Development began in early 1995, whenUniversal Pictures approached Jackson to direct the remake of the original 1933 film. The project stalled in early 1997, as several ape and giant monster-related films were under production at the time and Jackson planned to directThe Lord of the Rings film series. As the first two films in theRings trilogy became commercially successful, Universal went back to Jackson in early 2003, expressing interest in restarting development on the project, to which Jackson eventually agreed. Filming forKing Kong took place in New Zealand from September 2004 to March 2005. It was themost expensive film ever produced at the time of its release, as its budget climbed from an initial $150 million to a then record-breaking $207 million.
King Kong premiered atNew York City on December 5, 2005,[3] and was theatrically released in New Zealand on December 13 and in the United States on December 14. The film received critical acclaim, and eventually appeared in several top ten lists for 2005; it was praised for the special effects, performances, sense of spectacle and comparison to the 1933 original, though some criticisms were raised over its 3-hour runtime. It was a commercial success, grossing over $556.9 million, and became the fourth-highest-grossing film in Universal Pictures history at that time and thefifth-highest-grossing film of 2005.[2] It also generated $100 million in DVD sales upon its home video release in March 2006.[4] It won threeAcademy Awards forBest Sound Editing,Best Sound Mixing andBest Visual Effects. Atie-in video game was released alongside the film, which also became a commercial and critical success.
In 1933, during theGreat Depression, struggling New York City vaudeville performer Ann Darrow is hired by financially troubled filmmakerCarl Denham to star in a film with actor Bruce Baxter. Ann is hesitant to join the picture until she learns her favorite playwright,Jack Driscoll, is the screenwriter. Filming takes place on theSS Venture, a small cargo ship belonging to theDutch East Indies colony, anchored inSurabaya under Captain Englehorn. Carl claims theVenture will sail toSingapore, but in truth, he intends to film the mysteriousSkull Island. Captain Englehorn reconsiders the voyage, prompted by his crew's speculation of trouble ahead. During the voyage, Ann and Jack fall in love.
TheVenture receives a radio message informing Englehorn there is a warrant for Carl's arrest due to his defiance of the studio's orders to cease production, and instructing Englehorn to divert toRangoon, but the ship becomes lost in fog and runs aground on Skull Island. Carl and others, including his film crew consisting of cameraman Herb, assistant Preston and boom operator Mike, explore the island and are attacked by natives who kill Mike and a crewman. Englehorn rescues Carl’s group, but as they all prepare to leave, the natives secretly abduct Ann to offer her as a sacrifice toKong, a 25-foot-tall (7.6 m)ape. Jack notices Ann's disappearance, and the crew returns to the island, but Kong flees with Ann into the jungle. Carl catches a glimpse of Kong and becomes determined to film him.
Ann wins Kong over with her juggling and dancing skills, and begins to grasp his intelligence and capacity for emotion. Englehorn organizes a rescue party, led by his first mate Hayes and Jack, and accompanied by Carl, Herb, Baxter and Preston. The party gets caught between a herd ofBrontosaurus baxteri and a pack ofUtahraptor-likeVenatosaurus saevidicus hunting them, with Herb and several other men killed in the resulting stampede. Baxter and others return to the ship.
The remaining party members continue through the jungle when Kong attacks, making them fall into a ravine where Carl loses his camera. Kong rescues Ann from threeTyrannosaurus-likeVastatosaurus rex, bringing her to his den in the mountains. The remaining rescue party are attacked by giant insects in the ravine, resulting in the death of Hayes and most of the rescue party, but Preston, Carl, Jack, and Hayes' apprentice Jimmy are rescued by Baxter and Englehorn. Jack searches for Ann alone, while Carl decides to capture Kong. Jack finds Kong's lair and accidentally awakens him, but escapes with Ann to where the crew is waiting to capture the pursuing Kong. As Ann begs the crew not to harm him, Kong kills several sailors, but is subdued when Carl knocks him out withchloroform.
