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So what is it about the Monsterverse that has allowed it to be one of the few surviving attempts as a "Cinematic Universe"?
- Thread starter Kalentan
- Start date
The slow release schedule. One movie every 2-3 years. This is they key to its success imo. If we started getting 3 monster movies a year id drop this shit so fast.
These two posts right here. We're simple people. We love seeing big monsters destroy cities while actively trying to fight each other and we love that these movies aren't getting ridiculously milked to the point where its been oversaturated already.
Basically, it was because of Covid.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a flop and would've sunk the franchise, but Godzilla vs. Kong was already pretty much finished (at least, the filming), Covid happened so almost all production on other movies was paused, so they were like "Well, let's just finish Godzilla vs. Kong, so we at least have one big movie we can release whenever cinemas open up again".
So they did, it was a huge success and the rest is history. Without Covid the franchise would've likely been killed off after KotM.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Godzilla (2014) and Kong: Skull Island all made over half a billy at the BO and Godzilla vs. Kong also made almost 500k at the BO (which is very impressive for something that went to streaming less than two months later and was released when most cinemas were at least partly closed).
Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a flop and would've sunk the franchise, but Godzilla vs. Kong was already pretty much finished (at least, the filming), Covid happened so almost all production on other movies was paused, so they were like "Well, let's just finish Godzilla vs. Kong, so we at least have one big movie we can release whenever cinemas open up again".
So they did, it was a huge success and the rest is history. Without Covid the franchise would've likely been killed off after KotM.
You're remembering wrong. Yes, King of the Monsters underperformed, but otherwise these movies have done very well.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Godzilla (2014) and Kong: Skull Island all made over half a billy at the BO and Godzilla vs. Kong also made almost 500k at the BO (which is very impressive for something that went to streaming less than two months later and was released when most cinemas were at least partly closed).
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they only put out a movie every 2-3 years. i'd see that.
i won't see a new monsterverse movie every 6 months or even yearly.
spend enough so the VFX is good, have a good ratio of monster/humans - its been improving every movie - and making it goofy but not too goofy, a little serious but not too serious - and people will show up.
Jason Statham has released 50 movies in his career, every single one of them in theaters, and almost all of them have been profitable. He gets it. The Beekeeper is not high art, but its the right budget, it comes out at the right time, it is easy enough to watch, and he's built that fan base.
i won't see a new monsterverse movie every 6 months or even yearly.
spend enough so the VFX is good, have a good ratio of monster/humans - its been improving every movie - and making it goofy but not too goofy, a little serious but not too serious - and people will show up.
Jason Statham has released 50 movies in his career, every single one of them in theaters, and almost all of them have been profitable. He gets it. The Beekeeper is not high art, but its the right budget, it comes out at the right time, it is easy enough to watch, and he's built that fan base.
My hope is that they just take it to its logical conclusion and remove the human element almost entirely. Make these movies like the "live-action" Lion King, or better yet, like Prehistoric Planet.
Because it's not a "cinematic universe."
Its just a adding another IP to an existing franchise sequels who already has had a history with cross over characters including King Kong over 60 years ago.
Its just a adding another IP to an existing franchise sequels who already has had a history with cross over characters including King Kong over 60 years ago.
It's more of a series than a universe. It doesn't have a lot of moving parts. There's not much of a web of interconnected but segregated stories. In older days people would just call some of this stuff "spinoffs." It's still primarily one film series right now.
This is my thought. The fact that, as far as I can tell from what I've watched (Godzilla 2014-Godzilla vs Kong), the Universe seems to be focused on just these two monsters. No fluff or bloat of making stand-alone movies on other Titans.
The secret is they wanted it to be a cinematic universe, probably with spin-offs for Mothra, Rodan etc. But then KotM underperformed and GvK did great, that gave them the chance to pivot away from the cinematic universe formula and to a regular franchise. We won't see solo movies for Godzilla and Kong anymore, and anything else that releases like Monarch is firmly in the spin-off category. In that sense it's no different from Fast & Furious 1-3 being all over the place before settling on a main cast and formula.
Well, yeah, Godzilla has been a cinematic universe for long before Avengers, for one. Lots of the monsters in these films started out in their own movies originally.
It's only really this, MCU, and The Conjuring that have seen any sustained success.
It's only really this, MCU, and The Conjuring that have seen any sustained success.
If you look up some videos concerning pacific rim interviews his plan was to reveal that is was us all along that were sending the Kaiju back to help terraform the planet so that they could live in it.
It's a consistent IP that people are familiar with, but haven't been overexposed to yet. Both Kong & Godzilla are iconic characters, and the MonsterVerse has been pretty smart with changing up the style over the course of different projects. Plus unlike other cinematic universes - they don't seem to obsess about continuity or bringing back characters from past movies unless it's needed. A total rando can walk into Godzilla x Kong with no familiarity of the past films, and still be fundamentally satisfied by the story.
Same reason why The Conjuring has kept going as a "connected universe" - you can walk into The Nun II without even having seen The Nun I (much less the whole franchise), and still get the "creepy Nun movie" that was advertised to you. Compare that to The Marvels, where you basically need to have seen two seasons of Disney+ TV shows to get properly introduced to the characters.
Same reason why The Conjuring has kept going as a "connected universe" - you can walk into The Nun II without even having seen The Nun I (much less the whole franchise), and still get the "creepy Nun movie" that was advertised to you. Compare that to The Marvels, where you basically need to have seen two seasons of Disney+ TV shows to get properly introduced to the characters.
Its big monsters punching the shit out of each other for a couple hours straight. and kids seem to love it too. not to mention people love the kind of stuff where you can just turn your brain off and watch something. i assume Transformers just isnt scratching the itch people have for dumb bombastic fights and want something else.
It's fun and the first two or three films were really well made.
Skull Island and KoTM are two of my favorite films of all time. Godzilla vs. Kong & Godzilla x Kong have moved a little too far into B territory but still, decent outings.
Skull Island and KoTM are two of my favorite films of all time. Godzilla vs. Kong & Godzilla x Kong have moved a little too far into B territory but still, decent outings.
That's true, Godzilla developed quite a large cast of characters when the folks at Toho realized they could
Because they're not over-reaching. It's not four billion characters with movies based on each monster. It's simple sequels/prequels, a spinoff tv show that largely functions on its own, and what I imagine are reasonable expectations and budgets.
It IS funny tho that the series would have been dead if it wasn't for GvK being done already and Covid.
What a wild turn of events that I'm grateful for.
And in general, I guess it just makes sense that one of the originators of the "cinematic universe" continues to thrive even 70-ish years later.
It IS funny tho that the series would have been dead if it wasn't for GvK being done already and Covid.
What a wild turn of events that I'm grateful for.
And in general, I guess it just makes sense that one of the originators of the "cinematic universe" continues to thrive even 70-ish years later.