‘Skull Island’ Has Been Given a New Title and a Later Release Date

One of our most anticipated upcoming, big budget projects is ‘Skull Island,’ the Legendary Pictures film which will take place on the fabled island that King Kong once called home. For fans wondering if Kong himself will be making an appearance in this epic new movie, it seems like we have an answer: Legendary has re-titled ‘Skull Island’ and pushed the release date back from 2016 to 2017, but we have a feeling the wait will be worth it.

THR reports that the film’s title has been changed to ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ which gives the origin story a bit more clarification. It seems that yes, King Kong will definitely be a part of this new movie. The fictional island is home to not only the giant gorilla, but several other rare species, including some which were thought to be extinct—like dinosaurs. We previously watched the giant primate fight a dinosaur on his home island in Peter Jackson’s ‘King Kong,’ and the idea that we could see something similar again is pretty awesome.

Legendary has also pushed back the release date from November 4, 2016 to March 10, 2017, putting ‘Kong: Skull Island’ just a month ahead of the current release date for Legendary’s other major event film, ‘Pacific Rim 2,’ while also moving it away from competition with Marvel’s ‘Doctor Strange.’ Similarly, ‘Kung Fu Panda 3' recently switched its release date to avoid ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ while ‘Pan’ was pushed back a week to avoid Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man.’

‘Kong: Skull Island’ is being directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who helmed last year’s great coming of age comedy ‘The Kings of Summer.’ The only actor attached at this point is Tom Hiddleston, and we might just be OK if it stays that way. We wouldn’t mind watching two hours of Hiddleston wandering around and reacting to a dangerous monster island.