SDCC '17 News Round Up: Godzilla, Kong, and Pacific Rim!

Hello everyone! San Diego Comic-Con 2017 got started yesterday and while we haven't gotten our big Hall H panel which may reveal some Monsterverse goodies (keep an eye on the site on Saturday) we have been given quite a few cool Giant Monster things from the show floor and beyond. This includes several toy/collectible announcements, a "Kong: Skull Island experience", and of course a bunch of Pacific Rim: Uprising details including a short teaser trailer. 

'Pacific Rim: Uprising' Teaser Trailer and Viral Site launched!

It was announced via the director's twitter account a couple days ago that we would not be getting a full trailer for 'Pacific Rim: Uprising' at Comic-Con due to the film not being in a state that it is ready to show off footage but what he didn't say is that we would be getting a lot of new info. First gift we received is a recruitment style video for the Jaeger program that shows off some of the new Jaegers and our first footage of John Boyega as Pentecost's son Jake.

The viral marketing site gojaeger.com was launched alongside the trailer and it includes some intriguing details on all of the new Jaegers. Check each of them out below.

GIPSY AVENGER

Gipsy Avenger honors the heroic legacy of her namesake as the flagship leader of the Mark VI fleet. More than just a Jaeger, she is a symbol of hope to millions.

BRACER PHOENIX

A Mark V brute that can still run with the VI’s, Bracer Phoenix shoots from the chest, with a centrifugal vortex cannon that is as spectacular as it is deadly.

SABER ATHENA

The sleekest and most elegant Jaeger ever created, Saber Athena is the fastest in the fleet, wielding twin blades in hyper-acrobatic combat.

TITAN REDEEMER

Built for brute force and armed with a seismic morningstar, Titan Redeemer is the walking wrecking ball of the new fleet.

GUARDIAN BRAVO

Designed for combat at range, Guardian Bravo wields the Elec-16 Arc Whip: a proto-metallic successor to the chainsword, and brings a new sophistication to the chainsword’s whiplash move.

'Kong: Skull Island' Experience

There is a really interesting walk through experience happening with Kong at the convention as well. Now there aren't many details about this as of yet but it does seem like it is similar to the Godzilla experience back at 2013's Comic-Con (maybe not on the same scale but still). No footage of this exists as of yet but it looks like Legendary has hidden Monarch crates and stuff within the experience and if enough photos get uploaded a "classified" photo will be released to the public. Now this photo could be anything from hints to Godzilla 2 or just some nifty Skull Island goodies but it is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

'Godzilla Vs Kong' Director Talks!

Fan Poster

Adam Wingard, the director of Godzilla Vs Kong, gave a few details about the upcoming film in a couple of recent interviews for Death Note. IGN and Birth Movies Death have the scoops, but here are some notable quotes:

"It's been a pleasure already in the first stages of it, having an excuse to go back and watch 30 Godzilla movies and justifying it to yourself. For me, it's about taking the series to the next level."

When asked about the similarities in the way both the monster films as well as Death Note deal in shades of grey, Wingard continued, "I think they're very similar in a lot of ways. It's easy to demonize Godzilla on one hand, but I have a lot of emotional attachment to both monsters." In regards to the size difference between the two beasts, Wingard added, "They gave us a good out in Kong when they mentioned that Kong is still growing, but that'll be a challenge we have to deal with, and we're very aware of that issue." - IGN

“It’s funny—the day I had my first meeting scheduled with Terry Rossio, the writer on Godzilla vs. Kong, was the day it was announced that Lord and Miller got fired, so that was kind of an eye-opening moment,” Wingard says. “I mean, you hear—especially within the industry—a lot of rumors about directors who have silently been replaced, or the movies have been reshot by other directors because the producers were unhappy with them, and things like that. But firing them was a completely different situation.

“Ultimately, I don’t think it affects me that much,” he continues. “The most important thing when you’re making this type of film is that it’s not about pushing against authority; it’s about everybody getting on the same page. When you’re doing anything that involves a lot of money, it should not be an ‘us vs. them’ kind of thing, and as soon as you start treating it that way, it becomes that way. But as long as you’re open to ideas when they come—and sometimes they’re good and sometimes you have to push back—it’s just about being able to communicate.”

On Death Note, which had many producers and a lot of oversight on it, I felt like I was 100 percent able to make the movie I wanted to make,” he states. “The reason for that was because I was able to communicate with everybody involved, and we were all making the same film, you know? That’s the most important factor.”
 

He also sheds some light on the Godzilla vs. Kong scripting process, which involved a “writers’ room” consisting of Patrick McKay, J.D. Payne, Lindsey Beer, Cat Vasko, T.S. Nowlin, Jack Paglen and J. Michael Straczynski. “Terry ran the writers’ room,” Wingard explains, “so he’s the personification of it, and everything we’re working on is first and foremost based on the outline they created there. 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. We’re also going beat by beat on the outline, because I have things that I want to add.

“So once again, it’s a discussion, and about feeling out how to make it as strong as possible, so that when Terry goes to write the screenplay, he has a definitive breakdown of what to include. He’s not the type of guy who wants to be handed a bunch of problems to solve, you know? He wants to be able to have a good creative flow based on an outline that works.” - BirthMoviesDeath

New Company Providing Godzilla and Kong Collectibles!

Chronicle collectibles has gotten the license to produce high quality statues of the Monsterverse! This company does really good work but their items are a little pricey. Check out the T-rex and Indominus Rex they are releasing!

Look how cool they look! I expect great things from their Monsterverse line when they reveal them!

This is a crazy time for us giant monster fans and I hope to see a lot more goodies on Saturday during the Warner Bros./Legendary Hall H presentation!

'Kong: Skull Island' - Final Trailer Released

Well we are now only a week away from Kong: Skull Island's release date and what better way to celebrate than to release one final trailer! This one definitely shows off some big money shots so people who want to stay spoiler free may want to hold off on watching this trailer. But if you don't care...

Oh man this is gonna be epic! So many cool things! I'm really starting to love the Skullcrawlers.

What did you think of the final trailer?

'Kong: Skull Island' - First Look At A Full Shot Of Kong!

We here at Tokyo Lives have been waiting with bated breath for some more glimpses of Kong from the new film 'Kong: Skull Island' and it looks like today is that day. We are supposed to be getting a new trailer some time before 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' according to some deep digging into the viral site discoverskullisland.com but Entertainment Weekly just released a photo of the titular beast ahead of next week.

And he looks...FANTASTIC! I see a lot of '33 Kong in his face and it looks like the design is really going back to its roots. I am a huge fan of this design! I'm guessing that this shot is from said trailer next week and it is super cool that they aren't hiding the design of Kong until the film releases!

What do you think of the design? Do you like it better than Peter Jackson's Kong? Let us know in the comments below!