King Kong (2005)

In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with leading lady Ann Darrow.

Director:

Peter Jackson

Writers:

Fran Walsh (screenplay), Philippa Boyens (screenplay),

Stars:

Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody

Won 3 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 48 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Naomi Watts	...	Ann Darrow
Jack Black	...	Carl Denham
Adrien Brody	...	Jack Driscoll
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Captain Englehorn
Colin Hanks	...	Preston
Andy Serkis	...	Kong / Lumpy
Evan Parke	...	Hayes
Jamie Bell	...	Jimmy
Lobo Chan	...	Choy
John Sumner	...	Herb
Craig Hall	...	Mike
Kyle Chandler	...	Bruce Baxter
William Johnson	...	Manny
Mark Hadlow	...	Harry
Geraldine Brophy	...	Maude

Storyline

Carl Denham needs to finish his movie and has the perfect location; Skull Island. But he still needs to find a leading lady. This 'soon-to-be-unfortunate' soul is Ann Darrow. No one knows what they will encounter on this island and why it is so mysterious, but once they reach it, they will soon find out. Living on this hidden island is a giant gorilla and this beast now has Ann is its grasps. Carl and Ann's new love, Jack Driscoll must travel through the jungle looking for Kong and Ann, whilst avoiding all sorts of creatures and beasts. But Carl has another plan in mind.

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Plot Keywords:

island | jungle | gorilla | 1930s | actress | 

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Taglines:

The eighth wonder of the world.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for frightening adventure violence and some disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [United Kingdom]

Country:

New Zealand USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Peter Jackson's King Kong

Filming Locations:

Beach Road, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand

Box Office

Budget:

$207,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$213,679 (South Africa) (6 January 2006)

Gross:

$218,051,260 (USA) (31 March 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, WingNut Films, Big Primate Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

187 min 201 min (extended edition)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX SDDS DTS-ES

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Times Square set was built about 20% scaled down from the original. For this and most other New York sets, only the first story was built in full scale. The rest of the scenes were added digitally. Streets were also extended using digital effects, and the number of pedestrians and cars were doubled or even tripled in large scenes, using the same process applied to the battle scenes in the Lord of the Rings films.

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Goofs

When leaving New York, a 360 degrees shot is taken of the boat by night. However, the shape of the plume of smoke coming from the chimney does not change with the camera's point of view.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Manny: [practicing sneezes] That's a funny one. Isn't that funnier?

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Crazy Credits

The end credits are set against an art deco backdrop rather than the traditional black screen. The backdrop is an exact replica, in Technicolor, of the same backdrop that was used for the opening credits in the 1933 version of "King Kong".

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Connections

Spoofed in Making a Spoof (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Aboriginal Sacrifice Dance"
from the underscore of the King Kong
Written by Max Steiner

User Reviews

Amazing Effects

Just saw the premiere. Having never seen the original I was in for a treat. The acting was phenomenal. Jack Black played the movie producer

• more like a caricature of movie producer. At first - comical. Towards

the end - more depth is revealed in his character as he shamelessly exploits Kong. Adrian Brody was also outstanding as the screenwriter that falls in love with Naomi Watts' character Ann Darrow. As for Watts, she showed her versatility as an actress in certainly the biggest action role she's played to date. The effects on the island were AMAZING as were the action sequences...the monsters and creatures that the director created were as terrific as they were terrible. My one nitpick: in some places plausibility of relationship between Ann Darrow and Kong was strained. In general a great flick.