Kaiju History – There Was A Time In Their Rivalry When Kong Was The Victor And Godzilla Was Left For Dead
JB Augustine
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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire marks the third time the two Titans have shared the screen and dominated the box office. It certainly won’t be the last even if the MonsterVerse takes a hiatus, but just as many opportunities to pit them against each other for another round or two fell by the wayside over the years.
Going back to the early 1960s and their first encounter that’s wowed audiences for ages, Toho wanted to give people more Godzilla and Kong, together and separately. They achieved the latter with King Kong Escapes and the white-hot spate of Showa Godzilla films, but couldn’t accomplish booking that rematch.
This was unfortunate when King Kong vs. Godzilla was the most successful film in the franchise to date. It still holds the record for the most attended Godzilla film, was the second-highest-grossing Japanese film upon release, and sold the most tickets of any Godzilla movie until Shin and (later) Minus One came along.
The film also revived interest in the big lizard as a property, so Toho was keen on a quick turnaround for a follow-up. Naturally, their first idea was a direct sequel called alternatively King Kong vs. Godzilla 2 and Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla.
The script was written by the returning Shinichi Sekizawa who wrote the preceding matchup’s screenplay and allegedly penned a treatment for the unmade Batman ’66 vs. Godzilla project. His story – to put it mildly – had some unexpected turns thrown in that make for some of the wildest missed opportunities in franchise history.
The biggest swing Sekizawa took with modern sensibilities and expectations in mind was killing his big star and sidelining him for most of the movie. That’s right, Godzilla, Toho’s Golden Boy, did not survive his climactic battle with Kong that ended with both monsters plunging into the sea.
To be clear, there was no alternate ending to the first one as many used to believe, but Kong surfacing and swimming off into the sunset nevertheless left a question mark over the fate of his opponent. Though he brushed it off and lived to fight another day in established Showa canon, Sekizawa had other ideas that only get wackier from here.
Godzilla’s body would have been fished from the ocean floor and put on display as an attraction at some kind of resort. This was no theme park like the one seen in Godzilla vs. Gigan (no, sir).
Meanwhile, Kong is stumbled upon in Africa protecting a Japanese toddler, the last survivor of a plane crash. His extended family arrives to rescue him but the protective Ape Titan isn’t having that. He follows the party back to Japan to find the child and winds up raising hell.
As you can probably gather, Kong’s raison-d’etre changes here from a lover of women with a preference for blondes to the friend of children he is in the MonsterVerse. Maybe this is where they got the idea, but who knows?
In any event, Japan suddenly needs a way to stop Kong who’s able to roll through failed naval and ground strikes. Luckily, they have a Godzilla lying around; they just have to bring him back to life somehow. Using a series of explosions and electric shocks, they manage to kickstart his heart.
Godzilla and Kong take a break to recuperate, but once they are lured to a volcanic island, it’s on like KK’s cousin Donkey. The two monsters fight as the place erupts in a hail of fire and lava that completely consumes them. Maybe they live to fight another day, but the script offers no clue. It’s left open.
Sekizawa submitted this draft in 1963. While it isn’t entirely clear why Toho passed on it, they pivoted in the end and several other films integrating some of Sekizawa’s plot points. The kaiju tourist-attraction bit turned up in Mothra vs. Godzilla and the volcanic climax was used in War of the Gargantuas.
Attempts were made later to put the two alphas against each other once again. However, it would take roughly another seven decades for them to meet on screen for round two. The road to get there is also a twisted pretzel and how it started is a good story for next time.
NEXT: Kaiju History: Godzilla’s Greatest Rival Never Appeared In A Movie, Though Toho Tried Several Times
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