Preview: King Kong

By Joshua Tyler Nov 18, 2005, 18:48 GMT

Director Peter Jackson may have been passionate about adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's massive fantasy novels "The Lord of the Rings", but his love of hobbits is nothing compared to the man's absolute obsession with a movie called 'King Kong'. For him, remaking that 1933 classic is the fulfillment of a childhood dream.

That’s right, this fall’s biggest movie is another remake, and a remake of a classic to boot. But if you’re going to redo a classic, it’s good to know that it’s being redone by someone with respect for the material. PJ doesn’t just respect it; he’s in love with it. ‘Kong’ is Peter’s favorite movie, and one he credits as a big part of what inspired him to become a filmmaker.

Of course you have to wonder, why would anyone want to remake their favorite movie? If it's your favorite, that generally means you like it the way it is, not that you think you could do better. Whatever his reasons, 'Kong' is ripe for updating. The 1933 version, a cutting edge landmark in its time, is now dated. Its black and white, stop-motion effects no longer hold up under the flash of modern marvels like Jackson's own 'Lord of the Rings' movies. Where a movie like 'Casablanca' is timeless, an effects heavy flick like 'Kong' can sometimes benefit from an upgrade every fifty years or so.

This isn't the first time that 'King Kong' has gotten a remake though. In 1976 Jeff Bridges took a stab and redoing it with Jessica Lange and Charles Grodin. The effects were better, but the rest of it wasn't. Let's not forget all the 'Kong' spin-offs too. The 1933 version had a sequel in 'Son of Kong'. In modern times (1986 to be exact) there was an attempt at a sequel called 'King Kong Lives'. Kong has also popped up to battle with other monsters. In 1962 he was enlarged and shipped overseas to battle Tokyo's own Godzilla in 'King Kong VS Godzilla'. He's been in cartoons, on lunchboxes, in comic books, and on posters tacked up in children's bedrooms. The big ape's legacy is undeniable, and Peter Jackson will try his damndest to do all of that justice. He is after all, a King Kong superfan.

To get it right, Jackson has brought to bear all the skills he perfected filming the much more massive, daunting, and detailed 'Lord of the Rings' epics. His WETA workshop effects crew is back on the job, constructing sets and CGI'ing up the mega-monkey. But Kong won't be some empty, computerized construct. As they did for the groundbreaking creature Gollum, Kong will be created based on the movements of a live actor working with motion capture. Who better to do it than Sméagol himself, Andy Serkis. Serkis is back on the job for PJ, wearing his Gollum unitard and pounding his chest like a big, lovesick gorilla. As he did for 'LOTR's' Stinker, he'll do his best to bring an actor's real performance to an otherwise lifeless computer image.

For his cast, PJ did what anyone would do, he turned to the greatest band in the world, Tenacious D. Kyle Gass was too buys to play Kong, but Jack Black hopped on board to play notorious self-promoter Carl Denham. Naomi Watts takes over the role that 30's bombshell Fay Wray used to define blonde, Kong's babe obsession Anne Darrow. Watts is blonde, which is good, but she's also a fantastic actress. It also helps that she's got one hell of a scream. Adrian Brody rounds out the primary cast as heroic Jack Driscoll. Kong's playing with Oscar caliber actors.

'King Kong' is a big movie, and that means it comes with a big price tag. Some estimates have pegged the total cost of the film at over $200 million dollars. That's well beyond the original budget set for the movie by Universal. But then, isn't that the sort of massive price tag you should expect from a movie featuring an oversized ape fighting a T-Rex? The problem here is that in order to make a profit, 'King Kong' will have to be an awe inspiring box office success. The film's running time won't help, it's clocking in at around 3 hours. Audiences have been turned off by long running times before. It didn't hurt 'Lord of the Rings', but are ticket buyers willing to sit still that long for 'Kong'? It won't be enough for people to see it once either, the movie's going to need repeat business to break even.

For another movie, in the midst of a box office slump, that kind of success might be a challenge. For 'King Kong', it should be a snap. It's easily one of the most anticipated movies of the year. The trailers are fantastic, and folks are ready to revisit pop-culture's most romantic super-monkey. 'King Kong' hits theaters in the United States December 14th. For more information, including photos and movie trailers, visit our database.