Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019 film)

Five years after the revelation of giant monsters, called "Titans", Dr. Emma Russell, a paleobiologist working for the Titan-studying organization Monarch, and her daughter Madison witness the birth of a giant larva named Mothra. Emma calms Mothra with the "Orca", a device that emits bioacoustic frequencies to attract Titans or alter their behavior. A group of eco-terrorists, led by former British Army Colonel Alan Jonah, attacks the base and abducts Emma and Madison, while Mothra flees and pupates under a nearby waterfall. Monarch scientists Dr. Ishirō Serizawa and Vivienne Graham approach former employee Dr. Mark Russell, Emma's ex-husband and Madison's father, to help track them down. Mark is initially reluctant due to his hatred toward Godzilla, whom he blames for his son Andrew's death in San Francisco, but eventually agrees. The Monarch team follows Godzilla to Antarctica, where Jonah plans to free a three-headed Titan codenamed "Monster Zero". Emma frees and awakens Monster Zero, which kills Graham and other members of Monarch's team, battles Godzilla, and flies off. The Monarch team realizes that Emma is working with the terrorists. From a bunker, Emma contacts Monarch, arguing that the Titans must all be awakened to heal Earth from the human impact on the environment, pointing to Monarch research indicating that Titans can terraform and replenish ecosystems using their radiation. Conflicted, Madison begs her mother to reconsider, but Emma awakens Rodan in Mexico, who is lured toward Monster Zero. Monster Zero defeats Rodan and pursues the Monarch team, but Godzilla ambushes him, severing his left head. During the fight, the U.S. military launches a prototype weapon called the "Oxygen Destroyer", which seemingly kills Godzilla, but does not affect Monster Zero, who regrows his lost head and awakens the other dormant Titans worldwide; Rodan, who survived, submits to his rule. Horrified and disillusioned, Madison disowns Emma. Through analyzing Monster Zero's abilities and mythological texts, Monarch deduces that he is King Ghidorah, a highly destructive alien who likely seeks to xenoform Earth to his liking. A fully transformed Mothra flies to Monarch's Bermuda base to communicate with Godzilla, who is recuperating in an ancient, radioactive underwater city, which the Monarch team discovers in a nuclear submarine. Deducing that it will take too long for Godzilla to heal on his own, Serizawa sacrifices himself by manually detonating a nuclear warhead next to Godzilla to speed up the process. The explosion destroys Godzilla's lair, but revives him and increases his power. Emma realizes that Ghidorah's reign over the other Titans is bringing destruction far worse than anything humans could inflict, but Jonah ignores her pleas to try and stop it. Madison overhears her mother's plan to lure Ghidorah to Boston using the Orca, and steals the device to implement it herself. Arriving at Fenway Park, she broadcasts a frequency that calms the Titans, but unwittingly attracts them to her location. Ghidorah, attracted by the frequency, lands in Boston and almost kills Madison, but Godzilla, backed up by Monarch and military forces, arrives to battle him. Mark leads a team to rescue Madison, while learning that Godzilla's radiation levels are still increasing and will lead to a thermonuclear explosion. Mothra arrives to help Godzilla, but she is intercepted by Rodan, whom she defeats despite sustaining injuries. Ghidorah overpowers Godzilla, but Mothra sacrifices herself and transfers her energy to Godzilla. The Russells are reunited and reactivate the Orca to lure Ghidorah away from Godzilla, buying time for him to recover. Emma stays behind with the Orca to distract Ghidorah, allowing her family and the Monarch team to escape. After absorbing Mothra's energy, Godzilla enters a newly empowered state and vaporizes Ghidorah's body and Emma with several nuclear pulses, before incinerating Ghidorah's remaining head with his atomic breath. Rodan and several other Titans converge on Godzilla and bow to him. During the end credits, news clippings and Monarch public files show that the Titans are healing Earth, a suspected second Mothra egg has been discovered, and some Titans are converging on Skull Island. Ancient cave paintings depict Godzilla and a Kong-like Titan locked in battle. In a post-credits scene, Jonah and his forces purchase Ghidorah's decapitated left head in Mexico. ==Cast==

