KING KONG

Year: 2005
USA: Universal Studios
UK: UIP (UK)
Cast: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Colin Hanks, Andy Serkis, Andy Serkis, Evan Parke, Jamie Bell, Lobo Chan, John Sumner, Craig Hall, Kyle Chandler, Willians Johnson, Mark Hadlow, Geraldine Brophy, David Denis, David Pittu, Pip Mushin, Jim Knobeloch, Ric Herbert, Lee Donahue, Tom Hobbs, Tiriel Mora, Jed Brophy, Frank Edwards, Michael Lawrence, Crawford Thompson, Richard Kavanagh, Stephen Hall, William Wallace, Joe Folau, Tim Wong, Steve Reinsfield, John Wraight, Matthew Chamberlain, Lee Hartley, Troy O'Kane, Louis Sutherland, Jason Whyte, Toa Waaka, John Clarke, Ray Woolf, David Dengelo, Greg Smith, Chris Bailey, Peter McKenzie, Peter Ford, Tamihana Nuku, Russell Dubois, Phillip Grieve, Vicky Haughton, Jacinta Wawatai, Terence Griffiths, Stephen Buckley, Chic Littlewood, Rick Baker, Jim Dietz, Rodney Cook, Gene De Marco, John Dybvig, Tim Gordon, Lee McDonald, John Dybvig, Stig Eldred, Billy Jackson, Katie Jackson, Tania Rodger, Samuel Taylor, Bob Burns, Kathy Burns, Jo Gertler, Jennifer Gertler, Geoff Timblick, Geoff Allen, Belindalee Hope, Crushanin Dixor-Mcivor , Jodie Taylor, Hilton Denis, Geoff Dunstan, Daniel Tusia, Paul Wilson, Shannon Wilson, Jesse Rasmussen, Sosina Wogayehu, Peter Corrigan, Collin Boggars, Susan Eastwood, Carol Dallas, Darryl John, Felicia O'Brien, Peter Jackson, Rick Porras, Frank Darabont, Hamish Bruce, Latham Gaines, Julia Walshaw, Luanne Gordon, Lorraine Ashbourne, Edwin Wright, Glen Drake, Lawrence Jarden, Ross Duncan, Jim McLarty, Matt Wilson
Director: Peter Jackson
Countries: New Zealand / USA
USA & UK: 188 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for frightening adventure violence and some disturbing images
UK Certificate: 12A contains frightening elements, moderate violence and frequent peril
USA Release Date: 14 December 2005
UK Release Date: 15 December 2005
UK DVD Release Date: 13 November 2006 (De luxe extended edition)
UK DVD Release Date: 10 April 2006

UK Distributor

Synopsis

Triple Academy Award® winner Peter Jackson, whose THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy made motion picture history, now brings his sweeping cinematic vision to one of the screen's most enduring classics and one of the greatest filmic adventures of all time: KING KONG.

Assuming directing, producing and co-screenwriting duties, Jackson turns his attention to the iconic tale immortalized in 1933 by adventurers-turned-filmmakers Merian C Cooper and co-director Ernest B Schoedsack, who first conjured the indelible image of the gigantic ape atop the Empire State Building, protecting his human companion from an onslaught of attacking biplanes. Jackson refashions the tragic beauty-and-the-beast love story—infusing the spectacle of the tale with propulsive action and a poignant humanity—and gives us a Kong never before thought possible through the combined efforts and visual effects wizardry of the multiple-Oscar®-winning Weta Digital Ltd and Weta Workshop Ltd.

KING KONG is the culmination of the filmmaker's near-lifelong dream—taking the best elements of the original story and adrenalizing them with up-to-the-minute effects magic and the alchemic talents of a superlative group of filmmakers, cast and crew.

Jackson retains key members of the team behind THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. He is joined once again by longtime collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, co-writing the motion picture with three-time Oscar®-winning partner Walsh and their THE LORD OF THE RINGS co-writer, Academy Award® winner Boyens. Jan Blenkin, Carolynne Cunningham, Walsh and Jackson produce the film under their WingNut Films banner.

The story of King Kong

It is 1933, and vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Oscar® nominee for 21 GRAMS, Naomi Watts) has found herself—like so many other New Yorkers during the Great Depression—without the means to earn a living. Unwilling to compromise and allow herself to sink into a career in burlesque, she considers her limited options while aimlessly wandering the streets of Manhattan. When her hunger drives her to unsuccessfully try to steal an apple from a fruit vendor's stall, she is rescued—literally—by filmmaker and multiple hyphenate Carl Denham (Jack Black of THE SCHOOL OF ROCK).

