Not even a week ago, Legendary Entertainment announced they would be having a panel at San Diego Comic Con in Hall-H and went into speculation on what they could have showed in terms of the Monsterverse and even Pacific Rim. Last night, they made a follow up announcing they will no longer be participating at San Diego Comic-Con due to SAG-AFTRA joining the WGA strike.
According to Variety, Legendary Entertainment confirmed Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire would have been showcased alongside DUNE: Part 2. Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall, and Brian Tyree Henry would have appeared at Hall-H to show off what would have been our first look at the fifth Monsterverse movie.
To give some background, the Writers Guild of America went on strike because writers were not being paid enough for their work and the studios were willing to turn to AI to write scripts for movies and TV shows. I first reported on the WGA strike back in May when Disney's King Kong show was announced to be put on hold. Apparently, negotiations were on the table and the WGA did not want anything that they were offered. So the strike turned for the worse and now the Hollywood actors are on strike.
Ever since the WGA strike began on May 2nd, the major studios (Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Paramount, and many others) have become determined to "break the WGA" and to do this their idea is to just sit and wait out the strike. The AMPTP believe that most of the writers only has enough money to last until October. Even one studio executive went on record with Deadline saying, "The endgame is to allow things to drag on until the union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses." Rather than trying to come to a deal that would financially benefit the writers, Hollywood responded with two middle fingers.
Now, the actors are on strike because they learned that the AI technology has gotten advanced enough to use a computer generated model of the actors. People do no want to lose their jobs because of a computer program. Imagine a world where the actors are too old to play their iconic characters in a blockbuster film so Hollywood decides to use a computer generated character instead of recasting a younger actor. Hollywood gets to save money, but any actors that would like to play the role are forced to miss out. They don't get the chance to get paid.
So without actors AND writers, no movies and TV shows are getting the promotional tour they need to spread good word of mouth. No interviews talking about their movies and TV shows will be made. Actors have vowed not to promote any movie or show anywhere. This includes social media, talk shows, conventions, red carpet premiers, media journalists, etc.
With that in mind, I have seen rumors being spread that this will cancel Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. I highly doubt that will be the case since the movie is done with filming the movie and is in post-production. There is no point in canceling if the movie is about finished. Could there be a delay? I would not leave it out of the realm of possibility. If none of the actors are willing to go on tour to promote the movie, then who else will go out to promote the film? How else are you going to convince audiences that this movie needs to be seen in theaters? It takes more than just a movie trailer to convince people to see the film. Adam Wingard can't be the only one that has to go on press tours. He can do interviews, but his time is limited. He has to make sure post-production of Godzilla X Kong goes smoothly and looks as good as it can be before it is time to release the movie. So I would not be surprised if in the next few days or so Legendary announces to delay the movie. Let's say we get a trailer dropped online next week and it does not have a release date consider that as confirmation that the movie is delayed indefinitely.
What are your thoughts on Legendary Entertainment canceling their SDCC panel? Do you think we will still see something for Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire next week? Leave a comment in the comments section of your thoughts on the matter. Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Minds, MeWe, Gab, and TRUTH Social to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.
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