History Film / SkullIsland

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kongskullislandposter2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[TagLine We don't belong here.]]'']]

->''"This planet doesn't belong to us. Ancient species owned this earth long before mankind. I spent 30 years trying to prove the truth: monsters exist."''
-->-- '''Randa'''

''Kong: Skull Island'' is an upcoming movie by Creator/LegendaryPictures, slated to be released March 10th, 2017. Set to be written by Max Borenstein (who wrote for [[Film/{{Godzilla2014}} another Legendary Pictures movie]]), the movie will be an origin story to the Eighth Wonder of the World himself, Film/KingKong, as well as his homeland, Skull Island. The movie will be directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and will star Creator/TomHiddleston, Creator/BrieLarson, Creator/JohnGoodman, Creator/SamuelLJackson, and Creator/JohnCReilly.

Initially a co-production with Creator/{{Universal}} (who own the rights to the King Kong character), [[ChannelHop the film is now]] being co-produced by Creator/{{Warner Brothers}} and will be part of the Monsterverse, a Kaiju-based SharedUniverse with Legendary's ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'' (with that film's MONARCH organization serving as the link), with the two being set to meet in ''Godzilla vs. Kong'' in 2020.

Previews: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_41NDFmZ2ko Official Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9y6oPka3us Trailer 2]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzcc36t36Bc&t=0s Trailer 3]].

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!!''Skull Island'' contains examples of these tropes:

