Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire follows Kong's search for others of his species in Hollow Earth while Godzilla fights Titans on the surface, until a mysterious signal draws them together.

The story picks up some years after the Mechagodzilla fight. Kong lives in Hollow Earth, while Godzilla patrols the surface and deals with Titans that threaten cities, including one that attacks Rome.

A Monarch outpost in Hollow Earth picks up a strange signal, and it also affects Jia, the last known member of the Iwi tribe. So, Monarch scientist Ilene Andrews, Jia, the podcaster Bernie Hayes and the Titan veterinarian Trapper set out to find where the signal comes from. The trip leads them toward a hidden Iwi community and a far bigger danger below.

For anyone new to the series, the film sits fifth in both release order and chronological order, so it helps to have seen Godzilla vs. Kong first.

In Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kong finds a hidden tribe of apes in Hollow Earth, defeats the tyrannical Skar King with help from Godzilla, Mothra and the freed ice Titan Shimo, and becomes leader of his own tribe.

Kong lives alone in Hollow Earth, looking for any other members of his species. On the surface, Godzilla keeps the Titans in check and kills one that attacks Rome. Monarch detects a signal that Jia seems to feel, and it turns out to be a distress call from the Iwi, who live under portals leading to the surface.

Kong discovers a hidden tribe of apes that includes a young ape named Suko. The tribe is ruled by the tyrannical Skar King, who uses a crystal to force an ice breathing Titan called Shimo to obey him. Shimo injures Kong's arm, and Trapper gives him a prototype glove that restores his strength.

Jia awakens Mothra, who is worshipped by the Iwi. Godzilla soaks up radiation and has a short fight with Kong before Mothra calms him. The three Titans then go to Hollow Earth to face the Skar King's forces.

The Skar King and Shimo escape through a portal to Rio de Janeiro, where Shimo's power starts a new ice age. Suko destroys the control crystal with Kong's axe, which frees Shimo. Shimo turns on the Skar King and freezes him, and Kong then shatters him.

Afterward, Godzilla melts the ice in Rio de Janeiro with his atomic breath and goes back to rest in the Colosseum in Rome. Jia decides to stay with the Iwi, and Mothra restores the barrier that protects them. Kong returns to Hollow Earth with Shimo and Suko and takes his place as leader of his tribe.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was released in US theaters on March 29, 2024, after a premiere on March 25, 2024 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. The premiere was reported by The Hollywood Reporter, and the US date was confirmed by the official Godzilla site.

The UK release was March 29, 2024 and the Australian release was March 28, 2024, per Box Office Mojo. Those two dates come from a box office listing rather than a studio announcement.

For streaming, the film is now on several services in the US, UK and Australia, as covered in the question on where to stream Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. For the order of the whole saga, see Monsterverse movies in order.

In the ending of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kong defeats the Skar King with Shimo's help and becomes leader of the Hollow Earth ape tribe, while Godzilla returns to rest in the Colosseum in Rome. Spoilers follow, and the reading below is analysis.

What does that mean for the story? It could be argued that the film swaps a lonely hero for a community. Kong begins alone, searching, and ends with a family and a place to defend, while Godzilla returns to the surface as the Titan who sleeps in a ruin. That split is neat, and, perhaps, a little too tidy for a franchise that thrives on loose ends.

The Shimo turn is the part I find most interesting as creature design. Because a crystal controls Shimo, the Titan works as a mind controlled weapon rather than a villain, and once the crystal is gone the Skar King loses the one thing that kept him in power. In my view, that makes the Skar King a tyrant who dies by his own rules, since he depended on something he forced to obey.

There is also a quiet contrast with the earlier films. Godzilla vs. Kong ended with the two Titans as rivals who settle things in a single fight, whereas here Mothra's calming of Godzilla and the Iwi's barrier point to a world where Titans, apes and people share ground. I read the ending as a reset of Kong's status, and the follow up has room to explore it. The next entry is Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, which is slated for March 26, 2027.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was filmed in Queensland, Australia, mostly on the Gold Coast, with the Queensland hinterland rainforest standing in for Hollow Earth.

Principal photography began on July 29, 2022 on the Gold Coast and wrapped in November 2022. The main base was Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast, and a sandy beach on the same coast doubled for Rio de Janeiro. Brisbane was used for the Monarch base.

Producer Eric McLeod said, according to Ausfilm, that the Gold Coast was chosen for the same reasons as the two earlier Legendary films made there.

Notable trivia about Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire includes a placeholder monster called Phosphera, Mothra being digitally removed from marketing, and a Gold Coast shoot that began on July 29, 2022.

• A winged placeholder monster called Phosphera was briefly used in Mothra's place in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, but director Adam Wingard says Mothra was always the plan.
• Mothra was digitally removed from some marketing images for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire to keep her appearance hidden.
• Producer Eric McLeod said the Gold Coast was chosen for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire for the same reasons as the two earlier Legendary films made there.
• Kong: Skull Island is the second Monsterverse film in release order but the first in chronological order, which puts Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire fifth in both lists.

For the film that came before, see Godzilla vs. Kong, and for the start of the chronology, see Kong: Skull Island.