, Vera Farmiga, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Thomas Middleditch, and Michael Dougherty speaking at the 2018 San Diego Comic Con. • Kyle Chandler as Dr. Mark Russell:Emma's ex-husband, Madison's father, an animal behavior and communication specialist who formerly worked for Monarch, and co-inventor of the "Orca", a device that enables communication with the Titans, but can also "potentially control them using their bioacoustics on a sonar level". After suffering the loss of his son, Mark has an unfavorable opinion of the Titans, Godzilla in particular. Despite this, he joins a rescue mission along with Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham to save Emma and Madison from Alan Jonah and his terrorist group. Chandler spoke of the film's themes being about "healing the planet". • Vera Farmiga as Dr. Emma Russell:Mark's ex-wife, Madison's mother and a renegade Monarch paleobiologist with a history of environmental activism in league with eco-terrorist Alan Jonah. She is the co-inventor of the Orca. Unlike Mark, Emma believes that humans and Titans can co-exist peacefully. She does not see Godzilla as evil, but as a potential savior in an age of catastrophic climate change. Farmiga stated that Emma views Godzilla in the same manner one views Mother Nature, specifying, "when these devastating natural occurrences come, it's because the environment has been mistreated and is showing righteous anger." Emma and Madison conspire with a mysterious organization interested in her technology, with their own plans for the creatures. Farmiga described her character as being a "DJ for the monsters", stating, "she has figured out a way to communicate with the creatures", she also described the film being about "saving the environment". Farmiga noted that while the previous film focused on a father/son relationship, King of the Monsters focuses on a mother/daughter relationship. Due to this, Farmiga believes the film may pass the Bechdel test. • Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell:Emma and Mark's 12-year-old daughter. Scientifically gifted like her parents, Madison seeks to follow in her mother's footsteps. Although she is a co-conspirator in her mother's plan to release the Titans, Madison is more conflicted about it and Emma tricked her into it with lies and half-truths, claiming that it was to help people and save the world in Andrew's memory. • Lexi Rabe as Young Madison Russell • Bradley Whitford as Dr. Rick Stanton:A crypto-sonographer working for Monarch. Dougherty confirmed that Dr. Stanton is loosely modeled after Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty. Dougherty had the character "drink a lot" to keep the character in line with the spirit of Sanchez. • Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham:A paleozoologist working for Monarch as Serizawa's right-hand woman. Hawkins reprises her role from Godzilla (2014). • Charles Dance as Alan Jonah:A former British Army SAS Colonel and MI-6 agent who defected after becoming disillusioned by humanity during his time in the service. Obsessed with "leveling the global playing field" and restoring the natural order, he became the mercenary leader of an anarchist eco-terrorist group funded through the trafficking of Titan DNA. He conspires with Emma to help her use the Orca to further their shared agenda. Dougherty described Jonah as a mysterious character with conflicting ideas about the Titans' role in the world, believing that mankind has damaged the planet and that bringing back the Titans will potentially set things right. • Thomas Middleditch as Sam Coleman:Monarch's Director of Technology, leader on the development of the Monarch Sciences network, and communications liaison with the U.S. government. • Aisha Hinds as Colonel Diane Foster:A decorated Green Beret and the leader of the G-Team, the special military branch established by Monarch specializing in battles involving Titans if necessary. • O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Jackson Barnes:A Green Beret chief warrant officer who is a member of the G-Team • David Strathairn as Admiral William Stenz:An Admiral in the 7th Fleet of the United States Navy. He is the commander of the U.S. Navy task force and was previously in charge of tracking down the MUTOs. Strathairn reprises his role from Godzilla (2014). • Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishirō Serizawa:A high-ranking scientist working for Monarch. His father Eiji Serizawa was one of Monarch's founding members, so he is seen by many as the agency's de facto leader. Watanabe reprises his role from Godzilla (2014). Watanabe noted the film's themes, stating, "In the 21st century we need to think about natural disasters. This creature is symbolic of that natural disaster. We cannot control them, but we must live on this planet." • Zhang Ziyi as Dr. Ilene Chen and Dr. Ling Chen:Dr. Ilene Chen is a mythologist working for Monarch, specializing in deciphering the mythological backgrounds of the Titans in connection with tales and legends throughout history. With her twin sister Dr. Ling Chen, Ilene is a third generation Monarch operative in her family, having joined the agency like their grandmother and mother before them. The Chens come from several generations of twins in their family, with an early pair visiting Infant Island, depicted in Mothra (1961) as Mothra's home. Dougherty intended the Chen sisters and their connection to Mothra to be a modernized version of the Shobijin, Mothra's twin fairies, explaining, "It was important to me to find ways to modernize the ideas that she has followers. Modernize the priestesses. There are still certain realms of believability to keep in take. You have to ease people into the more fantastical aspects." He noted that the twins were a "perfect example" showing humans and monsters cooperating and forming a "symbiotic relationship with each other". Dougherty also felt that the twins should be portrayed by Asian actresses, same as in the Toho films. Joe Morton appears as an older Dr. Houston Brooks, a character that originally appeared in Kong: Skull Island, where he was portrayed by Corey Hawkins. Additionally, CCH Pounder portrays Senator Williams, Anthony Ramos portrays Staff Sergeant Anthony Martinez, Elizabeth Ludlow plays First Lieutenant Lauren Griffin, Jonathan Howard portrays Asher Jonah, and Randy Havens portrays Dr. Tim Mancini. Tyler Crumley plays Mark and Emma's son and Madison's brother Andrew. Kevin Shinick cameos as a weatherman. Through motion capture, T.J. Storm reprises his role as Godzilla, while Jason Liles, Alan Maxson, and Richard Dorton portray the heads of King Ghidorah. Liles also portrays Rodan via motion capture. Dougherty, co-writer Zach Shields, Seth Green, Clare Grant, Eli Roth, Stephen Moyer, and Jermaine Turner make uncredited appearances as members of a fighter jet squadron attacked by Rodan. ==Production==

