I love Peter Jackson, but does King Kong really have to run three hours? (The 1933 original clocks in at 100 minutes, or just over half as long.) Did he learn nothing from the carping over Return of the King and its 17 endings? Cripes, how long is the DVD special edition of Kong going to run?
Oh well, Universal obviously has faith; they’re letting Jackson spend an additional $32 million on effects, bringing the total budget to $207 million. (Some of that extra cash is coming out of Jackson’s own pocket.) Don’t know if that makes Kong the most expensive movie ever, but it does make it a gamble on the level of Lord of the Rings or Titanic.
Think Kong can scale similar heights, artistically and commercially?
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Since “Titanic” was only okay, I’d imagine Jackson can beat that, but I’m already set to be disappointed. It’ll be good, but not $207 million good.
Hopefully it won’t bomb on the scale of the “God(awful)zilla”
I think it has the best chance of being the second movie this year to break the coveted $300 million mark, but at the end of the day it is just another remake in a year that has had too many already. “Rings” fans will guarantee a big opening weekend at the least, but throwing additional dollars at it for effects and the last-minute replacement of the composer is not a good sign. At three hours though, I will wait for the DVD.
I’m just going so I can see the trailer for X-Men III.
Peter Jackson would be one of the very few filmmakers that could turn out a 3 hour monster movie and make it work. I feel very confident that he will put loads of TLC into it and pay proper respect to the 30’s original (still one of the great movies of all time) and at the same time, make everyone forget that the awful 70’s version even exists. 3 hours! Can’t wait!
Oh yeah, you would have think PJ would have learned from LOTR: Return of the King… hmmm $377,019,252 gross; Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Writing-Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Music, Original Score, Best Music, Original Song, Best Makeup, Best Costume Design, not to mention the hundreds of other international industry awards. Yeah, I think you are right, PJ has no idea what he is doing.
I have complete faith in PJ. He loved KK as much as he loved LOTR and look what he did with that – just my all time favorite movie! I’d bet that we’ll all be wishing it were even longer when that 3 hours is up. Can’t wait!
Hasn’t anybody seen the trailer yet?!?! Kong, the dinosaurs and even the ship the crew comes to the island with, basically everything besides the bunch of actors, looks so awfully fake that it’ll be very likely a pain in the a… to sit through the whole three (3!!) hours. Gee, Peter, cut that movie now!!!
From what I’ve seen in the production diaries online, this is going to be on par with the Lord of the Rings movies, for sure. Three hours is a long time to sit in a theater, but if the editing is done right, time will fly by. The Rings movies, Harry Potter movies, and Titanic have all been long, but very enjoyable.
I am looking forward to Peter Jackson’s version of King Kong on the Special DVD edition. I no longer see movies in the theatre anymore because it is getting cheaper to buy them on DVD and the service at home is far far superior to the theatres!!
what is wrong with some of you people. Has American culture degraded so much that people are to rushed to sit down and enjoy a movie? Anyway, if it is a good movie and edited well, the length shouldn’t matter. By the way, the effects on the trailer were preliminary, not the final shots.
It’s one thing to make a 3 hr. + movie out of a overly-stuffed book series. It’s quite another thing to make a 3 hour monster movie. Particularly with Return of the King, I thought Jackson could have cut back a little bit on the length and edited the movie more artfully(the last 20 minutes has to be one of the most poorly edited sequences in recent filmmaking and the fact that it recieved an Oscar for editing over City of God and Lost in Translation is rather shameful). Not to mention, the bloated special edition DVD version that didn’t really add any value from a filmmaking perspective and only worked for LOTR geeks. I am intrigued as to what Jackson had added to flesh out King Kong from the original and worried that his filmmaking talent has gone to his head. An audience can only be expected to sit through Naomi Watts screaming at a green screen for so long before they get restless.
It’s one thing to make a 3 hr. + movie out of a overly-stuffed book series. It’s quite another thing to make a 3 hour monster movie. Particularly with Return of the King, I thought Jackson could have cut back a little bit on the length and edited the movie more artfully(the last 20 minutes has to be one of the most poorly edited sequences in recent filmmaking and the fact that it recieved an Oscar for editing over City of God and Lost in Translation is rather shameful). Not to mention, the bloated special edition DVD version that didn’t really add any value from a filmmaking perspective and only worked for LOTR geeks. I am intrigued as to what Jackson had added to flesh out King Kong from the original and worried that his filmmaking talent has gone to his head. An audience can only be expected to sit through Naomi Watts screaming at a green screen for so long before they get restless.
With most Americans’ attention spans not able to exceed a half-hour reality TV show, I’m not surprised that many people are griping about a 3 hour movie. But there was a time when movies were both better and longer than most drivel we see now. Peter Jackson already proved himself with LOTR. I for one look forward to spending three glorious hours in a theater! Look at it like this: it’s like watching two *&^% movies back to back, which I suspect many people who own DVD players do, only it’s good! here’s a thought: if you don’t like the sound of a 3 hour movie, don’t go. Make room for those of us who do.
It’s pathetic how short the average American movie goer’s attention span is. 3 hours sounds great to me. Heck, I could have happily sat through a dozen more endings for ROTK. Bring on the 3 hour Kong!
Regarding ROTK’s endings: Jackson had to wrap up the various storylines, and in fact, he left out a lot of stuff that was in the books. He had to work with the source material, and I think he did pretty well. As for Kong’s length and what he’s filling up the time with, I can’t say. I do believe that he knows what he’s doing, however.
If I can sit through 15 minutes of “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart” (Don’t raz me, okay – I lost the remote!), then you people can sit through 3 hours of “King Kong”…
Suck it up, people!
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3 hours wouldn’t be such a bad running time for a movie if filmmakers still put in intermissions. After awhile, people really need to be able to stretch, use the restrooms, and/or get more snacks without stumbling through a dark theater and missing part of the movie. I became restless about 2/3 through the last two Lord of the Rings movies simply because the theater seat was starting to make me sore.
I trust Peter Jackson, if he thinks it needs to be 3 hours long, so be it. I have been a fan of his for many years now and I think it is about time that people start to trust his directorial instincts.
After all how many times have you seen a movie that was too short. I have. The man is an artist in the new digital movie era, let him be.
3 hours does seem a little long for what is essentially a monster movie. I have no problem sitting down for three hours with a movie that has a more intricate plot (ie The Godfather Pt 2 was amazing). But this is a movie about a giant ape, I have to wonder if it is going to be a heavy story or just alot of special effects filler.
Even Jackson’s misfires (The Frighteners) have been entertaining. And when he is on his game (Lord of the Rings, Heavenly Creatures) he is as good as any. I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Return of the King’s ending was ridiculously long, granted, but I didn’t want it to end any more than Jackson did. Give the man the benefit of the doubt.
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