It seems that the entrepreneur-raconteur-adventurer is no stranger to theft, having that day lifted the only existing print of his most recent and unfinished film from under his studio executives' noses when they threatened to pull his completion funds. Carl has until the end of the day to get his crew onboard the Singapore-bound tramp steamer, the S.S. Venture, in hopes of completing his travelogue/action film. With that, the showman is certain he will finally achieve the personal greatness he knows awaits him around the corner...and although the crew believe that corner to be Singapore, Denham actually hopes to find and capture on film the mysterious place of legend: Skull Island.

Unfortunately for Carl, his headlining actress has pulled out of his project, but his search for a size-four leading lady (the costumes have all been made) has, fatefully, led him to Ann. The struggling actress is reluctant to sign on with Denham, until she learns that the up-and-coming, socially relevant playwright Jack Driscoll (Oscar® winner for THE PIANIST, Adrien Brody) is penning the screenplay—the fees his friend Carl pays for potboiling adventure are a welcome supplement to Driscoll's nominal income from his stage plays.

With his newly discovered star and coerced screenwriter reluctantly onboard, Denham's "moving picture ship" heads out of New York Harbor...and toward a destiny that none aboard could possibly foresee.

Joining Watts, Black and Brody is an accomplished ensemble cast from around the globe. German star Thomas Kretschmann (U-571) portrays Captain Englehorn, commander of the Venture, who allows Denham and his ever-increasing bribes to persuade him to endanger the lives of his crew by searching for Skull Island. Colin Hanks (ORANGE COUNTY) is Preston, Denham's put-upon assistant and unwitting moral compass, who attempts to keep his boss in check and the production from spiraling out of control. Young actor Jamie Bell (BILLY ELLIOT) plays Jimmy, the youngest crew member, whose experiences onboard the Venture prove more fantastical than any old salt's seafaring yarn. Evan Parke lends his talents to the role of first mate Hayes, keeping a watchful eye on young Jimmy and serving as Englehorn's conscience.

Kyle Chandler takes on the character of Bruce Baxter, a "B"-movie-level leading man cast opposite Ann Darrow in Denham's adventure movie. Andy Serkis (who performed the role of the CGI character Gollum in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) provides both on-set performance reference and motion-capture performance for the "Eighth Wonder of the World"...the title character of King Kong; he also appears onscreen as the eccentric sailor in charge of the Venture's galley, Lumpy the Cook.

To create the widely diverging worlds of two disparate settings—the urban jungle of 1930s Manhattan and the primordial environs of Skull Island, home to a lost race and a myriad of formidable, not-extinct creatures—Peter Jackson gathers an unparalleled team of film artisans, the majority with whom he enjoys longstanding collaborative relationships. These include: director of photography Andrew Lesnie, who received the Academy Award® for his cinematography in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING; production designer Grant Major, Oscar® winner for the third in the trilogy, THE RETURN OF THE KING; and film editor Jamie Selkirk, who likewise collected an Academy Award® for his artistry on the final instalment of Jackson's epic. Visual effects are again accomplished by New Zealand-based companies Weta Digital Ltd., under the direction of Oscar® winner Joe Letteri (THE RETURN OF THE KING), and Weta Workshop Ltd., under the direction of Oscar® winner Richard Taylor (THE RETURN OF THE KING). The film is scored by six-time Academy Award® nominee James Newton Howard (BATMAN BEGINS).

DVD EXTRAS DE LUXE EXTENDED EDITION (13 November 2006)

For the first time ever audiences will be able to experience the all-new de luxe extended edition. Highlights on the three-disc set include:

Over 13 additional minutes of never-before-seen action packed footage
230 new visual effects shots
Over 40 minutes of deleted scenes
Over 6.5 hours of bonus material in total

Disc 1
Feature Commentary with Director/Writer/Producer Peter Jackson and Co-Writer/Producer Philippa Boyens
Deleted Scene Intros
Deleted Scenes
Featurette - The Eighth Blunder of The World
Featurette - King Kong Homage
Featurette - A Night in Vaudeville
Featurette - The Missing Production Diary

Disc 2
Feature Commentary with Director/Writer/Producer Peter Jackson and Co-Writer/Producer Philippa Boyens
Featurette - The Present
Trailers
Weta Collectibles
Pre-Visualisation Animatics
DVD ROM: 1996 Scripts and 2005 scripts

Disc 3
Peter Jackson Introduction
Featurette - Recreating the Eighth Wonder: The Making of King Kong
Conceptual Design Video Galleries
DVD Credits

Technical information:
Running Time: 3 hours 12 mins
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
Technical Info: Dolby Digital 5.1; English SDH, French, Danish, German, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish subtitles (subject to change)

DVD EXTRAS (10 April 2006)

Introduction from director Peter Jackson
Post-production diaries
'Kong's New York, 1933' featurette
'The Natural History Of Skull Island' featurette