With just eight days to go until the release of Kong: Skull Island, the newest reboot of the classic franchise is in the final stretch of promotion. Like most movies based on the iconic giant ape, Skull Island stars like Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston have mostly taken a backseat to Kong himself. Most trailers and previews for Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ film showcase a gargantuan, typically fearsome Kong battling against much tinier humans.
The theme of most of the promotional push for Kong: Skull Island teases a massive sense of scale and a spectacle of action and humor. It has even been compared to classic war movies like Apocalypse Now. Like Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake, there will be no shortage of giant monsters that both Kong and the human characters will have to fight. But of course, on Skull Island, Kong is king. And two new posters for the film celebrate the titular ape as much as any piece of content released so far.
A new report from Collider revealed a new original poster for Kong: Skull Island by artist Paul Ainsworth. It will be on display for a limited time in a special exhibit at the Bottleneck Gallery in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. Ainsworth’s vibrant, highly stylized poster features a drawing of King Kong, a giant skull, and two soldiers battling the ape, with the tagline, “All Hail the King.”
Elsewhere, Cinema Blend revealed another original poster for the film by artist Berkay Daglar. It features King Kong, a group of pterodactyls, and a fleet of helicopters, with the tagline “Awaken the King.”
The upcoming exhibit at the Bottleneck gallery is known as “Tribe of Kong,” curated by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. It will feature Ainsworth and Daglar’s posters, along with five other original pieces commissioned by art agency Poster Posse. It will also feature three original works commissioned by the Bottleneck Gallery.
In a press release via Collider, the Brooklyn-based Bottleneck Gallery describes King Kong as “an influential cinematic icon that has inspired nothing short of a pop culture movement” and the event as a “celebration of his iconic status.” It should come as no surprise that, despite a cast filled with accomplished and bankable stars, the ape himself is the true star of Kong: Skull Island.
Above all conflicts, Kong: Skull Island is likely to center around King Kong and how he reacts to the invasion of his homeland. The concern, here, is that the film focuses too much on action and special effects at the expense of a coherent story with resonant themes. But based on the previews, the film nonetheless looks visually spectacular - and, like with any installment in the franchise, no character will be more compelling than King Kong himself.
Source: Collider, Cinema Blend