In New York City, around theChristmas season, Carl presents "Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World" onBroadway, starring Baxter and an imprisoned Kong. Ann, who refused to take part in the performance, is played by an anonymous chorus girl. Agitated by the chorus girl not being Ann and flashes from cameras, Kong breaks free from the chains, wrecks the theater, and bursts out into the streets of New York in search of Ann, chasing Jack before encountering her again. The U.S. Army attacks, and Kong tries getting Ann and himself to safety by climbing to the top of theEmpire State Building.
SixUnited States Navybiplanes arrive; Kong downs three of them, but is mortally wounded from the planes' gunfire and falls from the building after he dies. As Jack reaches the top of the building to comfort and embrace Ann, civilians, policemen, and soldiers gather around the beast's corpse in the street, one bystander commenting the airplanes got him. Carl makes his way through the crowd, takes one last look at the lifeless Kong and, before walking away, says sadly, "It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast".
Naomi Watts asAnn Darrow, a struggling vaudeville actress who is desperate for work. Carl first meets her when she tries to steal an apple from a fruit stand. Further into the voyage, she falls in love with Jack and forms a special relationship with Kong.
Jack Black asCarl Denham, a film director who obtained the map to Skull Island. Due to his debts, Carl starts to lose his moral compass and obsesses over his film to the point that he disregards safety.
Adrien Brody asJack Driscoll, a screenwriter who falls in love with Ann. He unwittingly becomes part of the voyage when, while delivering a script to Denham, he is deliberately delayed by the latter before he can get off theVenture. He is the only member of the crew who agrees with Ann that Kong should be left alone.
Thomas Kretschmann as Captain Englehorn, the German captain of theVenture. Englehorn shows a dislike for Denham, presumably because of his obsessive nature.
Colin Hanks as Preston, Denham's neurotic but honest personal assistant.
Jamie Bell as Jimmy, a naive teenager who was found on theVenture, wild and abandoned.
Evan Parke as Benjamin "Ben" Hayes, Englehorn's first mate and a mentor to Jimmy, who leads Ann's rescue mission because of his army training and combat experience gained duringWorld War I.
Lobo Chan as Choy, Lumpy's best friend and a janitor on theVenture.
Kyle Chandler as Bruce Baxter, an actor who specializes in adventure films. He abandons Ann's rescue mission but brings Englehorn to rescue the search party from the insect pit, and is given credit for rescuing Ann during the Broadway display of Kong.
Serkis also plays Lumpy, the ship's cook, barber, and surgeon. A brave sailor, he warns Denham about rumors he has heard about Skull Island and Kong.
John Sumner as Herb, Denham's loyal cameraman.
Craig Hall as Mike, Denham's soundman for the journey.
William Johnson as Manny, an elderly vaudevillian actor and colleague of Darrow.
Mark Hadlow as Harry, a struggling vaudevillian actor.
Jed Brophy and Todd Rippon appeared in the film as crew members.
In addition, director Jackson appears with makeup artistRick Baker (who had portrayed Kong and designed makeup for the 1976 version) as the pilot and gunner on the airplane that kills the title character, his children appear as New York children,The Lord of the Rings co-producer andsecond unit directorRick Porras andThe Shawshank Redemption directorFrank Darabont appear as a gunners in the other airplanes, andBob Burns and his wife appear as New York bystanders. Frequent Jackson collaboratorHoward Shore makes acameo appearance as the conductor of the New York theater from where Kong escapes. Shore was initially set to compose for the film before his exit.
