In Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, director Adam Wingard - who previously helmed 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Godzilla vs. Kong - wears his love of monster movies on his sleeve. Really leaning into the VFX and foregrounding the monster🦩s more than they evꦯer have been in the MonsterVerse series, Wingard’s warmth towards these fantastic beasts is clear to see, as the giant ape and radioact🍒ive lizard join fo🌄rces to take on the fearsome Skar King.
Wingard also incorporates ✤in Easter eggs and references to the classic Toho films throughout. Speaking to the Inside Total Film podcast and GamesRadar+, he confirms that the Showa era is his favorite G⛄odzilla one. “I like the psychedelic, colorful vibe,” he says. “Godzilla vs. Hedorah is my favorite of that series, because it’s the most experimental. It’s like the Easy Rider of Godzilla movies.”
He’s also a big fan of 1995’s Godzilla vs. 🌠Destoroyah. “I thi♑nk there’s a lot of good movies in that period. But, you know, I always kind of go from Showa, and then I skip all the way forward to Destoroyah. Because Destoroyah summarises almost the whole history of Godzilla, in a way.
"In a way, it’s kind of the closest anything has evౠer been to the Showa films, without trying to be… And it&r🌼squo;s just a really beautiful movie that is very moving at the end.”
Wingard says that his top five Godzilla movies are the original (“you can’t deny that one”), Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla vs. The Astro Monster, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters, and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. He also adds, “I’m not including 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:[Godzilla] Minus One b🍷ecause it’s too new to 🌠me, but I would definitely say Minus One would be in my top five as well.”
That Japanese film from 2023 won Big G his first Oscar (for Visual Effects), and speaks to what a moment the legendary kaiju is having right now. As Winga🐼rd sees it, Godzilla’s success there “absolutely” benefits Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
“I mean, it’s kind of crazy, because I’ve been in the MonsterVerse now for seven years or so – if you count the pre-production on Godzilla vs. Kong," Wingard explains. "And it’s just incredible to see how Godzilla’s just become such a cultural phenomenon right now. Everything’s kind of syncing up. It’s interesting how that’s kind of syncing up with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Oppenheimer winning [the Oscar] as well, you know, because obviously the roots of Godzilla – and youಞ see it very clearly in Minus One &𓃲ndash; come from the same sort of story that Oppenheimer is telling.
“I think it’s a good thing, and I’m really happy for [Minus One director Takashi] Yamazaki. He’s such a great guy. We both really hit it off the other day. I was actually surprised how many of our influences within Godzilla are pretty consistent. He’s a big Showa era movie fan. He really likes Hedorah. And it turns out that both of our ca🌃ts are a big inspiration in terms of our appr🐼oach to Godzilla, which is an interesting thing as well!’
Godzilla x Kong: The New ꦕEmpire opens in theaters worldwide on March 29. Hear more from Wingard on the upcoming episode of the that drops l🐠ater today.
I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career h🧜ighlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.
