In release order, the King Kong films are:
- Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s “King Kong” (1933)
- Ernest B. Schoedsack’s “Son of Kong” (1933)
- Soya Kumagai’s “The King Kong That Appeared in Edo” (1938)
- Ishiro Honda’s “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1962)
- Ishiro Honda’s “King Kong Escapes” (1967)
- John Guillermin’s “King Kong” (1976)
- John Guillermin’s “King Kong Lives” (1986)
- Art Scott’s “The Mighty Kong” (1998)
- Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” (2005)
- Patrick Archibald’s “Kong: King of Atlantis” (2005)
- Stuart Evans’ “Kong: Return to the Jungle” (2006)
- Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ “Kong: Skull Island” (2017)
- Adam Wingard’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” (2021)
- Adam Wingard’s “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” (2024)
The continuity across these Kong movies never extends more than three chapters. Unlike many other long-running pop film series, “King Kong” hasn’t ever played the “soft reboot” gambit and presented a film as a sequel to the original that ignores previous sequels (see: “Halloween,” “Godzilla,” etc.). “Son of Kong,” for instance, is a sequel to the original “King Kong,” but that’s where that continuity ends. “King Kong Lives” is a sequel to the 1976 “King Kong.” The most expansive American King Kong mythology to date comes from the much-ballyhooed MonsterVerse movies which will soon incorporate five movies and two high-profile TV shows.
“Mighty,” “Atlantis,” and “Jungle” are animated stand-alone films.
“The King Kong That Appeared in Edo” was made in Japan without the permission of RKO, and only uses King Kong’s name. The monster of that film is an anthropoid that kidnaps people at the behest of its master. The actual size of the monster is up for debate, however, as “Edo” has been completely lost to time. Thanks to surviving promotional materials, we know that “Edo” was released in two parts, and that it had complicated special effects.