KING KONG MAKES A SOFT LANDING
Friday, December 16 2005
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Critics had described the ape in Peter Jackson's King Kong as a "big softie," but few had thought that the opening of the movie would be described the same way. Yet Wednesday's opening-day box office for the film amounted to only $9.8 million, about half what Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring earned on its Wednesday opening four years ago ($18.2 million). (The Rings films reportedly cost less than $100 million to produce; Kong reportedly cost more than $200 million.) However, Universal distribution chief Nikki Rocco insisted that the film "is doing great," telling the Los Angeles Times, "Sometimes a movie that opens soft on a Wednesday will surprise you on the weekend." Rocco attributed the soft opening to bad weather in much of the nation and the fact that, unlike several other years, including 2001, when the first Rings film was released, school had yet to let out for the holidays in much of the country. Besides, Rocco told the Times. "This little monkey is going to have long, long legs and will be around for quite some time." (The film did set a record for a Wednesday opening in New Zealand, where it was filmed, racking up $415,960 in just 72 theaters.)
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