air Service Captain James Conrad is hired by government agent Bill Randa to guide an expedition to map out “Skull Island”. Randa also recruits the Sky Devils, a helicopter squadron led by Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard and prominently made up of his right-hand, Major Jack Chapman and Captain Earl Cole to escort them to the island. The group is soon joined by pacifist photojournalist Mason Weaver, who plans to expose it believing it’s a corrupt military op.
Arriving on Skull Island, Packard’s men begin dropping explosives developed by seismologist Houston Brooks to determine if the ground is hollow, despite Conrad’s objections. The helicopters are suddenly attacked by a 100 foot-tall bipedal gorilla known as “Kong”, and many are destroyed, with the survivors split into two groups. The survivors’ only hope for rescue is a resupply team that will meet them at the island’s northern end in three days time. Randa reveals his affiliation to the secret government organization Monarch to Packard and the expedition’s true purpose to acquire proof of the existence of forgotten monsters.
Packard and his remaining men bury their dead comrades and begin searching for the missing members of the expedition, including Chapman. Along the way, they overcome an attacking Daddy long-legs. Meanwhile, Conrad, Weaver, Brooks, biologist San Lin, soldier Reg Slivko and Landsat employee Victor Nieves, among others, run into the local Iwi natives and meet Hank Marlow, revealed to be a missing pilot who crash-landed on the island in 1944 with a Japanese pilot. Marlow explains that Kong is the island’s guardian and is worshipped as a god by the natives for protecting them from the Skullcrawlers, reptilian underground monsters who have slaughtered Kong’s ancestors, leaving him as the last of his kind. Marlow reveals Kong only attacked the helicopters to prevent the bombs from awakening the largest of the Skullcrawlers, the “Big One”.
Conrad’s group sets off down the river in a boat recovered by Marlow, where they are beset by pterosaur-like creatures, killing Nieves. The survivors manage to connect with Packard, who insists on searching for Chapman, who – unbeknownst to them – has already been killed by a Skullcrawler. Marlow reluctantly leads both Conrad and Packard’s team to the Forbidden Zone, a forgotten battleground between Kong’s ancestors and Skullcrawlers.
The same Skullcrawler that ate Chapman attacks the group, devouring Randa and killing many soldiers before Weaver kills it by triggering an explosion. A vengeful Packard blames Kong for the deaths of his men and retrieves seismic explosives to lure Kong into a trap and kill him, while Conrad resolves to lead the non-military personnel back to the boat so they can rendezvous with the resupply team.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Directed by: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Jing Tian, John Ortiz, Terry Notary, John C. Reilly
Screenplay by: Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly
Production Design by: Stefan Dechant
Costume Design by: Mary E. Vogt
Set Decoration by: Cynthia La Jeunesse
Music by: Henry Jackman
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for brief strong language.
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: March 10, 2017
