Posted on 10/26/2005 9:24:47 PM PDT by SteveMcKing
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 26 - In hiring Peter Jackson, the Oscar-winning director of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, to remake the monster classic "King Kong," Universal Pictures took a daring leap, paying him $20 million to direct, produce and be the co-writer of the film.
With seven weeks to go before the movie's release, the risks are becoming clearer. After seeing a version of the film in late September at Mr. Jackson's studio in New Zealand, Universal executives agreed to release "King Kong" at a length of three hours.
The film is substantially longer than Universal had anticipated and presents dual obstacles: the extra length has helped increase the budget by a third, to $207 million, while requiring the studio, owned by General Electric, to reach for the kind of long-term audience interest that made hits out of three-hour movies like "Titanic" and the films in Mr. Jackson's "Rings" trilogy.
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(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Actually this is now a remake of a remake. They did a remake with Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges in the `70`s. All those `70`s movies are being remade not to mention TV shows, they are also remaking Superman. Hollywood just will not take chances today... I mean just imagine how many undiscovered scripts are floating around out there, there must be tons of talented script writers that have stuff that would blow peoples minds, but noooooo...Hollywood has to do remakes of every freggin` lame-o TV show from the past 50 years as well as every movie.
I remember in the `70`s it seemed that every other week another mind blowing movie would come out of nowhere, stuff that nobody unexpected like Taxi Driver, Deer Hunter, Godfather, Deliverance, Star Wars, Rocky, Alien, Cuckoo's Nest, Jaws, French connection, Pappilon, Exorcist, The Sting, Dog day afternoon, young Frankenstein, Blazing saddles, etc etc..not so today. Today we can expect all those movies to be remade, that`s if they can get a remake done of Gilligans Island first.
LOL!! good one Ostlandr.
Well I'm sure Hillary has as one her targets of those who "things must be taken away for the common good" are the well paid Hollywood elite. Yea like that will ever happen... not.
Man, she sure is easy on the eyes.
The Aviator was better than I expected as well.
Would that be a Samuel L. Bronkowitz production, do you think?
Is that sarcasm? 'Cause, that ain't the most flattering pitcher.
I think the only thing the movie will have going for it will be the use of the newest special effects to make a more realistic monkey.
The monkey is found on an island, there is a girl in distress and the monkey will die in a great fall more than likely.
I don't think it will be much different, so I will wait and here if it is worth going to or waiting for basic cable.
Yeah, the special effects would be all that is going to make the movie I think.
For two hundred million they should have grown a real giant monkey IMO.
Wow, come to think of it, Michael Moore and the Kong picture on Drudge look mighty similar.
Is that Bush's fault?
"This is a three-hour feast of an event," said Marc Shmuger, vice chairman of Universal Pictures, who described the film as a tragic love story between the ape and Naomi Watts, who plays Ann Darrow, an actress. "I've never come close to seeing an artist working at this level."
Spin for: "We made another completely unoriginal pile of crap that is dumbed down for the lowest common denominator audience, and we are hoping for the same dumbass movie goers that went to Titantic and Pearl Harbor.
Of course, we can't say this because the hype machine is going to try to sell this crapfest like the second coming of Christ" $207 million could make 10 great studio films and 30 great Indie films. But, no, we gotta make big screen brainless crap , advertise the hell out of it, tie it into McDonalds and any tacky ad campaign we can, because we made a $207 Million Dollar Steaming Pile.
Remember, though, in the 70's version you get to see Kong step on Charles Grodin, and that alone was almost worth the price of admission.
does king kong bring down indictments on Libby and Rove in this one?
There are a few good movies being made in this generation. Saving Private Ryan. Schindler's List. Perhaps Lord of the Rings.
I may average going to the movies once a year these days. I can buy DVDs cheaper than the admission price (with the quality of most movies, you might as well just go to the 2/$11 bin at Wal-Mart), I don't have to put up with cell phones and chatters, and the parking is better at home.
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They should have just asked Michael Moore to let his body hair grow out for a while.
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You haven't seen him up close, have you? He'd need a trim.
Movies aren't seen as a "real business."
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