‘Kong: Skull Island’ Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts Was Brutally Beaten in Vietnam: ‘I Was Almost Killed’
Jordan Vogt-Roberts fell in love with Vietnam while visiting the country during location scouting for “Kong: Skull Island,” which was ultimately filmed in the Southeast Asian country. He ended up moving to Saigon after completing the movie, which was going well until a night out last September. While visiting a nightclub called XOXO, Vogt-Roberts was viciously attacked: “This was not a fight,” he tells QQ. “I was almost killed as were others. This was a fucking assault by insane gangsters.”
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The filmmaker sustained contusions, a fractured skull, a cerebral air pocket, and hemorrhaging, resulting in a 10-day hospital stay and the possibility of permanent brain damage. The article’s description of the surveillance footage states that “a tall guy with an expensive-looking haircut walks up and grabs the bearded man’s shoulder,” with the bearded man being Vogt-Roberts.
“He turns around and about a dozen bodies swarm him, landing punches, flipping tables, throwing glasses, bludgeoning him while he curls on the ground. The scene—one continuous, unbearable ten-minute take—ends with as many as nine mauled clubgoers on the floor.”
“As a director, I love violent movies,” Vogt-Roberts says. “And I love fight scenes. But after I watched that shit, I was just in fucking shock.”
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“I remember I wasn’t being an asshole,” he adds of the night in question. “I remember I wasn’t instigating. I remember getting punched in the fucking side of the face. But you never fucking know. You’re out at a fucking nightclub.”
Vogt-Roberts — who’s been a tourism ambassador for Vietnam since his time making “Kong” — began looking into who might be responsible for the assault, learning that they could indeed be powerful mobsters. Read the full story, including why the filmmaker still loves Vietnam, here.
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