How Elon Musk inspired the ‘Godzilla x Kong’ opening scene: “Hopefully, he’ll appreciate that”
Elon Musk is known for many things (not all of them good), but nobody would ever call him a movie star. He has appeared in a few films, making cameos as himself in Iron Man 2, Men in Black: International, and Machete Kills. He’s also shown up in various sitcoms, including a truly awful episode of The Simpsons, and memorably hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 2021.
Even when he’s not on screen, Musk’s influence over cinema looms large. Darren Aronofsky is allegedly making a biopic about the Tesla CEO, although news about that has seemingly dried up. One unlikely project that Musk had a hand in is the 2024 monster crossover juggernaut Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Before you say anything, no. Neither Kong nor Godzilla’s designs were based on him.
Speaking to Collider, director Adam Wingard explained how the wealthiest man in the world came to inspire part of his film. “We started this film a little bit before Monarch, and so Hollow Earth was sort of up for grabs,” Wingard said. This is in reference to Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, an Apple TV+ series within the same universe as the film. ‘Hollow Earth’ is a setting in the show, a secret world hidden underneath the Earth’s crust that is home to many fantastical creatures.
“We did a little fly-through of it in the last movie,” Wingard continued, referencing 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong. “I remember when the last film came out, Elon Musk tweeted about the movie, and he called the movie ‘amazeballs’, I think, but one of his follow-up tweets is he was questioning where the light source in Hollow Earth was, which isn’t answered in the first film. And so, as a rebuttal to that, the very first shot of this movie answers the question of where the light source comes from in Hollow Earth, as a response to Elon Musk’s tweet. Hopefully, he’ll appreciate that when he sees it.”
Sure enough, the opening credits to Godzilla x Kong feature a lecture from Rebecca Hall’s character, Dr Ilene Andrews. In her speech, she seems to imply that the light in Hollow Earth comes from the Earth’s core. However, if you Google the subject matter, you’ll still find people arguing over whether or not this is true. Ironically, some of this discussion is taking place on Musk’s own social media site, X.
The concept of Hollow Earth can be traced back to the 17th Century. One of its earliest supporters was Edmond Halley, after whom the famous comet was named. Its involvement in the so-called ‘MonsterVerse’ was first teased in Kong: Skull Island but wasn’t fully explored until the two Titans got together.
The multibillionaire never made his views on Godzilla x Kong public. It’s possible that his recent political ventures have rendered him too busy to go to the movies. Even without Musk’s backing, the movie made an obscene amount of money at the box office. As well as being the highest-grossing movie in the MonsterVerse, it also generated more cash than any of the 12 previous Kong or 37 previous Godzilla films. It still grossed about 872 times less than Musk’s net worth, but you’ve got to start somewhere.
