RKO (whose rights consisted of only the original film and its sequel) signed over the North American, Latin American and Australian distribution rights to its film library to Ted Turner in a period spanning 1986 to 1989 via his company Turner Entertainment. Turner merged his company into Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) in 1996, which is how Warner Bros. owns distribution rights in those regions to those two films today, with the copyright over the films (including "King Kong" and "The Son of Kong") remaining with RKO Pictures, LLC (various companies distribute the RKO library in other territories). In 1998, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment released the direct-to-video animated musical film "The Mighty Kong", which re-tells the plot of the original 1933 film. 19 years later; in 2017, Warners co-produced the film "" and in 2021 co-produced the film "Godzilla vs. Kong", after Legendary Pictures bought the projects from Universal to build up the MonsterVerse.