In a year that was rocked by delays due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes, 2024 still managed to be a strong year for movies, only passed by 2025 by a slight margin. The year was marked by massive blockbusters and record-breaking success as moviegoers packed theaters for films like Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. In the year since their release, many of those movies have found streaming homes, but HBO Max subscribers have less than 24 hours left to stream one of the biggest movies of 2024.
Fans of the MonsterVerse will want to stream Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire while they still can, because the film is about to disappear from HBO Max’s streaming library. Legendary Pictures’ movie about the two iconic monsters teaming up to stop the ruthless Skar King and the ice-powered Titan Shimo served as the fifth film in the MonsterVerse franchise, the 38th film of the Godzilla franchise, the and 13th in the King Kong franchise. Its $572 million box office haul made it the highest-grossing movie in the MonsterVerse and the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2024. Unfortunately, just months after becoming an HBO Max exclusive in July, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is scheduled to stop streaming on January 3rd.
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire Is One of the Most Divisive Movies in the MonsterVerse
The movie’s massive gross total may have made it the highest-grossing movie in the MonsterVerse, but the film wasn’t as successful when it came to reception. In fact, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is by and far the most divisive film in the franchise, dividing critics and general audiences right down the middle with a rotten 54% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a “Verified Hot” 89% audience rating.
The movie earned high praise from critics and audiences alike for delivering a massive monster action spectacle, but many critics felt the film relied too heavily on the monster mayhem and CGI spectacle and lacked when it came to meaningful storytelling. Consequence’s Liz Shannon Miller wrote that “There was real potential for this movie to be a strange action-packed odyssey. That potential was undercut, sadly, by a weak script and too many too conventional choices.” Rolling Stone’s David Fear wrote, “In terms of future endeavors regarding these two beloved legacy characters, we beg of you, MonsterVerse curators: Just let them be.”
Although critics weren’t as universally pleased with the film, the movie’s outstanding audience reception and blockbuster status guaranteed another Godzilla and Kong matchup. In May 2024, Legendary announced that a follow-up movie, Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, is in the works. The upcoming movie will be written by David Callaham and directed by Grant Sputor and is scheduled for a 2027 release.
Where to Stream Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire After It Leaves HBO Max?
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is about to become a lot more difficult to stream. Following its departure from HBO Max on January 3rd, the movie will not exist on any streaming platform, meaning the only way for fans to watch it will be either physical copies or by renting or purchasing it online. It’s possible that the film will reappear on streaming at some later date, but it wasn’t included on any of the big streaming platforms’ January 2026 release schedules.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!