Friday, January 16, 2015

J.K. Simmons Talks Up "Kong: Skull Island"

Coming off both a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination this week "Spider-Man" and "Whiplash" star J.K. Simmons recently spoke with MTV about his casting in the King Kong reboot "Kong: Skull Island" for Legendary Pictures.


The origin story will deal with the giant gorilla and his life on an island of prehistoric monsters before he was taken into captivity.

The official synopsis says the film will "fully immerse audiences in the mysterious and dangerous home of the king of the apes as a team of explorers ventures deep inside the treacherous, primordial island."

"Thor" star Tom Hiddleston will reportedly play the lead role in the project, though no further details about his character were given. "Birdman star "Michael Keaton has entered talks to join the cast.

"Flight" and "Real Steel" screenwriter John Gatins  has been hired to rewrite the script taking over from"Godzilla" scribe Max Borenstein who penned the initial script.for the film which was announced at last year's San Diego Comic-Con.

"The Kings of Summer" director Jordan Vogt-Roberts will call action here. At one point "Attack the Block" director Joe Cornish was reportedly offered the gig that Vogt-Roberts now has. JVR is tipped to direct Metal Gear Solid for Sony Pictures, though that pic will likely get pushed now.

  Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni are producing the film which is slated for release on March 10th 2017.

A big attraction for Simmons is not the property but the new spin on the story--which boasts an unexpected period setting -1971:

"When it first came to my attention, 'There's interest in you for a new King Kong,' I thought, 'Okay...Why?' But then I met with Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who's going to be directing it and John Gatins, who's writing and Tom [Hiddleston]. Jordan was just so passionate and so smart. There's such an interesting, new take on it. It's set in Detroit in 1971, which is where I grew up. We're going to shoot it in Detroit during baseball season, so I'll be able to go to Tigers games! There's a lot to like about this movie."

How much of the story will be set in Detroit is unknown at this point.

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