By John Nugent | Posted 28 Dec 2016

Pick up a copy of the brand new Empire (on sale from Thursday 29 December), leaf through to the bumper 18-page 2017 preview, and the first image that will greet you is this astonishing, exclusive, fiery bit of concept art from upcoming adventure epic Kong: Skull Island.

Expect conflagrations aplenty in this monster movie, set at the height of the Vietnam War when napalm was the weapon of choice. "The script I first read took place in 1917", says director Jordan Vogt-Robert. "But when I started talking to the Legendary [Entertainment] guys, I was thinking, 'What weird King Kong movie would I want to see?' So I pitched them the Vietnam War connection, literally thinking they were gonna laugh me out of the room. And to Legendary's credit, they said, 'Cool. Let's figure it out.' The aesthetics of that time mixed with King Kong makes for an incredible genre mash-up."

For much more on Kong: Skull Island, including details of Samuel L. Jackson's character – basically, Captain Ahab crossed with Kilgore from Apocalypse Now – be sure to pick up a copy of the monster-sized new issue of Empire, arriving in all good and evil newsagents from December 29. Want to get exclusive subscriber-only covers delivered days before everyone else? You’ll want to subscribe to Empire. Kong: Skull Island, meanwhile, roars into cinemas on 10 March.

Watch the Skull Island trailer

Two new Kong: Skull Island posters

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