Director Peter Jackson, winner of three Oscars for the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, will be the driving force behind a new remake of the classic film, “King Kong.”
Some notable changes will be made to the script, including the addition of a rag-tag band of adventurers who help the new central character, a midget with pointy ears, travel to the distant land of Kong’s origins and cast the “One Banana Peel” into a large blender in order to destroy Kong’s power.
When asked if his “Lord of the Rings” success may have affected his movie making style, Jackson replied, “What do you mean by that? There’s no Gandalf in this movie. And anyone who says that the Gendelf character is just a knock off is crazy.” Jackson’s supporters back his claims by pointing out that the Gandalf character has a pointy hat and a long beard, while Gendelf has a pointy beard and a long hat.
Critics are quick to say that this is just crass marketing and commercialization of a classic movie. But many were even quicker to recant their statements after a visit from Jackson’s Nazgul promotions department.
In addition to the “minor” script changes, Jackson has plans to film the entire movie on location in New Zealand. In order to prevent copywrite infringement, the climactic scene of King Kong climbing the Empire State Building will be changed to one where he climbs the Umpire State Building, which is now under construction in Jackson’s hometown of Wellington.
While the movie will not be released until December 2005, merchandise such as action figures and trading cards will be available for the holidays this year.
Posted by GEBIV at September 5, 2004 11:05 AM(grinning) Nice one!
Posted by: That 1 Guy at September 5, 2004 10:08 PM