Crew • Michael Dougherty – director, co-writer • Zach Shields – co-writer, executive producer • Barry H. Waldman – executive producer • Dan Lin – executive producer • Roy Lee – executive producer • Yoshimitsu Banno – executive producer (posthumous) • Kenji Okuhira – executive producer • Alexandra Mendes – co-producer • Scott Chambliss – production designer • Louise Mingenbach – costume designer • Guillaume Rocheron – visual effects supervisor • Tom Woodruff Jr. – effects and creature designer Personnel taken from the press release and The Global Dispatch. Creature design The film reclassifies the monsters' designation from "MUTOs" to "Titans". Dougherty created new monsters because he felt it was part of the "Toho tradition" to add new monsters to the Godzilla pantheon. Dougherty had originally hoped for Legendary to acquire other Toho monsters such as Anguirus, Biollante, and Gigan. However, the film's budget prevented them from acquiring additional Toho characters. For the roars, the director felt it was important "getting the noises right." He gave the sound designers a "super cut" of the monster roars from the Shōwa Godzilla films, and had them start from there. He stated that the monsters would have new roars that would resemble the original incarnations. Dougherty had the Shōwa roars on a massive speaker system to use on-set for scenes where actors had to run from or react to the monsters. Pre-production In late January 2017, Millie Bobby Brown was the first to be cast for the film, in her feature film debut. In February 2017, Kyle Chandler and Vera Farmiga were cast as the parents to Brown's character. In March 2017, it was reported that O'Shea Jackson Jr. was in talks for a role in the film. In April 2017, Aisha Hinds was confirmed to join the cast of the film. In May 2017, Anthony Ramos, Randy Havens, Thomas Middleditch, and Charles Dance were added to the cast, and Sally Hawkins was confirmed to return. A press release confirmed Watanabe's return for the sequel. In June 2017, Bradley Whitford and Zhang Ziyi were added to the cast, with the latter playing a "major role" in the Monsterverse. In July 2017, Elizabeth Ludlow was added to the cast. In April 2018, Jason Liles, Alan Maxson, and Richard Dorton were cast to provide the motion capture for the heads of King Ghidorah, with Dorton performing the left head, Liles performing the middle head, and Maxson performing the right head. Other actors perform the body. Liles also provided the performance capture for Rodan. Matthew E. Cunningham was hired as a Senior Illustrator during the research and development stage. Cunningham designed most of the vehicles after the storyboard artist worked with Dougherty. Senior conceptual designer George Hull provided a series of concept paintings of vehicles and monster imagery. Production designer Scott Chambliss managed all the art directors. Artists would sometimes show concept art to the writers, producers, and director; however, Chambliss had final say on what would be shown to Dougherty and the producers. After the illustrations were approved, they were delivered for pre-vis. The visual effects used concept art and pre-viz as a reference. Legacy Effects, who had worked on Edwards' Godzilla, were brought back to provide additional concept art. Filming Principal photography began on June 19, 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia under the working title Fathom. Dougherty confirmed that the film would feature practical effects and creature designs by Tom Woodruff Jr. Lawrence Sher served as director of photography. Parts of the film were shot in the Historic Center of Mexico City between August 19–22, 2017. Dougherty announced the film had wrapped production on September 27, 2017. Visual effects and post-production Visual effects for the film were provided by Moving Picture Company (MPC), DNEG, Method Studios, Raynault VFX, Rodeo FX and Ollin VFX. Guillaume Rocheron was the main visual effects supervisor. In November 2018, post-production on the film officially ended. The brief shots of the non-Toho Titans were "late additions" during post-production. Dougherty said that an earlier cut of the film was nearly three hours long. Dougherty affectionately referred to the three-hour cut as Godzilla: The Miniseries. He considered splitting the film into two parts but decided against it, feeling that the final cut is faithful to the core of his original vision. ==Music==