Watts, Black, and Brody were the first choices for their respective roles with no other actors considered.[8] In preparation for her role, Watts met with the original Ann Darrow,Fay Wray.[9] Jackson wanted Wray to make a cameo appearance and say the final line of dialogue, but she died during pre-production at 96 years old.[10] Black was cast as Carl Denham based on his performance in the 2000 filmHigh Fidelity, which had impressed Jackson.[11] For inspiration, Black studiedP. T. Barnum[12] andOrson Welles. "I didn't study [Welles] move for move. It was just to capture the spirit. Very reckless guy. I had tapes of him drunk off his ass."[13] The native extras on Skull Island were portrayed by a mix of Asian, African, Maori and Polynesian actors sprayed with dark makeup to achieve a consistent pigmentation.[13]
Peter Jackson was nine years old when he first sawthe 1933 film, and was in tears in front of the television when Kong was shot and fell off the Empire State Building. At age 12, he attempted to recreate the film using his parents'Super 8 mm film camera and a model of Kong made of wire and rubber with his mother's fur coat for the hair, but eventually gave up on the project.[14]King Kong eventually became his favorite film and was the primary inspiration for his decision to become a filmmaker as a teenager.[15] He read books about the making ofKing Kong and collected memorabilia, as well as articles fromFamous Monsters of Filmland.[16] Jackson paid tribute to the 1933 film by includingSkull Island as the origin of the zombie plague in his 1992 filmBraindead.[10]
During the filming of Jackson's 1996 filmThe Frighteners,Universal Pictures was impressed with Jackson'sdailies and early visual effects footage. The studio was adamant to work with Jackson on his next project[15] and, in late 1995,[16] offered him the chance to direct a remake of the 1954 filmCreature from the Black Lagoon. He turned down the offer, but Universal became aware of Jackson's obsession withKing Kong and subsequently offered him the opportunity to direct that remake.[15] The studio did not have to worry about lawsuits concerning thefilm rights fromRKO Pictures (the studio behind the 1933 film) because the King Kong character is held in thepublic domain.[17] Jackson initially turned down theKing Kong offer, but he "quickly became disturbed by the fact that someone else would take it over," Jackson continued, "and make it into a terrible film; that haunted me and I eventually said yes to Universal."[14]
At the same time, Jackson was working withHarvey Weinstein andMiramax Films to purchase the film rights ofThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings, while20th Century Fox was trying to hire him for the2001 remake ofPlanet of the Apes. Jackson turned downPlanet of the Apes and because Weinstein was taking longer than expected to buyThe Lord of the Rings rights, Jackson decided to move forward onKing Kong. Weinstein was furious, and, as a result, Jackson proposed a deal between Universal and Miramax Films that the two studios would equally financeKing Kong with Jackson's production companyWingNut Films. Universal would receive distribution rights in the United States, while Miramax Films would cover foreign territories. Jackson was also warranted the right offinal cut privilege, a percentage of the gross profits,[16] as well asartistic control; Universal allowed all filming and visual effects to be handled entirely in New Zealand.[15] The deal was settled in April 1996, and Jackson, along with wifeFran Walsh, began working on theKing Kong script.[16] In the original draft, Ann was the daughter of famed English archaeologist Lord Linwood Darrow exploring ancient ruins inSumatra. They would come into conflict with Denham during his filming, and they would uncover a hidden Kong statue and the map of Skull Island. This would indicate that the island natives were the last remnants of a cult religion that had once thrived on Asia's mainland. Instead of a playwright, Jack was the first mate and an ex-World War I fighter pilot still struggling with the loss of his best friend, who had been killed in battle during a World War I prologue. The camera-man Herb is the only supporting character in the original draft who made it to the final version. The fight between Kong and the threeV. rex also changed from the original draft. In the draft, Ann is actually caught in theV. rex's jaws, where she becomes wedged, and slashed by the teeth; after the fight, Kong gets her out but she is suffering from a fever, from which she then recovers.[15][18]
