- Your Profile
- In the News
- Box Office
- Development
- Production
- Job Market
- Calendar
|
 |
JACKSON DUMPS KING KONG MUSIC Tuesday, October 18 2005 
Only
seven
weeks
before
the
scheduled
premiere
of
his
remake
of
King
Kong,
Peter
Jackson
has
dumped
Howard
Shore's
score
for
the
movie
and
plans
to
replace
it
with
a
new
one
by
James
Newton
Howard.
Shore
had
written
and
conducted
the
score
of
Jackson's
Lord
of
the
Rings
trilogy.
Howard's
credits
include
the
scores
for
Batman
Begins,
The
Village,
and
Waterworld.
In
a
statement,
Jackson
said:
"During
the
last
few
weeks,
Howard
and
I
(more)JACK BLACK HIRED FOR LEADING ROLE IN KING KONG Tuesday, March 30 2004 Producer-director Peter Jackson has selected Jack Black to star in his remake of King Kong as the filmmaker-entrepreneur who captures the giant ape and brings him to New York as a freak-show attraction. The role was originally played by Robert Armstrong in the 1933 original and by Charles Grodin in the 1976 remake (although the character's name was changed and he became an oil executive). (more) |
|
|
Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong for Universal will have cost $207 million by the time it hits the screens and run more than three hours, published reports said today (Thursday). (By contrast, the original RKO film, produced in 1933, ran half as long and cost $650,000, or $8.8 million in today's dollars; Paramount's 1976 remake ran two hours 14 minutes and cost $24 million, or $82 million in today's dollars.) Universal executives told today's (Thursday) New York Times that they agreed to the extra length -- they originally required director Peter Jackson to bring it in under two and a half hours -- and cost -- it originally was budgeted at $175 million -- after screening it at Jackson's New Zealand studios last month. Universal Vice Chairman Marc Shmuger told the Times: "This is a three-hour feast of an event. ... I've never come close to seeing an artist working at this level." Universal Chairman Stacey Snider remarked similarly to Daily Variety: "We loved it. It's a brilliant movie, an epic feast." Questions remain about who will pay the additional costs. The Times quoted Snider as saying that they will be split between Universal and Jackson. But Variety reported that Jackson had agreed to swallow the overage. And in an email message to the Times Jackson said that in an effort to support the three-hour length, "we offered to pay for these extra shots ourselves. That's what we're doing."
