Sam Neill.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Los Angeles: Move aside, dinosaurs. Sam Neill has new creatures to face in the next installment of Legendary's Monsterverse franchise.
Neill, the original star of Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster "Jurassic Park" and who most recently appeared in "Jurassic World Dominion" (2022), has joined the cast of the follow-up to 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
The New Zealand actor will feature alongside Kaitlyn Dever and Jack O’Connell as well as Dan Stevens, who played laid-back monster veterinarian and dentist Trapper in The New Empire, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
Plot details have been kept under wraps for the next entry.
According to Legendary, the yet-untitled movie will feature “several new human characters alongside the beloved and iconic Titans Godzilla and Kong as they face off against a cataclysmic world-ending threat.” Grant Sputore is directing the upcoming film from a screenplay by Dave Callaham. The Monsterverse franchise started with 2014’s "Godzilla", followed by Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), "Godzilla vs. Kong" (2021), and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
It expanded with the series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+ and the animated spinoff Skull Island on Netflix.