Universal approved of the script withRobert Zemeckis as executive producer, and pre-production forKing Kong commenced. The plan was to begin filming sometime in 1997 for a summer 1998 release date.Weta Digital andWeta Workshop, under the supervision ofRichard Taylor andChristian Rivers, began work on early visual effects tests,[15] specifically the complex task of building aCGI version of New York City circa 1933. Jackson and Walsh progressed with a second draft script, sets were being designed and location scouting commenced in Sumatra and New Zealand.[16] In late 1996, Jackson flew to production of the 1997 filmTitanic in Mexico to discuss the part of Ann Darrow withKate Winslet, with whom he previously worked with on his 1994 filmHeavenly Creatures.Minnie Driver was also being reportedly considered.[14] Jackson's choices for Jack Driscoll and Carl Denham includedGeorge Clooney andRobert De Niro.[10] However, development forKing Kong was stalled in January 1997 when Universal became concerned over the upcoming release of the 1998 filmGodzilla, as well as other ape-related remakes with the 1998 filmMighty Joe Young[19] and the 2001 filmPlanet of the Apes. Universal abandonedKing Kong in February 1997[14] after Weta Workshop and Weta Digital had already designed six months' worth of pre-production.[10] Jackson then decided to start work onThe Lord of the Rings film series.[14]
With the financial and critical success of the 2001 filmThe Fellowship of the Ring and the 2002 filmThe Two Towers,[19] Universal approached Jackson in early 2003,[8] during the post-production ofThe Return of the King, concerning his interest in restarting development onKing Kong. In March 2003, Universal set a target December 2005 release date and Jackson and Walsh broughtThe Lord of the Rings co-writerPhilippa Boyens on to help rewrite their 1996 script. Jackson offeredNew Line Cinema the opportunity to co-finance with Universal, but they declined.[8] Universal and Jackson originally projected a $150 million budget,[20] which eventually rose to $175 million.[21] Jackson made a deal with Universal whereby he would be paid a $20 million salary against 20% of the box office gross for directing, producing and co-writing. He shared that fee with co-writers Walsh (which also covered her producing credit) and Boyens.[22] However, ifKing Kong were to go over its $175 million budget, the penalties would be covered by Jackson.[23]
Immediately after the completion ofThe Return of the King, Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, supervised by Taylor, Rivers, and Joe Letteri, started pre-production onKing Kong.[10] Jackson brought back most of the crew he had onThe Lord of the Rings series, including cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, production designerGrant Major, art directorsSimon Bright andDan Hennah, conceptual designer Alan Lee, and editor Jamie Selkirk.[15] Jackson, Walsh and Boyens began to write a new script in late October 2003.[19] Jackson acknowledged that he was highly unsatisfied with the original 1996 script.[8] "That was actually just Fran and Peter very hurriedly getting something down on paper", Boyens explained. "It was more one of many possible ways the story could go."[10] The writers chose to base the new screenplay on the 1933 film rather than the 1996 script.[10] They also included scenes fromJames Ashmore Creelman's screenplay that were either abandoned or omitted during production of the original film.[15] In the scene where Kong shakes the surviving sailors pursuing Ann and himself from a log into the ravine, for example, directors Merian Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack originally intended to depict giant spiders emerging from the rock to devour their bodies. This was cut from the original release print, and remains known toKong fans only via a rare still that appeared inFamous Monsters of Filmland. Jackson included this scene and elaborated upon it.[10] Jackson, Walsh and Boyens also citedDelos W. Lovelace's 1932novelisation ofKing Kong as inspiration,[16] which included the character Lumpy (Andy Serkis).[8] To make the relationship between Ann Darrow and Kong plausible, the writers studied hours of gorilla footage.[24] Jackson also optionedEarly Havoc, a memoir written byvaudeville performerJune Havoc[8] to help Walsh and Boyens flesh out Ann Darrow's characterisation.[13]Carl Denham was intentionally modeled after and inspired byOrson Welles.[8] Their new draft was finished in February 2004.[10]
Principal photography started on September 6, 2004, at Camperdown Studios inMiramar, New Zealand. Camperdown housed the native village and the Great Wall, while the streets of New York City were constructed on its backlot and at Gracefield inLower Hutt, New Zealand. The majority of the SSVenture scenes were shot aboard a full-scale deck constructed in the parking lot at Camperdown Studio and then were backed with a green screen, with the ocean digitally added in post. Scenes set in the Broadway theater from which King Kong makes his escape were filmed inWellington'sOpera House and at theAuckland Civic Theatre.[15] Filming also took place at Stone Street Studios, where a newsound stage was constructed to accommodate one of the sets.[25] Over the course of filming the budget went from $175 million to $207 million over additional visual effects work needed, and Jackson extending the film's running time by thirty minutes. Jackson covered most of the $32 million surplus himself[23] and finished filming in March 2005.[15]
