A streaming TV series set in the world of Legendary’s MonsterVerse could be in development for HBO Max.
Sources in touch with We Got This Covered say WarnerMedia is seeking to expand its catalog of content with a show they expect Godzilla to be a marquee figure in, though there are very few details at this time – for instance, a budget.
The show looks to casual observers like the first of its kind: a live-action program – not counting Godzilla Island – starring Toho’s biggest asset in every sense. Godzilla vs. Kong and its fate in 2021 may decide if a spinoff series is worth the risk for Warner Bros.
WGTC’s “intel” says they want to stack HBO Max with as many recognizable IPs as possible to make their streaming service more than a match for Disney Plus and Netflix.
Gojira will certainly give them one but GVK has been delayed multiple times now thanks to reshoots and COVID. Patience might not prove to be a virtue and absence could very well fail in making the hearts of fans grow fonder.
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The Adam Wingard film already had one reportedly disastrous test screening and its predecessor (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) suffered a response deemed “tepid” and divided by onlooking analysts.
Honestly, the moviegoing masses that dodged King of the Monsters at the box office last year didn’t know what they were missing.
Nevertheless, there are a few things to consider regarding how a Godzilla series will work. Circling back, one is the budget.
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KOTM cost an estimated $170 million to make (or upwards of $200 mil. and beyond). GVK’s budget is not public but is believed to be in the same ballpark (with costs swelling over reshoots).
An HBO Max series in all likelihood won’t have the same price tag. Swamp Thing couldn’t even get $40 million when it was on DC Universe.
Budgetary restrictions run the risk of Godzilla not being in his own show all that much, which is going to be built around human characters – it just is, there’s no doubt.
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It’ll be less like James Gunn’s Peacemaker solo series and JJ Abrams’ Justice League Dark spinoffs, and more like Matt Reeves’ The Batman prequel series about cops and the proposed RoboCop prequel starring Dick Jones.
Any show, should the rumor be true, set in the MonsterVerse with less Godzilla than advertised is hardly going to be a Godzilla series at all, let’s face it.
But, they might surprise us, so tell us your perspective on that below.