On July 21, 2018, Dougherty revealed that Bear McCreary would compose the film's score, incorporating themes from Akira Ifukube's previous Godzilla scores. ==Marketing==

The marketing costs were reported to range $100–150 million. S.H. MonsterArts figures of kaiju in the movie were released for sale in June 2019. The film's novelization was released on May 31, 2019; the art book The Art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released on June 4, 2019. NECA, Jakks Pacific, and Bandai all produced toy lines for the film featuring its monsters. ==Release==

Theatrical Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released on May 31, 2019, in IMAX, 3D, Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D, 4DX, and ScreenX formats by Warner Bros. Pictures, Home media The film was released on Digital HD on August 13, 2019, and released on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and Ultra HD Blu-ray on August 27, 2019. The 4K release includes HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision high dynamic range, and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Best Buy released a retail exclusive of its own as a 4K UHD Combo steelbook release. The film's home media release debuted at number 1 on the NPD VideoScan First Alert chart. In January 2020, the film made its pay cable debut on HBO. ==Reception==

Box office Godzilla: King of the Monsters grossed $110.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $276.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $387.3 million. Chris Agar of Screen Rant estimated by the rule of thumb that the film required $400 million worldwide "just to make its money back." In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Rocketman and Ma, and was projected to gross $55–65 million from 4,108 theaters in its opening weekend. The Indian Express called reviews "largely negative". Screen Rant described responses as "so negative". Yahoo! Finance noted the reviews to be a "pretty mixed bag". Scott Mendelson from Forbes stated the film earned "mixed reviews", but later stated the film earned "mixed-negative reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same grade earned by the first two Monsterverse installments, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 85% (with an average 4.5 out of 5 stars) and a 75% "definite recommend". Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, writing that it "has rare moments of visual splendour but they can't disguise a laughable script with a ramshackle narrative." Chris Evangelista of /Film gave the film a score of 6.5 out of 10, criticizing the human characters and writing that "The ultimate kaiju smack-down shouldn't be this boring." Kate Erbland of IndieWire gave the film a grade of "C−", calling it "dark, wet, and inept," while Mike Ryan of Uproxx also gave the film a negative review, writing that "When a movie is just nonstop monster action, guess what happens? It all becomes the new 'normal' and it becomes boring." Ben Travis, writing for Empire Online, gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, stating, "Globe-trotting but not adventurous, action-packed but not remotely exciting, utterly overstuffed and completely paper-thin." Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote that the film "makes for a spectacular clash of the titans, but this one has a less commanding balance of schlock and awe," compared to its predecessor. Conversely, Alonso Duralde of the TheWrap praised the film for taking an "all-thriller-no-filler approach both to monsters and the human drama." Scott Collura of IGN.com gave the film a score of 7.8 out of 10, calling it "a fun exercise in giant monster madness that indulges in all the kaiju fights fans and even casual viewers could hope for." For Bloody Disgusting, William Bibbiani wrote Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a big, kinda silly, but otherwise exciting blockbuster. It's gorgeous, it's epic in the extreme, and it features some of the most impressive monster fights you've ever seen. Maybe someday Americans will make a Godzilla movie that isn't just 'badass,' but which also works on another level and resonates in a meaningful way. James Whitbrook of Io9 said the film "is little more than beautifully stunning sound and fury, sadly signifying nothing for its human stars—beyond them being a vector in which the movie can thickly spread on some b-movie cheese that lends the whole endeavor a sort of 'classic monster movie with a modern budget' vibe." Accolades ==Sequel==

In September 2015, Legendary's Kong: Skull Island was moved from Universal to Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and King Kong would appear in a film together. and released in the United States on March 31, 2021, simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. ==Notes==