Ironworks Gaming Forum - So...what has Peter Jackson been doing lately?

A selection of quotes from another forum I visit that has been discussing this rather rabidly:

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You know I've been checking in on the King Kong production website for over a year now from time to time -- it only JUST danwed on me that Peter is keeping KONG set in the 30's.

Thank gawd. Really nice look/feel from what I've seen on the website so far. (as opposed to bring Kong to the modern era as they did in the 1977 remake.

So we should be seeing bi-planes taking on Kong instead of Apache helicopters.

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Yeah, they kinda half to, don't they? I mean if it was modern day, they could take out Kong way too easily. One rocket launcher and he's toast. You'd never be able to suspend your disbelief with all the BS they'd have to invent to justify NOT killing him quickly and easily to lead to the expected climax.

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Sure didn't stop Delaurentis who insisted on a modern setting for the 77' remake.

Of course thier take was KONG was intrenched in the city -- you had to limit your military response so you didn't take out the civilians. But yeah smart bombs and visual-guidance systems sure changes the picture even from 77.

I'm just glad Peter Jackson is such an admirer of the original and wants to stay true to the story as opposed to Timothy Burton who insists on 'reimagining' any project he takes on as though the original was lacking.

I'm just wondering how Jackson will handle the natives of the island. The original was very poliical incorrect by todays standards.

I have a feeling this could be the surprise hit of the year. Jackson did a great job keeping the project underwraps. He's one of the few directors i know of who can do CGI intensive films and still not lose sight of the characters who drive the story.

He commented recently that he has MORE passion for King Kong than he did Lord of the Rings. That speaks volumes.

I think you had to be born at a certain time to really appreciate the original Kong. For those of us raised in the days when Famous Monsters of Filmland was still on the magazine racks it's a very special flick.

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Jolly_Blackburn said:
I have a feeling this could be the surprise hit of the year.

IMO, there'll be no suprise about it.

About him keeping the project under wraps: It's interesting to note that he's had a weekly video diary from the set of King Kong ever since they started filming. I think that has a lot to do with the project being kept under wraps; by being the main source of information, he directs the fans thirst for knowledge in ways that won't give away too many spoilers, and in the case of Lord of the Rings, involving the fans meant that leaked pictures of Gollum were taken off fan websites.

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I'm hoping Jackons stuck with the original Kong script as opposed to what made it on the big screen.

The censors hacked the movie to bits and much of the cut footage was lost forever.

For example where Kong turns the log sending the would-be rescuers tumbling into the cravass..

Originally there was a scene that showed giant spiders scurrying out of caves at the bottom to snatch up the bodies and drag them away. The scene was deemed so terrifying it was pulled.

Only one or two still shots exist. Hopefully he'll put that back in.

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KONG 2005 trivia.

• Peter Jackson was paid $20 million to direct this film, the highest salary ever paid to a film director in advance of production.

• On April Fools Day 2005, Peter Jackson posted an elaborate practical joke, where he posted a web diary on www.kongisking.net. He "revealed" that they were already starting production on "King Kong: Son Of Kong" and "King Kong: Into the Wolf's Lair". Both films, supposedly to be released in 2006, contained the principal characters riding Son of Kong, strapping machine guns to his back and fighting Hitler's genetically mutated creatures. The film was going to be produced under the banner of "Big Primate Productions". Peter Jackson has been known to pull pranks of this sort before, see Forgotten Silver (1995).

• Fay Wray was in negotiations to appear in the film, before she died. Peter Jackson wanted her to deliver the legendary last line: "Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast."

• In at least one scene that takes place in a diner, Naomi Watts wears a hat that is Peter Jackson's tribute to Fay Wray's hat in the original King Kong.

• The two original models of the carnivorous Brontosaurus from the original 1933 movie were used for reference in creating a creature for a similar dinosaur sequence in this movie.

• The film is appropriately set in 1933, the same year the original film was released.

• Andy Serkis studied gorillas in Africa in preparation for his performance as King Kong (which is to be done in the same style that was used for him to play Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" movies).

• Adrien Brody did his own stunt driving.

• Kate Winslet was the first choice to play Ann Darrow.

• Kong (like the original) is officially 50 feet tall.

• The original King Kong was released four times in theatres between 1933 and 1952, and each release saw the cutting of additional scenes. Though many of the outtakes - including the censored sequence in which Kong peels off Fay Wray's clothes - were restored in 1971, one cut scene has never been found. It is the clip in which Kong shakes four sailors off a log bridge, causing them to fall into a ravine where they are eaten alive by giant spiders. When the movie - with spider sequence intact - was previewed in San Bernardino, California, in late January 1933, members of the audience screamed and either left the theatre or talked about the grisly sequence throughout the remainder of the film. Said the film's producer, Merian C. Cooper, "It stopped the picture cold, so the next day back at the studio, I took it out myself."

• As they were filming the movie both the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building were being built. At first the Chrysler Building was supposed to be the tallest building in New York, and thus was the one Kong would climb. But then the builders of the Empire State Building added an observation tower and mooring mast (never actually used) to become the world's tallest. In mid-production the producers changed the script so Kong would climb the Empire State Build.

• The gate that was built for Kong 1933 was set on fire and pulled down by hidden cables as part of the burning of the Atlanta Depot scene in Gone with the Wind (1939).