With the kaiju genre experiencing an unprecedented resurgence in recent years, and films like Legendary’s upcoming Kong: Skull Island, Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, Godzilla 2, and Godzilla vs Kong continuing to generate hype, it is evident that giant monsters have become a hot commodity to Hollywood, and ever since 2013’s Pacific Rim and 2014’s Godzilla, the race has been on for various studios to find potential properties to adapt into the next hit film or franchise. With Godzilla, Kong, and even the Power Rangers getting new big budget films, other properties, such as the hit “giant monster vs giant robot” tabletop game Monsterpocolypse, the comic series Enormous, and several others have recently been optioned to become both big and small screen epics.
One of these properties is the popular Rampage video game franchise. First launched back in 1986, the original game pit three giant monsters (a dinosaurian Godzilla-type named Lizzy, a Kong-esque gorilla named George, and a werewolf named Ralph) against an unsuspecting city, and military forces, in a contest of destruction. The property, which has seen several sequels over the last 30 years, was optioned over a year ago by Warner Brothers, and was set to be brought to the screen by the same team that produced the apocalyptic epic San Andreas, including writer Carlton Cuse, director Brad Peyton, producer Beau Flynnstar, and action superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Although initially announced for a 2017 release date, 2016 went by with very little acknowledgement that the film was even still happening. Today, however, Warner Brothers finally announced the first major piece of news regarding Rampage in many months: a release date of April 20, 2018. Hitting screens less than two months after Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, the blockbuster is hoped by the filmmakers to launch a potential new franchise, with hopes for a Rampage 2 already being voiced.
With Johnson currently wrapping the shoot of the Jumanji sequel, it is believed that he will next jump right into Rampage. With the actor’s high demand in Hollywood, and numerous other roles on the docket, monster fans can rejoice in the fact that he will be putting those other projects on the back burner to take on a trio of destructive daikaiju.
A synopsis for the film has yet to be released.
What do you think of this news? Are you excited for Rampage? Does the idea of The Rock potentially fighting giant monsters leave you weak at the knees? Let us know in the comments section below, and be sure to check back often for more news on Rampage and other upcoming kaiju films, right here on Scified!
News/Image Source: MovieWeb.com
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