While Kong: Skull Island recently saw Oscar nominee Michael Keaton (Birdman) and Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) drop out of the Universal Pictures and Legendary Entertainment co-production due to scheduling conflicts, Deadline reports a recent Oscar snub may be taking on the lead female role in the film.
Brie Larson — who gave a knockout performance in the 2013 independent drama Short Term 12 and more recently was featured alongside Amy Schumer in Trainwreck — is in talks to star in the latest update of the King Kong mythos alongside Tom Hiddleston, who joined the cast back in September.
According to Deadline, Legendary is still looking for actors to replace Keaton and Simmons, with Russell Crowe among the studio’s chief targets. Given the film won’t go into production until early 2016 there is still time to settle things on the casting front, but I’ll be curious to see who Legendary brings in alongside Larson and Hiddleston. It seems the script isn’t yet finished, as the studio is currently awaiting a new draft from John Gatins (Flight) and Max Borenstein (Godzilla).
Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kings of Summer) is helming the project, and according to the synopsis 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.” Further, the film “honors the foundations of existing King Kong lore, but places it in an entirely new, distinct timeline.” I’m sure it does all that, but it’s going to take more for me to really get interested, though the addition of Larson is a good start.
Kong: Skull Island carries a March 10, 2017 release date.
