Hopefully Priceline has a “I was nominated for an Oscar, I don’t need this shit any more” clause in its refund policy, because Michael Keaton and J.K. Simmons are (we assume) currently on hold waiting to speak to a representative after canceling their trip to Kong: Skull Island. Both actors have dropped out of the film, which sounds like it should have something to do with Peter Jackson’s 2005 version of King Kong but apparently doesn’t. Instead, Kong: Skull Island is being billed as a King Kong origin story, penned by Godzilla‘s Max Borenstein and Need For Speed’s John Gatins and focusing on “a team of explorers ventur[ing] deep inside the treacherous, primordial island.“
Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (You’re The Worst, The Kings Of Summer) is still attached, as is co-star Tom Hiddleston, who presumably wants to experience the unspoiled beaches of Skull Island before they build a Margaritaville there and it’s all over. Keaton and Simmons both quit over “schedule conflicts,” which could be true—Deadline says that shooting on the film was recently pushed back several weeks—or could be a euphemism for “Did I mention the whole Oscar thing?”