‘King Kong’ TV Series Coming to Disney Plus, James Wan’s Atomic Monster Developing
More adventures in Skull Island are coming our way. King Kong will have a throne on Disney Plus too.
In what might be one of the most unexpected news of the summer, Deadline has learned a King Kong TV series is in active development at Disney Branded Television, who are working on the project alongside James Wan’s Atomic Monster company. The (very early) plot details suggest a live-action “serialized action-adventure drama” that will explore the origins of Kong and the supernatural forces that lie dormant in Skull Island.
Now, before anyone starts scratching their heads or wondering how this fits into Legendary’s MonsterVerse (with a Godzilla vs. Kong sequel currently shooting): the original King Kong story has been part of the public domain for quite a while now, so that’s why the character has been jumping around a bit and why two iterations of Kong will be co-existing in the near future should this project move forward. This new take on everyone’s favorite giant ape will be written by Paper Girls creator Stephany Folsom and lean heavily on “Merian C. Cooper’s original books and the new King Kong novelizations by Joe DeVito.”
Folsom executive produces alongside James Wan, Michael Clear, and Rob Hackett for Atomic Monster, plus Dannie Festa and Marc Manus for World Builder Entertainment. The Merian C. Cooper Estate had already teamed with DeVito to produce “new novelizations that are being used as source material for the series.” Apparently, this isn’t their first crack at a King Kong TV series either, as another version was in development at MarVista Entertainment and IM Global Television five years ago with a different creative team.
Francisco J. Ruiz is that guy who has watched Jurassic Park a thousand times and loves Star Wars. His hunger for movies is only matched by his love for video games. He graduated in English Studies from the University of Malaga, in Spain. As he keeps writing about what he enjoys (and doesn’t) for websites all over, he’s continuing his studies.