* AdaptationalBadass: While Kong has always been a badass, he was killed by biplanes in the original movie. In this one? He's not only ''freaking gigantic'' (rivaling the Legendary Godzilla, who he's intended to fight in a sequel), but is shown swatting an ''attack helicopter'' out the sky with one hand.
* AdaptationalHeroism: The natives of Skull Island were antagonists out of desperation in the original 1933 film and horrifically degenerate troglodytes in the 2005 remake, but the trailer shows that here they're quite harmless and hold no ill-will to the outsiders.
* AscendedExtra: The two legged lizard from the 1933 film appears to be the basis of the "Skullcrawler" monster antagonists.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: In previous movies, Kong was just big enough to hold a entire human in his hand. This movie makes him 100 feet (30 meters) tall, [[UpToEleven big enough to potentially face off against Godzilla]] [[JustifiedTrope (which is exactly what Legendary Pictures plans on doing)]]. According to viral marketing, he's only a ''teenager''.
* BehemothBattle: Kong fights the Skullcrawlers, and potentially other giant monsters too.
* BigBad: The Skullcrawlers, said be "devils" in comparison to PhysicalGod Kong.
* BigGood: This is apparently how the natives view Kong, as he doesn't go around causing grief and pretty much is indifferent to any creature that doesn't attempt to cause him any of the former. [[BullyingADragon If you decide to, however.....]]
* BloodyHandprint: One of the shots in the trailer shows that Kong left one on the side of a mountain.
* TheCameo: Based on some licensing details revealed during the credits, it appears as though [[spoiler:Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah]] will be shown or alluded to in the film.
* CombatTentacles: The third trailer and several TV spots for the film have a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment of Kong fighting a tentacled... ''something''.
* CompositeCharacter: This film's Kong has some traits from all the major past incarnations. The bipedal stance and shape of the [[Film/KingKong1976 1976 version]], coloration of the [[Film/KingKong2005 2005 version]], facial build resembling the [[Film/KingKong1933 1933 original version]]; and the kaiju sized scaling of the [[Film/KingKongVsGodzilla Toho]] [[Film/KingKongEscapes versions.]]
* ContinuityReboot: The movie ignores all previous King Kong films in favor of re-establishing the character within Legendary Pictures' [[SharedUniverse Monsterverse]].
* ContinuityNod: Randa discusses and shows film of the 1954 attempts to nuke Godzilla in one scene.
* ElephantGraveyard: One scene shows the characters in what appears to be a graveyard of dinosaur bones smothered in a yellow-colored OminousFog. [[spoiler: Except they're not - they're the bones of what seems to be Kong's species.]]
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Skull Island is a LostWorld where non-avian dinosaurs survived the KT Extinction and continued to thrive alongside other prehistoric creatures. That said, it's been stated that no dinosaurs will be appearing in the film... only their bones.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: King Kong is a member of a species of gigantic gorilla-like apes.
* FireBreathingWeapon: Some of the soldiers are shown wielding flamethrowers.
* GentleGiant: Marlow's dialogue in the second trailer implies Kong to be this, at least towards the natives of the island. Kong is also seen walking across the river and noticing one of the soldiers watching, but gives the soldier an indifferent glance and moves on.
-->'''Marlow''': Kong's a pretty good king. Keeps to himself, mostly. But you don't go into someone's house and start dropping bombs unless you're picking a fight.
* GiantSpider: One shot in the trailer shows what appears to be a spider-like creature with legs long enough to blend in with the trees walking right over the characters.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Randa wants to draw out Kong by going into his habitat and dropping bombs. [[{{Understatement}} They draw him out, alright]].
* HelicopterFlyswatter: At least one helicopter falls prey to King Kong.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Kong is shown using a rock as a weapon, as well as turning an entire tree into a makeshift club.
* IslandOfMystery: Skull Island, of course, and it will be explored more thoroughly in this movie than it was in previous movies.
* IsleOfGiantHorrors: The titular island. Beside [[KillerGorilla Kong]], there are dinosaurs, giant spiders, and reptilian monsters named "Skullcrawlers".
* {{Kaiju}}: Definitely, as Kong himself is one of the earliest examples in the genre but, as stated above, he's ''much'' bigger than any previous American incarnation.
* KillerGorilla: A given, considering it's a King Kong movie.
%%* LastOfHisKind: Possibly averted. Since this is an origin story, there's a chance we might see more than one of Kong's kind.
* KingMook: A giant Skullcrawler named Ramarak fights Kong in the climax of the film.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared with ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'', which portrayed a near-apocalyptic conflict between Godzilla and the MUTO duo that took place primarily in heavily-populated cities and resulted in thousands of human casualties and several nuclear accidents, this film takes place on a single sparsely-populated island with the human characters mainly trying to escape rather than prevent a global catastrophe. The trailers for this film also make a point of showing people, especially John C. Reilly's eccentric character, making goofy wisecracks, in contrast to the ''Godzilla'' trailers focusing more on grim SceneryGorn and the emotional trauma the characters face.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: There are about 11 major characters in the group that journey to the island.
* MythologyGag: Kong fights a [[Film/KingKongVsGodzilla giant octopus]] in one scene.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The huge reptilian creatures lurking on the island are colloquially referred to as "Skullcrawlers", and designated as "hypervores" [[spoiler:according to classified Monarch reports]] in the viral marketing. Both seem to indicate just [[HorrorHunger how insatiable and vicious they are]].
* OriginsEpisode: Ultimately serves as one for Kong himself.
* PhysicalGod: According to WordOfGod, making Kong ''feel'' like one of these was one of the big reasons for his size increase.
* {{Prequel}}: To ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'', especially since it's set in the '70s, whereas ''Godzilla'' was set in the present day.
* PrehistoricMonster: Kong himself and almost everything else on Skull Island qualifies, with Packard describing the former as "a monster from some bygone era" in the trailer.
* RecycledInSpace: ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' WITH KAIJU!
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: The lizard-like Skullcrawlers are Kong's rivals for dominance of Skull Island.
* RuleOfCool / RuleOfScary: Marlow calls them "Skullcrawlers" because "it sounds neat." Also he's trying to scare you.
* SerkisFolk: Much like the 2005 remake, Kong will be portrayed via motion capture, specifically by Terry Notary (who previously did mocap work on ''many'' various movies, including the ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'' [[Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes rebooted]] [[Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes films]]) with some assistance from Toby Kebbell (who is also part of the human cast as the character Chapman).
* SettingUpdate: From [[TheGreatDepression The '30s]] to TheSeventies -- specifically, near the end of the Vietnam War. Strangely, this means King Kong has still only appeared in two time periods, the '30s and the '70s.
* SharedUniverse: With the Legendary Godzilla films, with the two being intended to crossover.
* ShellShockedVeteran: According to an MTV interview with the cast, the film is set during the Vietnam War and a number of the characters have PTSD.
* ShoutOut:
** Tom Hiddleston's character's name is James Conrad, in reference to Creator/JosephConrad, author of ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'', whose film adaptation ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' this film draws much from.
*** The thumbnail image for the final trailer is a direct shout-out to the film.
** John C. Reilly's character wears a bomber jacket with the ironic back patch "Good For Your Health", in a nod to Kaneda's iconic jacket from ''Film/{{Akira}}''.
** When the group finds one of Kong's fresh bloody handprints on the side of a mountain, Packard proudly remarks that they were the ones to injure him, and how they'll soon have enough munitions to "finish the job" -- all but saying outright that [[{{Film/Predator}} if it bleeds, they can kill it]].
* TooDumbToLive: Kong makes his existence known to the group because they come onto the island and start dropping bombs. Now you could make the argument that they didn't know they were dropping explosives in the domain of a one-hundred foot tall gorilla, [[GoneHorriblyRight but at least one member of the group did]].
* YouKilledMyFather: Kong, still a teenager by his species standards, fights the Skullcrawlers because they killed and ate his parents.
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%%* LastOfHisKind: Possibly averted. Since this is an origin story, there's a chance we might see more than one of Kong's kind.

* {{Prequel}}: To ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'', especially since it's set in the '70s, whereas ''Godzilla'' was set in the present day.

* YouKilledMyFather: Kong, still a teenager by his species' standards, fights the Skullcrawlers because they killed and ate his parents.

* KingMook: A giant Skullcrawler named Ramarak fights Kong in the climax of the film.

* PrehistoricMonster: Kong himself and almost everything else on Skull Island qualifies, with Packard describing the former as "a monster from some bygone era" in the trailer.

* YouKilledMyFather: Kong, still a teenager by his species standards, fights the Skullcrawlers because they killed and ate his parents.

Previews: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_41NDFmZ2ko Official Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9y6oPka3us Trailer 2]]

* GentleGiant: John C. Reilly's character's dialogue in the second trailer implies Kong to be this, at least towards the natives of the island. Kong is also seen walking across the river and noticing one of the soldiers watching, but gives the soldier an indifferent glance and moves on.
-->Kong's a pretty good king. Keeps to himself, mostly, but you don't go into someone's house and start dropping bombs unless you're picking a fight.