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In an exclusive interview with China.org.cn, director Adam Wingard described how he had always known who would be the ultimate winner in the epic battle between Godzilla and King Kong.
For me, I feel like I knew who was going to win ever since second grade, Wingard said, adding that he had even argued with his friends in the playground about this very battle and that the argument and proposed outcome had always stuck with him.
When he discovered that Legendary Pictures was planning to film a fight between the two monsters, he promised himself, I'm going to win that second-grade argument. I'm going to get this movie and do it. And that's exactly what I did.
The result is Godzilla vs. Kong, which opened on Friday in IMAX 3D and many other formats across China.
These two monsters are two of the most iconic characters in movie history, Wingard described. They literally represent the eastern and western origin of special effects cinema, and blockbuster cinema in a lot of ways. I was really excited to be able to put my stamp on that.
Fortunately, he said, he had the full backing of the writers, producers, and crew to bring his vision to life. In a movie like this, it's constantly evolving. You try everything under the sun, you leave no rock unturned, but who would win the fight that never changed from the start and I'm very happy with the way it turned out, stated Wingard.
Enthusiastic fans at the premiere of Godzilla vs. Kong in Beijing, March 24, 2021. [Photo courtesy of Legendary East]
The director, best known for helming the cult horror classics Pop Skull (2007) and The Guest (2014), explained that his love for Godzilla movies began with the release of the old-school original Japanese movies in the 1980s, adding that he was also partial to Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), Because it's got a great, emotional, nostalgic kind of core.
You know the original Godzilla was a very serious kind of somber movie that's metaphorical about the atomic bomb being dropped on Japan. Then over the years, progressively, Godzilla went from being a bad guy to a good guy, and the movies became more colorful and psychedelic and just wild, he said.
As for his favorite Kong movies, he lists King Kong (1976) by John Guillermin as underrated. He also praised Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong and Gareth Edwards' Godzilla (2014) for their success in reintroducing the gigantic monsters to new audiences.
Wingard also revealed that he had rewatched every version of the Journey to the Center of the Earth in order to create his own version of the Hollow Earth. He found that each rendition had a similar aesthetic, resembling a large cave with oversized everything. I thought, I don't want it to feel like that. I don't want to feel like I'm going into the Earth. I want to feel like I'm going to a whole new planet.
Ever since Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures created the cinematic MonsterVerse in 2014, the franchise has proven popular in China. Kong: Skull Island (2017), starring Chinese actress Jing Tian, made 1.16 billion yuan in China while Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), starring Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, grossed 940 million yuan.
Caption: A Chinese IMAX poster for Godzilla vs. Kong [Photo courtesy of IMAX China]
Fan feedback from the premiere and advanced IMAX screenings of Godzilla vs. Kong on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, were enthusiastic, with many stating that only seeing the spectacle on the big screen would do the giant monster fight justice.
I'm so lucky because not only that I get to make a Godzilla movie, but the fact I get to also make the King Kong film, it's like, how many directors can say that they've done both? Wingard said. So it's pretty awesome.
