Loki is stepping out of Thor’s shadow, as Tom Hiddleston is set to headline his first major film, the prequel to ‘King Kong’, ‘Skull Island’, from Universal Pictures and Legendary.  The film will be directed by indie director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who previously helmed the documentary ‘The Kings of Summer.’  Vogt-Roberts most recently directed the pilot and several episodes of the new sitcom ‘You’re The Worst’ but is slated for further big budget fare, with the movie adaptation of the video game ‘Metal Gear Solid.’

As for Hiddleston, he is signed on for Guillermo Del Torro‘s horror film ‘Crimson Peak.’  And of course, there’s always the chance he could reprise his most famous role in future Marvel movies.

‘Skull Island’ will be written by Max Borenstein and will highlight life on the mysterious island where Carl Denham and his crew found the gigantic ape in the original movie and in subsequent remakes, including the 2005 movie starring Jack Black and Naomi Watts with Andy Serkis providing the motion capture performance of Kong.  It’s unclear, however, whether ‘Skull Island’ will actually be connected to that movie.

Traditionally, Skull Island has been depicted as a savage jungle populated with gigantic creatures, including dinosaurs.  The first film version of ‘King Kong’ came out way back in 1933, and starred Fay Wray as Ann, the woman that Kong falls in love with , Robert Armstrong as Denham and Bruce Cabot as John Driscoll.  The character of King Kong has been revived in several subsequent movies, including a remake in 1979 starring Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges (which was set in the modern day) and the previously mentioned Jack Black and Naomi Watts version (as a period piece).

At any rate, the film already has a release date of November 4th, 2016.

Are you ready to see Hiddleston headline his own movie?  Are you interested in further exploration of the King Kong story?

Source: The Hollywood Reporter