Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Wilkinson And Maybe John C. Reilly Joining 'Kong: Skull Island'
Even though the Universal Pictures origin story of King Kong from Legendary Pictures recently lost Michael Keaton and J.K. Simmons, the studio is still moving full steam ahead with Kong: Skull Island by looking for replacements, and adding some new talent as well.
Samuel L. Jackson is reportedly in early talks to take the role that was vacation by Oscar winner J.K. Simmons, and John C. Reilly is at the top of a list of actors being considered to replace Keaton, who left the project due to scheduling. In addition, Tom Wilkinson (Batman Begins) is also up for another lead role in the movie. Find out more about the Kong Skull Island cast after the jump!Deadline reports that none of these actors have deals in place yet, so someone else entirely might end up in these roles. Russell Crowe was just recently named as being in consideration for one of the roles vacated by Simmons and Keaton, so either he's out of the running or he's also on the list of candidates like Reilly.Brie Larson was recently recruited for the female lead in the movie, though details on her character have yet to be revealed. In addition, Corey Hawkins, who plays Dr. Dre in Straight Outta Compton, has also taken a role in Kong: Skull Island, but again we don't know who he will play. In fact, we don't really know who any of these actors will be playing. As of now we only know that they'll be part of a team of explorers who head to the title home where King Kong is found.
Written by John Gatins and Max Borenstein and directed by Kings of Summer helmer Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Kong: Skull Island is officially described as follows:
KONG: SKULL ISLAND will fully immerse audiences in the mysterious and dangerous home of the king of the apes as a team of explorers ventures deep inside the treacherous, primordial island. Legendary's story honors the foundations of existing King Kong lore, but places it in an entirely new, distinct timeline.
As of now my biggest question will be how King Kong will be created in the movie. I don't mean as in how did he come to be on Skull Island, but rather how he will be created with visual effects.
Even if you didn't like Peter Jackson's King Kong, it's hard to argue that the motion-capture and visual effects combination that brought Kong to life was breathtaking and most of the work done ten years ago still looks good to this day. The performance that Kong gives as a character is key to making this film work, so I hope that great care is taken to make it right, especially since IMAX 3D is said to be a big part of the release plan for the movie, and Kong needs to look good on such a massive screen.
Kong: Skull Island arrives on March 10th, 2017. Stay tuned for more.