MonsterVerse

Development

Legendary Entertainment confirmed at the July 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International that it had acquired the rights to Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah from Toho and revealed concept footage with the closing title cards reading "Conflict: inevitable. Let them fight". In September 2015, Legendary announced that the film Kong: Skull Island would not be developed with Universal Studios. Instead, it would be developed with Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and King Kong would appear in a film together.

In October 2015, Legendary announced plans to unite Godzilla and King Kong in a film titled Godzilla vs. Kong, set for a 2020 release date. Legendary plans to create a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" (the secret government agency which debuted in 2014's Godzilla) and that "brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new". While Legendary will maintain its home at Universal, it will continue to collaborate with Warner Bros. for the franchise. Later in October, it was announced that Kong: Skull Island will have references to Monarch.

In May 2016, Warner Bros. announced that Godzilla vs. Kong would be released on May 29, 2020, and that Godzilla: King of the Monsters would be pushed back from its original June 2018 release date to March 22, 2019. In October 2016, Legendary announced that Godzilla: King of the Monsters would be filmed at its parent company Wanda's Oriental Movie Metropolis facility in Qingdao, China, along with Pacific Rim: Uprising. That same month, it was revealed that Legendary was planning a "writers' room" to create their Godzilla–Kong cinematic universe, with Alex Garcia overseeing the project for Legendary.

In early January 2017, Thomas Tull, founder of Legendary, resigned from the company, but remains producer for the Godzilla–Kong series, which is officially titled "MonsterVerse". In March 2017, Legendary assembled its "writers' room" to develop the MonsterVerse. Terry Rossio (who co-wrote an early unproduced script for TriStar's Godzilla) leads a team consisting of Patrick McKay, J. D. Payne, Lindsey Beer, Cat Vasko, T.S. Nowlin, Jack Paglen, and J. Michael Straczynski.

Godzilla (2014)

The film retells Godzilla's origins in contemporary times and is set 15 years after a nuclear meltdown in Japan which subsequently awakens two giant parasitic creatures, known as "MUTO's", who ravage the countryside in order to reproduce but in doing so, awaken a much larger, more destructive, ancient alpha predator, known as "Godzilla", whose existence has been kept secret by the U.S. government since 1954. The film introduces Godzilla, the MUTO'S, and the Monarch organization to the MonsterVerse.

In 2004, director Yoshimitsu Banno acquired permission from Toho to produce a short IMAX Godzilla film which was in development for several years until the project was eventually turned over to Legendary Pictures. In March 2010, Legendary announced to have acquired to rights to Godzilla for a feature film reboot. In January 2011, Gareth Edwards was announced as the director for the film. The film was co-produced with Warner Bros. Pictures with filming completed in 2013 in Canada and the United States for release in 2014. Godzilla was released on May 16, 2014 to positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $200 million domestically and $529 million worldwide.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

The film is set in 1973 and follows a team of scientists and Vietnam War soldiers who travel to an uncharted island in the Pacific and encounter terrifying creatures and the mighty Kong. The film introduces King Kong and the Skull Crawlers to the MonsterVerse and a post-credits scene introduces Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah to the MonsterVerse.

In July 2014 at the San Diego Comic-Con, Legendary announced a King Kong origin story, initially titled Skull Island, with a release date of November 4, 2016, and Universal Pictures distributing. In September 2014, Jordan Vogt-Roberts was announced as the film's director. In September 2015, Legendary moved development of the film from Universal Pictures to Warner Bros. to create an expanded cinematic universe. Principal photography began on October 19, 2015, in Hawaii and various locations around Vietnam. Kong: Skull Island was released on March 10, 2017 to positive reviews from critics and has grossed $151.5 million worldwide, against its $185 million budget.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

Gareth Edwards (director of 2014's Godzilla) stated that he wanted Godzilla to work as a standalone film with a definitive ending, and he opposed suggestions that the ending should leave the film open for a sequel. He said that he had no problem coming back to do a sequel if the film did well, but his main concern was delivering a satisfying experience with the current film: "I want a story that begins and ends, and you leave on a high note. That's all we cared about when we were making this; just this film. If this film is good, the others can come, but let's just pay attention to this and not get sidetracked by other things."

After a successful opening of over $196 million worldwide for 2014's Godzilla, Legendary green-light the Godzilla sequel with plans to produce a trilogy with Edwards attached to direct. At the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con in July 2014, Legendary confirmed that they have acquired the rights to Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah from Toho. A short teaser movie clip showing concept art of all three with the ending tagline "Let them fight" was shown. Other details of their appearances in either of the two sequels were not announced.

In the fall of 2014, Legendary announced that the sequel will be released on June 8, 2018 and that writer Max Borenstein will return to write the screenplay. Borenstein later spoke about the sequel, stating, "The response to the first film was really exciting, but now that that world is established, we can do bigger and even better things." While promoting Kong: Skull Island, Borenstein mentioned that one thing he aimed to do in the Godzilla sequel is make Godzilla more empathetic for the audience, referencing the end of the first film, "When [Godzilla] blows his blue flame down the throat of the other creature – a creature we never empathized with in any way – we’re empathizing with Godzilla. That’s the thing about the movie that I’m most proud of, and I think Gareth did an amazing job pulling that off. I think that’s what sets up our Godzilla franchise in a way that the second Godzilla movie can pick up on to begin to make Godzilla a more relatable, emphatic figure. But it needed that groundwork because you don’t immediately invest emotionally in something that looks like a giant dragon or lizard." On April 13, 2015, Taylor-Johnson stated he was unsure if he would reprise his role for the sequel and that his return depended on Edwards's decision.

In May 2016, Warner Bros. announced that Godzilla 2 would be pushed back from its original June 2018 release date to March 22, 2019. That same month, Warner Bros. revealed that Edwards left the sequel to work on smaller scale projects.

In October 2016, it was revealed that Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields (both who worked on Krampus) would write the script for Godzilla 2. A day later, it was reported that Dougherty was also in negotiations to direct Godzilla 2. That same month, Legendary announced that the film would be filmed at its parent company Wanda's Qingdao Movie Metropolis facility in China, along with Pacific Rim: Uprising. The film is scheduled to begin filming in Atlanta in June 2017.

In December 2016, Legendary revealed that the official title for Godzilla 2 would be Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In early January 2017, Michael Dougherty was officially confirmed as the director for Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In late January 2017, Millie Bobby Brown was cast for the film. In February 2017, Kyle Chandler and Vera Farmiga were cast as the parents to Brown's character.

Godzilla vs. Kong (2020)

Legendary first announced the film in October 2015 when it also announced its plans for a shared cinematic franchise featuring Godzilla and King Kong. In May 2016, Warner Bros. announced that the film would be released on May 29, 2020. In March 2017, Legendary assembled its "writers' room" to develop the MonsterVerse and story for Godzilla vs. Kong.