‘Kong: Skull Island’ to Shoot in Australia, Vietnam and Hawaii

Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.’ Kong: Skull Island will shoot in Australia, Vietnam and Hawaii.

The news comes one week after the announcement that Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok and Fox’s Ridley Scott-directed Alien project would shoot Down Under.

The Skull Island plans were revealed by Annastacia Palaszczuk, premier of the state of Queensland, where the film will take up residence at the Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast. Preproduction is getting underway this month and filming will begin in early 2016.

Gold Coast Bulletin separately reported that Skull Island also will shoot in Hawaii, while sources close to the production tell THR that Vietnam will serve as a third substantial shooting location.

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Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Skull Island stars Tom Hiddleston, Sam Jackson, Brie Larson and John Goodman. The story will take audiences into the “mysterious and dangerous home of the king of the apes.”

Palaszczuk said Skull Island will spend at least $10.9 million (AUD$15 million) in Queensland, which is the minimum to access the local government’s 16.5 percent location offset incentive. She didn’t specify whether Australia is kicking in additional direct subsidy, as it did to secure the Thor and Alien shoots — a total of $34.3 million between the two.

The Australian dollar has plummeted some 30 percent over the past 2.5 years, making the territory much more attractive to large-scale productions.

Disney’s Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales recently finished shooting at Village Roadshow Studios, and two other foreign films are planning to land in Queensland soon: China/Oz co-production The Nest 3D, with Li Bingbing, and Sony’s The Shallows, starring Blake Lively.