Godzilla vs. Kong writer Max Borenstein teases the development of future installments in Legendary's MonsterVerse franchise. The series first launched in 2014 with the American reboot of Godzilla, which received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed over $529 million against a $160 million budget. This success would lead to 2017's Kong: Skull Island, 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters and the recently released hit Godzilla vs. Kong. Borenstein has been attached to the franchise since its inception, having written the script for Godzilla and co-writing Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla vs. Kong while helping develop the story for Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
The latest installment in the MonsterVerse franchise acted as a culmination of the first three films as the titular kaiju first began fighting each other, only to later team up and face off against a bigger threat. With their interconnected stories seemingly coming to a conclusion in Godzilla vs. Kong, the future of the series has been largely unknown save for teases that director Adam Wingard is in negotiations to helm a new film and Son of Kong reportedly in development. While no new word has been given as of yet, one person closely involved in the franchise has offered some hopeful insight into its future.
In anticipation of the release of the biographical drama Worth, Borenstein spoke exclusively with Screen Rant about his time with the MonsterVerse. In looking to the future of the franchise, Borenstein confirmed he does know of talks regarding installments currently in the works, though kept mum on what those may be. See what Borenstein told us:
"I’ve heard some exciting things that are happening that I can’t divulge. They have a great handle on things there and I certainly have thoughts and am always excited when I get involved in them. I think it’s in good hands and with the success of Godzilla vs. Kong, there will be some new, interesting installments coming. Without being able to say any of that officially, you can look at the fact that that film performed and people really responded to it. I think it was really wonderful timing for people to have that towards the end of that surge in the pandemic, people really felt eager to see something that was fun and joyful in the cinema and it was really exciting to have our movie be that movie."
The success of the MonsterVerse even in the midst of a pandemic does point towards fan interest in seeing classic monsters do battle with one another or with bigger foes on the big screen. Godzilla vs. Kong itself grossed over $467 million against a break-even point of $330 million, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2021 while also becoming the most successful launch item for HBO Max upon release until Mortal Kombat surpassed it the following month. Though Godzilla and Kong's stories seemingly concluded with the film, there is still plenty of room to adapt iconic areas of the characters' older films.
Borenstein's comments regarding the future of the MonsterVerse may not add much to the discussion, as Legendary CEO Josh Grode has previously confirmed there are ideas in the works at the studio for the franchise to continue. It is interesting to note, though, that Borenstein describes the franchise as "being in good hands" at the studio, possibly pointing to the writer not being attached in the same capacity for some of the projects in the works. While waiting for word on what's to come, fans can revisit Godzilla vs. Kong as it is now available on 4K Ultra-HD, Blu-ray and digital platforms today and when it returns to HBO Max on August 17.