The film's budget climbed from an initial US$150 million to a then-record-breaking $207 million and received a subsidy of $34 million from New Zealand,[26][27] making it at one point themost expensive film yet made. Universal only agreed to such an outlay after seeing a screening of the unfinished film, to which executives responded enthusiastically. Marketing and promotion costs were an estimated $60 million. The film's length also grew; originally set to be 135 minutes, it soon grew to 200, prompting Universal executives to fly to New Zealand to view a rough cut, but they liked it so their concerns were addressed.[28]
Other difficulties included Peter Jackson's decision to change composers fromHoward Shore toJames Newton Howard seven weeks before the film opened.[29]
Jackson sawKing Kong as opportunity for technical innovations inmotion capture, commissioningChristian Rivers ofWeta Digital to supervise all aspects of Kong's performance.[30] Jackson decided early on that he did not want Kong to behave like a human, and so he and his team studied hours of gorilla footage.[31] Serkis was cast in the title role in April 2003[8] and prepared himself by working with gorillas at theLondon Zoo. He then traveled toRwanda, observing the actions and behaviors of gorillas in the wild.[9] Rivers explained that the detailed facial performance capture with Serkis was accomplished because of the similarities between human and gorilla faces. "Gorillas have such a similar looking set of eyes and brows, you can look at those expressions and transpose your own interpretation onto them."[30] Photos of silverback gorillas were also superimposed on Kong's image in the early stages of animation.[32] Serkis had to go through two hours of motion capture makeup every day, having 135 small markers attached to different spots on his face.[30] Following principal photography, Serkis had to spend an additional two months on a motion capture stage, miming Kong's movements for the film's digital animators.[33]
Apart from Kong,Skull Island is inhabited bydinosaurs and other largefauna. Inspired byDougal Dixon's works, the designers imagined what 65 million years or more of isolatedevolution might have done to dinosaurs and the other creatures.[34]
The original score was initially set to be composed byHoward Shore, who had written several cues for the film.[35] Due to creative differences with Jackson, Shore opted out of the project in October 2005 and subsequentlyJames Newton Howard replaced him.[36][37] With scoring beginning by late-October 2005, Howard had only five weeks to work on the film, as a result, he found the film "hardest to compose".[38] Recording sessions took place at theSony Scoring Stage,California andTodd-AO,Los Angeles, consisting of 108-piece orchestra and 40-member choir, and a varied range of instruments used.[38]
The marketing campaign started in full swing on June 27, 2005, when the teaser trailer made its debut, first online at the officialVolkswagen website at 8:45 p.m. EDT, then 8:55 p.m. EDT across media outlets owned byNBCUniversal (the parent of Universal Studios), includingNBC,Bravo!,CNBC, andMSNBC. That trailer appeared in theatres attached toWar of the Worlds, which opened on June 29.[5]
Jackson also regularly published a series of 'Production Diaries', which chronicled the film's production. The diaries started shortly after theDVD release ofThe Return of the King as a way to give Jackson'sThe Lord of the Rings fans a glimpse of his next project. These diaries are edited into broadband-friendly installments of three or four minutes each. They consist of features that would normally be seen in a making-of documentary: a tour of the set, a roving camera introducing key players behind the scene, a peek inside the sound booth during last-minute dubbing, orAndy Serkis doing his ape movements in a motion capture studio.[40]
Jackson has expressed his desire to remaster the film in 3-D at some point in the future.[41] Jackson was also seen shooting with a 3-D camera at times during the shoot ofKing Kong.[42]
In North America,King Kong grossed $9.8 million during its Wednesday opening and $50.1 million over its first weekend for a five-day total of $66.2 million from around 7,500 screens at 3,568 theaters.[43] Some analysts considered these initial numbers disappointing, saying that studio executives had been expecting more.[44][45] The film went on to gross $218.1 million in the North American market and ended up in the top five highest-grossing films of the year there.[46] The film grossed an additional $338.8 million at the box office in other regions for a worldwide total of $556.9 million, which not only ranked it in the top five highest-grossing films of 2005 worldwide,[47] but also helped the film bring back more than two-and-a-half times its production budget.
