Deadline is reporting that Warner Bros. and Legendary have cast Dan Stevens (Legion; Beauty and the Beast) as the human lead in their upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong sequel, which is scheduled to begin filming this summer in Australia.
The move reunites Stevens with his The Guest director Adam Wingard, who will return to helm this next chapter in the MonsterVerse. His previous entry from 2021 grossed over $468.2 million worldwide on an estimated $155-200 million production budget, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year globally for WB and its second-highest domestically, behind Dune.
GvK's performance was doubly impressive since it also debuted day-and-date on HBO Max and was actually one of the few titles to find box office success despite the controversial release model.
With Stevens headlining, it seems the studio may want to bring some new blood into the franchise, but it's too early to rule out the possibility that some combination of Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Julian Dennison, Kaylee Hottle and/or Kyle Chandler return for the big rematch.
No word on a release date just yet, but with production slated to begin fairly soon, a Summer 2023 or Early 2024 release seems very much in the cards.