Dan Stevens is set to star in the follow-up to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, reuniting with director Adam Wingard, Deadline has reported exclusively. This is the first casting announcement for the film, which is set to start production this summer in Australia. Stevens and Wingard first worked together on the critically acclaimed film The Guest, and Wingard’s work on Godzilla vs. Kong was generally well-regarded, so the next MonsterVerse film is in good hands.
While there are very few details on the plot, Godzilla vs. Kong left a lot of loose ends. After uniting to fight Mechagodzilla, Godzilla and Kong go their separate ways, with Kong now ruling Hollow Earth. Wingard said to Collider last year “I know where we could go potentially with future films.” Godzilla vs. Kong proved to be a theatrical success, crossing the $100 million mark at the domestic box office while also available on HBO Max. The film was a catalyst in bringing audiences back to theaters in 2021, after the onset of the pandemic.
Stevens’ breakout role was as Matthew Crawley on Downtown Abbey, before eventually playing the titular Beast in 2017’s Beauty and the Beast opposite Emma Watson. Stevens also starred in the FX series Legion as David Haller. Stevens and Wingard’s previous shared project, The Guard, is about a US Soldier (Stevens) who visits a family, saying he is a friend of their son who died in combat. The action thriller surprised audiences at Sundance in 2014 and helped propel both the actor and the director to more mainstream projects.
There is no word yet if any recurring cast members from the MonsterVerse will be appearing in the film. This depends, in part, on if the film will focus on Kong or Godzilla. Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler often appear opposite Godzilla, while Godzilla vs. Kong established Alexander Skarsgård and Kaylee Hottle as Kong’s human counterparts. Any of these actors could appear depending on the timeline and further plot details of the film. Even with the introduction of Mechagodzilla, there are still many untapped Toho characters that Wingard could introduce into the MonsterVerse.
Right now, you can catch Stevens as Nixon White House Counsel John Dean in Gaslit, the Starz limited series about Watergate also starring Julia Roberts. You can watch Godzilla vs. Kong, and several other installments in the MonsterVerse, on HBOMax right now.
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