The cast of Kong: Skull Island gave the first official preview of the new film in a special video for the MTV Movie Awards. The video introduces the new characters and setting that will reboot the King Kong franchise.
The video features interviews with some of the film’s stars, including Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, who recently won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and actors Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell, who both starred in Straight Outta Compton.
The film does not appear to have much in common with the original King Kong story, with the film being set during the 70s and the Vietnam War. Hawkins comments in the video, “It’s set in the Vietnam era, so what does that post-traumatic stress do to people? When you add that layer to it, I mean, it makes it a much more interesting story.”
The video is vague about Kong himself. Hiddleston states that the character will be different than previous portrayals and that “Kong appears in this film as you’ve never seen him before.”
The video instead mainly discusses the human characters. Hiddleston plays Captain James Conrad, a former British SAS officer while Larson plays Weaver, a photojournalist and peace activist. The film also stars Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, John C. Reilly, Alison Brie, Toby Kebbell and Tom Wilkinson.
The film will be the second installment of the new Godzilla-Kong Cinematic Universe, following the 2014 reboot of Godzilla. The film switched studios from Universal to Warner Bros. to set up for a shared Kong-Godzilla film currently titled Godzilla vs. Kong. The film is set for a 2020 release. Kong previously fought Godzilla in the 1962 Japanese film King Kong vs. Godzilla.
Kong has been a film icon since the release of King Kong in 1933. He has appeared in countless adaptations over the years. The gorilla’s last appearance in theaters was 2005’s remake of King Kong, starring Naomi Watts and directed by Peter Jackson.
