Tag: Alex Ferns

Oscar Predictions – Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

The previous four features in Universal’s MonsterVerse franchise have yielded precisely one Oscar nomination and it was for the movie without Godzilla in the title. That would be the second feature 2017’s Kong: Skull Island for its Visual Effects (it lost to Blade Runner 2049). The other entries with the jolly green giant on the poster – 2014’s Godzilla, 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong – didn’t make the VE competition or any other.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is out this Easter weekend and reviews are mixed. Adam Wingard directs with Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen among the human cast. The monster mash sits below the 76% RT score that (strangely enough) Godzilla, Skull Island, and Godzilla vs. Kong share. The 62% rating is above the 42% that King of the Monsters was saddled with.

Visual Effects is really the only possibility unless there’s a surprise Sound nod. The VE are being singled out by some writers. What’s transpired already in the MonsterVerse suggests it’s an uphill battle for final five inclusion. Academy voters also honored the title character just last year when Japan’s Godzilla Minus One won the category (giving Godzilla his first gold statue). My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Box Office Prediction

Warner Bros is looking for a profitable monster mashup when Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire touches down on March 29th. It is the fifth feature in the MonsterVerse series behind Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). Adam Wingard, who made the iconic creature battle from three years ago, directs. Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kaylee Hottle reprise their roles from the last flick with Dan Stevens, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen joining the fracas.

Empire is highly unlikely to approach the premiere gross that Godzilla managed nearly 10 years ago with $93 million. The $61 million achieved by Skull Island might be out of reach as well. The best comps are its two immediate predecessors. Monsters started off with $47 million and that was considered a letdown at the time. Godzilla vs. Kong was released when COVID was still limiting earnings potential. It made $31 million out of the gate. Yet its legs were a little stronger as it ended up with $100 million domestic vs. the slightly more $110 million for Monsters.

There’s a possibility that #5 posts the third best debut of the quintet. I suspect that it will with a gross just ahead of what part 3 achieved.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opening weekend prediction: $52.2 million