During its home video release,King Kong sold over $100 million worth of DVDs in the largest six-day performance in Universal Studios history.[48]King Kong sold more than 7.6 million DVDs, accumulating nearly $194 million worth of sales numbers in the North American market alone.[49] As of June 25, 2006,King Kong has generated almost $38 million from DVD rental gross.[50] In February 2006,Turner Broadcasting System (TNT/TBS) andABC paid Universal Pictures $26.5 million for the television rights to the film.[51]
King Kong received acclaim from critics. Onaggregate review siteRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 84% based on 266 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Featuring state-of-the-art special effects, terrific performances, and a majestic sense of spectacle, Peter Jackson's remake ofKing Kong is a potent epic that's faithful to the spirit of the 1933 original."[52] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[53] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[54]
It was placed on the 'top ten' lists of several critics,[55] withRoger Ebert giving it four stars, and listed it as 2005's eighth-best film.[56] The film received fourAcademy Award nominations, forVisual Effects,Sound Mixing (Christopher Boyes,Michael Semanick,Michael Hedges,Hammond Peek),Sound Editing, andProduction Design, winning all but the last.[57][58]Entertainment Weekly called the depiction of Kong the most convincing computer-generated character in film in 2005.[59] Some criticised the film for retaining racist stereotypes that had been present in the 1933 film, though it was not suggested that Jackson had done this intentionally.[60]King Kong ranks 450th onEmpire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[61]The Guardian reviewer Peter Bradshaw said that it "certainly equals, and even exceeds, anything Jackson did inLord of the Rings."[62] However,Charlie Brooker, also ofThe Guardian, gave a negative review in which he describes the film as "sixteen times more overblown and histrionic than necessary".[63]
Ethan Van der Ryn, Mike Hopkins, Brent Burge, David Farmer, Dave Whitehead, John Simpson, Hayden Collow, Melanie Graham, Matthew Lambourn, Justin Webster, Katy Wood, Peter Mills, Craig Tomlinson, Ray Beentjes, Jason Canovas, Martin Kwok, Polly McKinnon, Chris Ward, Jenny T. Ward, Robyn McFarlane, and Carolyn McLaughlin
Jack Black and critics have noted Carl Denham's similarity toOrson Welles.[64]
When Driscoll is searching for a place to sleep in the animal storage hold, a box behind him readsSumatran Rat Monkey – Beware the bite! This is a reference to the creature that causes mayhem in Jackson's 1992 filmBraindead,[65] itself a reference to thegiant rat of Sumatra mentioned inSherlock Holmes. In that film, the rat monkey is described as being found only onSkull Island.
Fay Wray, the original Ann Darrow, was asked by Jackson to appear in a brief cameo role in which she would utter the film's final line: "It was beauty killed the beast." At first, she flatly refused, but then seemed to consider the possibility. However, she died shortly after her meeting with Jackson.[64] As in the original film, the line ultimately went to the character of Carl Denham.
An ad for Universal is visible while Kong is tearing upTimes Square. In the 1933 film, an ad forColumbia Pictures appeared in the same spot, and the production designers replicated it, but Columbia asked for a large amount of money for its use, so effects artists replaced it.[65]
When Denham is considering who to play the part before meeting Ann, he suggests "Fay", but his assistant Preston replies, "She's doing apicture withRKO." Music from the 1933 film is heard, and Denham mutters, "Cooper, huh? I might have known." Fay Wray starred in the 1933 film, which was directed byMerian C. Cooper and released by RKO.[65] At the time she was performing in another Cooper/Schoedsack production,The Most Dangerous Game withRobert Armstrong.
