From The Hollywood Reporter
Audiences will have to wait a little longer to see Kong and Godzilla duke it out on the big screen, as Warner Bros. and Legendary's Godzilla vs. Kong has been pushed back eight months from its March 13, 2020, release date to Nov. 20.
The film is a crossover event pitting the two famous monsters against one another, and follows Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017) and this year's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which bowed in May to lackluster box office numbers domestically but ultimately earned $385.9 million globally.
Adam Wingard is at the helm of Godzilla vs. Kong, which stars Julian Dennison, Brian Tyree Henry, Alexander Skarsgard and Demian Bichir.
In a time when monsters walk the Earth, humanity's fight for its future sets Godzilla and Kong on a collision course that will see the two most powerful forces of nature on the planet collide in a spectacular battle for the ages. As Monarch embarks on a perilous mission into uncharted terrain and unearths clues to the Titans' origins, a human conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.
— Legendary and Warner Bros
In September 2015, Legendary moved Kong: Skull Island from Universal to Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and King Kong would appear in a film together. In October 2015, Legendary confirmed that they would unite Godzilla and King Kong in Godzilla vs. Kong, at the time targeted for a May 29, 2020, release. Legendary plans to create a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" that "brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new."
Producer Alex Garcia confirmed that the film will not be a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla, stating, "the idea is not to remake that movie." In May 2016, Warner Bros. announced that the film would be released on May 29, 2020. In May 2017, Warner Bros. bumped the film's original release date to a week earlier, from May 29 to 22, for a Memorial Day weekend release. That same month, Adam Wingard was announced as the director for Godzilla vs. Kong.
In July 2017, Wingard spoke about the outline created by the writers room, stating, "We're going in very great detail through all the characters, the arcs they have, how they relate to one another, and most importantly how they relate to the monsters, and how the monsters relate to them or reflect them." He also stated that he and his team are going "beat by beat" on the outline, stating, "So once again, it's a discussion, and about feeling out how to make it as strong as possible, so that when Terry [Rossio] goes to write the screenplay, he has a definitive breakdown of what to include." In August 2017, Wingard spoke about his approach for the monsters, stating:
"I really want you to take those characters seriously. I want you to be emotionally invested, not just in the human characters, but actually in the monsters. It’s a massive monster brawl movie. There’s lots of monsters going crazy on each other, but at the end of the day I want there to be an emotional drive to it. I want you to be emotionally invested in them. I think that’s what’s going to make it really cool."
Wingard expressed his desire for the film to have a definite winner, stating:
“I do want there to be a winner. The original film was very fun, but you feel a little let down that the movie doesn’t take a definitive stance. People are still debating now who won in that original movie, you know. So, I do want people to walk away from this film feeling like, Okay, there is a winner.”
Wingard also confirmed that the film will tie in with Godzilla: King of the Monsters, be set in modern times, and feature a "more rugged, a bit more aged Kong.