Kong: Skull Island
All hail the king.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Production
Budget
$185 000 000
Revenue
$568 652 812
Director
Scenario
John Gatins
Author
Composer
Producer
Actors
Tom Hiddleston
Captain James Conrad
Samuel L. Jackson
Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard
John Goodman
Bill Randa
Brie Larson
Mason Weaver
Jing Tian
San Lin
Toby Kebbell
Maj. Jack Chapman / Kong Mo-Cap Services
John Ortiz
Victor Nieves
Corey Hawkins
Houston Brooks
Short description
Set in the early 1970s, Kong: Skull Island follows a team of scientists, soldiers and other travelers who sail to an uncharted island in the Pacific. The expedition is led by former British officer James Conrad, accompanied by photojournalist Mason Weaver, Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard and government agent Bill Randa. What the group does not realize is that the island is the territory of Kong, a giant gorilla, and that other dangerous creatures live there as well. Stranded and hunted, the visitors must find a way to survive and escape.
Jordan Vogt-Roberts directed the film, his second feature after The Kings of Summer (2013), from a screenplay by Dan Gilroy, Derek Connolly and Max Borenstein. Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman and Brie Larson head the cast, with Jing Tian and Toby Kebbell also appearing. Produced by Legendary Pictures and Tencent Pictures, it cost about 185 million USD and took roughly 567 million USD worldwide.
On IMDb the film holds a 6.7/10 from around 373,000 votes, and on TMDB a 6.6/10 from more than 11,000 votes. A critics' rating of 6.5/10 from 390 reviews places professional opinion close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Joe Cornish declined an offer to direct the film.
- Derek Connolly contributed to the screenplay.
- Chinese actress Jing Tian delivers only 11 lines throughout the entire film.
- At the 2-minute mark of the film, when two pilots crash on the island, the sun is at its zenith. In the next scene, when the Japanese man parachutes down and shoots at the American, the shadow on the sand becomes noticeably longer.
- At the 9-minute mark of the film, while Bill Randa and Houston Brooks are speaking with the Senator, a woman in a gray suit holding a black folder can be seen entering and exiting the same office twice within a few seconds behind them.
- At the 14-minute mark of the film, while Randa and Brooks are talking to Conrad in the bar, a glass and a stack of something are visible on the table next to Bill in an overhead shot. After a cut, the glass disappears.
- At the 31-minute mark of the film, when the helicopters are flying towards Kong, the sun is almost on the horizon. During the subsequent battle scene, when Kong destroys the helicopters, the sun is noticeably higher.
- At the 42-minute mark of the film, when Packard is burying his comrades, Mills’ eyes appear perfectly healthy. In the next scene, as the squad walks through the bamboo grove and everyone turns to look at the soldier killed by the spider, a blood spot appears in his left eye. When the spider grabs Mills with its tentacles, the blood spot in his eye disappears.
- At the 51st minute of the film, flocks of birds flying near the wall do not cast shadows on the water surface.
- At the 60th minute of the film, Mason goes beyond the wall and discovers a giant buffalo crushed by a fallen helicopter. However, it is unknown how this helicopter could have fallen here, as during the battle between Kong and the helicopter squadron, no walls were visible on the ground.
- At the 79th minute of the film, when Bill takes a picture, the flashbulb of his camera burns out and explodes, covering the lampshade with soot from the inside. When, in one of the following scenes, the team emerges from cover and Rand is eaten by a pachycephalosaurus, the flash in the camera works again, and the lampshade is completely clean.
- At the 88th minute of the film, distorted sounds come from the broken loudspeaker, however, in the next frame, you can see that the tape is simply rotating on the reel, not passing through the magnetic head of the tape recorder.
- At the 89th minute of the film, Weaver grabs Conrad's hand when she sees Kong. In one of the following frames, they are not holding hands, but simply standing next to each other.
- The sets for filming were built at Kualoa Ranch in Hawaii, near the locations where Colin Trevorrow filmed the adventure film "Jurassic World" (2015).
- The second film from Legendary Pictures in the "Godzilla vs. Kong" series.
- In 1976, John Guillermin also filmed the remake of "King Kong" in Hawaii.
- John Goodman's character's costume is a replica of the costume worn by Carl Denham, played by Robert Armstrong, in the original "King Kong" film (Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933).
- The name of the rescue boat, Gray Fox, is a reference to a character from the Metal Gear video game series, which director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is also adapting for film.
- The film's poster design, released with the start of the IMAX theatrical run, was borrowed from the poster for Francis Ford Coppola's war drama "Apocalypse Now" (1979).
- For the film's premiere in Vietnam, a five-meter statue of Kong was created, surrounded by flames from erupting volcanoes. The flames were 'turned off' after 15 minutes. No one was injured.
- A big fan of computer games, as well as anime and manga, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts included numerous references to them in the film. A character played by John C. Reilly, for example, wears a jacket with the inscription 'Good for health, bad for education.' The same inscription was worn by Kaneda in the anime film "Akira," which Katsuhiro Otomo directed based on the manga of the same name in 1988.
- At the 103rd minute of the film, Weaver falls from a cliff after being hit, and a large number of stones fly after her. When she falls into the water in the next shot, all the stones following her disappear.
- At the 104th minute of the film, Kong pulls Weaver out of the water, and she lies on his palm with her head towards his thumb. When Kong kills the skullcrawler and places the girl on the ground, her position on his palm changes between shots.
- Samuel L. Jackson later admitted that during filming, none of the actors knew how tall or what size Kong would be. The filmmakers were asked about this repeatedly, but the answers were different every time.
- The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism has offered director Jordan Vogt-Roberts the position of tourism ambassador for a term of three years.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
