Godzilla X Kong director Adam Wingard is already leaving the new empire

Monster whisperer Adam Wingard is taking a break from the MonsterVerse. Following the massive box office returns on Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, a title that has made this movie far more confusing to type than it is worth, Warner Bros. Discover will continue presiding over this new empire without Wingard.

Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire marked Wingard’s second time working with Godzilla and King Kong—both New Empire and its predecessor, Godzilla Vs. Kong, proved to be massive hits for the studio. The first entry became one of the few positive releases from WBD’s disastrous day-and-date experiment. Its sequel, which firmly established the formation of a New Empire, not to be confused with the Ghostbusters’ Frozen Empire, raked in more than $560 million.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, no one’s breathing atomic breath over the matter. The timing was the problem because Wingard is shooting an original movie, Onslaught, for A24 this fall. The director’s last original movie was the cult-favorite The Guest. After that, his output comprised a series of reboots and adaptations, helming Blair Witch and Death Note before climbing the Empire State Building with Godzilla Vs. Kong.

Earlier this year, Wingard told Discussing Film that he’s interested in making another entry in the MonsterVerse. “There’s more story to this, and I think I have more story to tell,” he said. “But it depends on how [Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire] does and how things kind of shape out […] I do have more story to tell with these monsters, and I know where I’d go with it. I would be very excited to be able to come back for another one if things worked out.”

Let’s be clear: Bryan Tyree Henry didn’t ask, “Is that a Mini Kong?” just so the series could end. The door is still open for Wingard to return should his schedule allow it. Nevertheless, WBD has hired Shang Chi And The Ten Rings writer Dave Callaham to write the continued adventures of Mini Kong. Rest assured, more Godzilla X Kong is coming as soon as Callaham thinks of an alternative to an ampersand.