Though recent hits like Logan, Deadpool, and Guardians of the Galaxy have shown that risks and distinct voices can pay off for blockbuster universes, make no mistake that filmmaking by committee is still the norm for big budget franchises. Paramount made a group of grown men talk about how to make more movies about toys that were cars that turn into robots; Universal put together a brain trust to sort out how to create a world where Dracula, Werewolf, and Mummy co-exist outside of Monster Squad; and now, Warner Bros. is forming a writers room to imagine how they might get Godzilla and King Kong to fight.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner has hired screenwriter Terry Rossio (1998’s Godzilla story, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean) to head up a group that will try and sort out the studio’s giant monster cinematic universe. Among the group:
Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, who co-wrote Star Trek Beyond and who are working on Star Trek 4;
Lindsey Beer, who is currently adapting The Kingkiller Chronicles for Lionsgate;
Cat Vasko, currently penning Warner Bros.’s adaptation of period circus love story, Queen of the Air;
T.S. Nowlin, the writer of the Maze Runner movies who already worked for Legendary on its Pacific Rim sequel;
And J. Michael Straczynski, the comic book writer and creator of 1990s sci-fi show Babylon 5 whose recent credits include World War Z and co-creating Netflix show Sense8 with the Wachowskis.
Warner Bros. is aiming for a May 29, 2020 release for Godzilla vs. King Kong. So don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time for their writers room to figure out the Fight Club route with this thing.
