'Godzilla: King of Monsters' release date moved to May 31, 2019
Gareth Edwards' 2014 reboot of Toho's classic 'Godzilla' franchise was received well worldwide, grossing over $500 million in the process.
Starring the likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston, its success prompted production company Legendary to greenlight further sequels.
The next installment of the monster movie franchise, 'Godzilla: King of Monsters,' was originally slated for a March 22, 2019 release, but according to Bloody Disgusting, it has now been moved back to a summer date and will premiere on May 31, 2019.
The sequel will be written directed by Michael Dougherty, who previously worked on scripts for 'X2' and 'Superman Returns,' and has already cast Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Aisha Hinds, and Zhang Ziyi.
According to a release by Legendary and Warner Bros, the new story will follow the "heroic efforts of crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters."
The movie will, of course, feature the titular Godzilla, but also some of the monster's famed nemeses:
Mothra, a colossal sentient caterpillar, Rodan, a daikaiju monster, and Godzilla's arch-rival King Ghidorah, an armless, golden-scaled winged dragon with three heads and two tails, will all rise again and vie for supremacy over Earth, leaving humanity's existence in a precarious balance.
However, 'Godzilla: Kind of Monsters' is not the only sequel in the works. In October 2015, Legendary confirmed that they would unite Godzilla and King Kong in 'Godzilla vs. Kong,' which is tentatively set for a May 29, 2020 release.
The eventual plan for Legendary is said to be the creation of a shared cinematic franchise centered around Monarch that will bring together Godzilla and King Kong together in "an eco-system of other giant super-species, both classic and new."