Kong: Skull Island (2017): Cast, Plot, Ending and Where to Watch

Kong: Skull Island is a creature adventure in which a Monarch survey party, an Army helicopter unit, a tracker and a photographer land on a newly found island in 1973 and run into a giant ape named Kong. The film opens in 1944, when a US pilot and a Japanese pilot crash on a South Pacific island after a dogfight and fight each other until the ape appears.

The story then jumps to 1973. Bill Randa of the secret agency Monarch persuades the government to fund a survey of the newly found island, and he hires an Army helicopter unit led by Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard. Along for the trip are tracker Captain James Conrad and anti war photographer Mason Weaver. When the team arrives, they drop seismic charges to map the island, and Kong attacks and scatters the group.

In Kong: Skull Island, a 1973 Monarch expedition wakes Kong by dropping seismic charges, and the survivors end up helping Kong kill a giant Skullcrawler after Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard tries to destroy him. The charges were meant to test a theory about a hollow Earth, and they provoke Kong, who smashes the helicopters and splits the survivors into two groups.

Packard's soldiers are left bitter and look for their missing comrade Maj. Jack Chapman, while Captain James Conrad's group heads toward the pickup point. Conrad's group meets the native Iwi and Hank Marlow, a pilot who has been stranded on the island for nearly 30 years. Marlow explains that Kong guards the island from savage reptilian Skullcrawlers, which the bombing has woken up. The group builds a boat from the wrecked planes and travels downriver, losing members to the island's creatures along the way.

A Skullcrawler kills Randa and several soldiers before Weaver sets off a gas explosion that destroys it. Packard, now obsessed with revenge, decides to kill Kong in spite of warnings that Kong's death would let the Skullcrawlers take over. Conrad, Weaver and Marlow see that Kong is gentle toward those who do not threaten him. Packard's men lure Kong to a lake with the remaining charges and burn him with napalm. A giant Skullcrawler then rises from the lake, Kong kills Packard as he tries to detonate the charges, and Kong, with human help, kills the monster. The survivors are rescued and leave the island while Kong watches them go. Marlow returns home to his wife and the son he never knew.

Kong: Skull Island was released in US theaters on March 10, 2017 and in UK and Australian theaters on March 9, 2017, according to Box Office Mojo.

On money, Box Office Mojo lists a $185 million production budget, a domestic gross of $168.1 million, an international gross of $400.6 million and a worldwide gross of $568.7 million. The worldwide figure is more than three times the budget. For how that compares with the rest of the saga, see the Monsterverse box office page.

On streaming, JustWatch data via TMDB, checked 2 November 2026, shows the following. In the US the film is included with YouTube TV, TNT, TBS and tru TV, and it can be rented on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand and Plex, or bought on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. In the UK it is included with HBO Max, HBO Max Amazon Channel, Sky Go and Now TV Cinema. In Australia it is included with Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads and HBO Max. Availability changes often, so the where to watch Monsterverse page carries the full country table.

The ending of Kong: Skull Island shows Kong defeating the giant Skullcrawler and the surviving humans being rescued, which leaves Kong as the protector of the island.

The ending works because the film sets a rule early and then tests it. Hank Marlow tells the group that Kong guards the island from the Skullcrawlers, so killing Kong would let them take over. Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard ignores that warning, lures Kong to the lake with the remaining charges and burns him with napalm. The giant Skullcrawler that rises from the lake is the cost of that decision. The cleanest piece of monster logic in the film is that the human who wants a trophy creates the exact threat Kong was holding back.

Kong then kills Packard as he tries to detonate the charges, and with human help he kills the Skullcrawler too. The human help matters, because Conrad, Weaver and Marlow have already seen that Kong is gentle toward anyone who does not threaten him. The survivors are rescued and leave the island, and Kong watches them go, so the island returns to its guardian. Marlow's homecoming, where he reunites with his wife and meets the son he never knew, gives the ending a human anchor after the creature fight.

The ending also sets up what follows. Kong is left as the protector of the island, and the post credit scene widens that into a shared universe. That is what links the film forward to Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong.

Yes, Kong: Skull Island has one post credit scene, and it teases the other monsters of the Monsterverse.

After the credits, Conrad and Weaver are held in a room, where Houston Brooks and San Lin bring them into Monarch. Brooks says that the island is just the beginning and that Kong is not the only king. Classified footage then shows cave like images of creatures including Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah. TheWrap describes the scene as setting up the later shared universe films, and it points ahead to Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong. For the earlier film in release order, see Godzilla (2014).

No filming locations for Kong: Skull Island are confirmed in the Box Office Mojo or TMDB records, so none are named here rather than guessed.

The story itself takes place on a newly found island in the South Pacific, visited in 1973, with the 1944 prologue set on a South Pacific island as well. That setting is fictional, and it is not the same thing as the place where the film was shot.

Kong: Skull Island cost $185 million to make and grossed $568.7 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

• Three writers share the screenplay credit (Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly) and John Gatins has the story credit.
• Henry Jackman composed the score and Larry Fong was the cinematographer.
• Toby Kebbell and Terry Notary are both credited with Kong motion capture services, and Kebbell also plays Maj. Jack Chapman.
• The post credit scene teases Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah, and sets up Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong.
• The film is rated PG-13 in the US, 12A in the UK and M in Australia, according to TMDB.

For the monsters themselves, see the Monsterverse titans page, and for the full list of films see how many Monsterverse movies are there.