In the 1933 film, Denham made up an "Arabian proverb" about "beauty and beast". The 2005 remake repeats the fake proverb.[65]
Early in this film, Denham shoots a scene for his film in which Ann, in-character, proclaims she's never been on a ship before, and Bruce Baxter improvises lines proclaiming annoyance. The dialogue they exchange is taken verbatim from early scenes between Ann and Jack Driscoll in the 1933 film. Ironically, in this film, Jack Driscoll expresses disapproval of such words toward Ann.[65]
Kong's New York stage appearance looks very much like a re-enactment of the 1933 film's sacrifice scene, including the posts the 'beauty' is tied to and the nearly identical performance, costumes, andblackface makeup of the dancers. In addition, the music played by the orchestra during that scene isMax Steiner's original score for the 1933 film.[65]
The battle between Kong and the finalV. rex is almost move-for-move like the last half of the fight between Kong and theT. rex in the 1933 film, right down to Kong playing with the dinosaur's broken jaw and then standing, beating his chest and roaring victoriously.[65]
After the crew captures Kong on the beach, Denham speaks a line from the 1933 film: "The whole world will pay to see this! We're millionaires, boys! I'll share it with all of you. In a few months, his name will be up in lights on Broadway! KONG, THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD!"[65]
A three-disc Deluxe Extended Edition was released on November 14, 2006, in the United States,[67] and on November 3 in Australia.[68] Twelve minutes were reinserted into the film, and an additional forty minutes included with the rest of the special features. The film was spread onto the first two discs with commentary by Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens, and some featurettes on discs one and two, whilst the main special features are on disc three. Another set was released, including a WETA figurine of a bullet-ridden Kong scaling the Empire State Building, roaring at the Navy with Ann in hand. The extended film amounts to 200 total minutes.[69]
A specialHD DVD version ofKing Kong was part of a promotional pack for the release of the external HD DVD Drive for theXbox 360. The pack contained the HD DVD drive, the Universal Media Remote andKing Kong on HD DVD.[70] It was also available separately as a standard HD DVD.[71] The film's theatrical and extended cuts were released together onBlu-ray Disc on January 20, 2009.[72] A re-release of the Blu-Ray with a new bonus disc containing nearly all of the extras from the 2-disc Special Edition DVD, the Deluxe Extended Edition 3-disc DVD, and the "Peter Jackson's Production Diaries" 2-disc DVD titled the "Ultimate Edition" was released on February 7, 2017.[73] AnUltra HD Blu-ray followed in July 2017.
In March 2021,Adam Wingard said in an interview that back in 2013, Peter Jackson had been interested in producing a sequel to the film, titledSkull Island, with Wingard as director andSimon Barrett writing it.[74] Jackson had been impressed with Wingard's work inYou're Next, and investigated a potential sequel. However, the King Kong rights had already been transferred to Warner Bros. by 2013, which complicated a sequel to a Universal-produced movie.[74] Wingard says that Jackson was thinking of setting the proposed movie during World War I, which would make it a prequel, but that the studio was uninterested in a World War I era film.[75] Wingard pivoted to offering a modern-day sequel, but ultimately nothing came of the proposal.[75]
TheUniversal Orlando Resort locationIslands of Adventure features an attraction called "Skull Island: Reign of Kong" which is based on Peter Jackson's remake. While the King Kong part of the Universal Studios Hollywood resort was destroyed by a massive fire, a 3D short inspired by the film was eventually created in 2010,King Kong: 360 3-D, which is another attraction based on Peter Jackson's remake.[78]
^abcdefghijMorton, Ray (2005).King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon - From Fay Wray to Peter Jackson. New York City: Applause: Theatre & Cinema Books. pp. 316–329.ISBN1-55783-669-8.
^Manlove, Clifford (2012). "Chapter 8: 'An Image of Africa': Representations of Modern Colonialism in Peter Jackson'sKing Kong". In Higgins, MaryEllen (ed.).Hollywood's Africa After 1994. Ohio University Press. pp. 135–136.ISBN978-0-8214-2015-7.
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