Live-Action King Kong TV Series in Development at Disney+

The recent success of the Monsterverse would have many believe that every King Kong and Godzilla project would be coming directly from Legendary and Warner Bros. Discovery, but it seems that in addition to their upcoming Godzilla vs Kong sequel, and the connected Apple TV+ Godzilla and the Titans TV series and new King Kong based series has just gone into development with Disney Branded Television. Deadline reports that the new series is in the very early stages, but it will be a live-action serialized series that will head to Disney+ and comes from James Wan’s Atomic Monster.

According to the information available on the new addition to the Kong franchise, the show will be “a serialized action/adventure drama that brings the classic monster story into the modern age, with a return to Skull Island and the dawn of a new Kong. The series will explore the mythology of King Kong’s origin story and the supernatural mysteries of his home based on IP from Merian C. Cooper’s original books and the new King Kong novelizations by Joe DeVito.”

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The near-90-year-old giant ape has had a long and meandering history on screen, from his original appearance in 1933, through sequels, Godzilla franchise cross-overs, and remakes, up to date with his Hollywood blockbuster smack-down with Japan’s best-known kaiju in Godzilla vs Kong last year. In all that time, the rights to the character have been passed around several studios, meaning there are rights to King Kong are somewhat entangled, which is partly the reason for the Legendary/Warner Bros. Discovery Monsterverse only ever referring to the character as Kong and not giving him his regal title.

Related: Godzilla vs Kong 2 Plot Revealed by Australian Government Press Release

Disney+’s King Kong Will Be the First TV Show Based on the Character

Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Entertainment

While the working title of the new project is listed as King Kong, there is likely to be some change made to that before the series hits Disney+, presumably sometime in the next few years. What is interesting about this project is that while it is the first live-action series to feature the iconic primate, it is not the first attempt that has been made to bring Kong to the small screen. Around five years ago, a series under the title of King Kong Skull Island was being developed from the books of Cooper, but that series did not get beyond its early development stages.

This series is based on new novelizations that are being produced by the Merian C. Cooper Estate and artist Joe DeVito, which will act as the source material for the origin story of King Kong and will also take some of its story from the original book. This means we will likely see a whole new retelling of the King Kong story that could link to the well-known storyline of the original 1933 movie, but told from a different perspective.

With King Kong only in early development right now, it is likely the new Monsterverse series and Godzilla vs Kong 2 will arrive first, and that should ensure that interest in the classic movie monster is still swinging high by the time the series hits Disney+.

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