King Kong

[Yog]

I am a little surprised there is not topic for this yet. King Kong is likely to become one of the biggest movies of this year. The promotion is terrific. Teaser trailer attached to War of the Worlds and an unprecedented wide <a href=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=10068>TV trailer release</a> on all the major networks. Peter Jackson is directing and WETA makes the special effects. It seems to faithfully capture the story of the original 1933 movie and combines it with the best elements of modern blockbusters. It looks great.

King Kong is scheduled for a release december 14th.

I think it should easily hit 200M. The only thing preventing it from hitting 300, is the competition in december. Narnia and Harry Potter also opens.

<a href=http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/king_kong/>Teaser + Trailer + Preview</a>

You might also want to check out this site for the latest news and rumours:
http://www.kongisking.net/index.shtml

[Rutabaga]

I've got to admit, I'm not salivating over this one...it's just another bloody remake that didn't need to be made. As I read at another messageboard a couple of days ago, even a quality rehash is still a rehash.

That said, though, I'll probably see it anyways, because I've always liked the Kong story. But the holiday season movies I'm more looking forward to are Goblet of Fire and Narnia.

[Daiquiri]

Seems like some of the movies are getting 'old', again. This is what..? The 3rd remake of King Kong? It will be the 3rd remake of Superman, too. While I may go see it (KK), I dont care for all the rehashing - as Fizz said - we need freshness.

[Darth McBain]

I thought the trailer looked pretty good, but I also agree that this is a movie that may not need another remake. Although, I don't know how many remakes this has had - there was the original (the best of them in my opinion) and the one with Jeff Bridges - were there any others? I know there were a bunch of spinoffs like King Kong vs. Godzilla and such, but I think there were maybe only the original and the Bridges remake that I can think of...

[Droo]

Originally posted by Daiquiri Van-Derveld
Seems like some of the movies are getting 'old', again. This is what..? The 3rd remake of King Kong? It will be the 3rd remake of Superman, too. While I may go see it (KK), I dont care for all the rehashing - as Fizz said - we need freshness.

Superman Returns is not a remake. It is the sequel to Superman and Superman II! :mad

And I've never watched any of the previous Kong films so I'll check this out. It looks awesome.

[jjwr]

I don't think I will be seeing this in the theatre. Yeah it'll be good but its King Kong, its not like we don't know whats going to happen. The big difference with War of the Worlds is there are actually a lot of people who are not familiar with the story and what happens, with Kong just about everyone knows who King Kong is.

[Daiquiri]

Originally posted by Droo
Superman Returns is not a remake. It is the sequel to Superman and Superman II! :mad

And I've never watched any of the previous Kong films so I'll check this out. It looks awesome.

What Im saying is that the Superman movies arent THAT old (at least not to me) and imho its too soon to be making new ones :p

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think the trailer looked fantastic. :D:thumbup

[Phantom]

I am a little surprised there is not topic for this yet.

lol, I made a thread about this days ago, when I first read about it at Cinescape.

Though I'm a fan of Peter Jackson's other films I have a hard time believing that this one will be all that good. I just can't take Jack Black seriously and seeing as how he's the lead role, it'll more then likely just be a joke.

[Darth McBain]

LOL - yeah, when I saw Jack Black in the trailer I kept thinking of Shallow Hal, which was making it hard for me to take him seriously.

[Droo]

Originally posted by Daiquiri Van-Derveld
What Im saying is that the Superman movies arent THAT old (at least not to me) and imho its too soon to be making new ones :p

Superman came out a year after A New Hope, there have been three prequels since the original trilogy. And the space between Batman Behins and Tim Burton's Batman is much less. Us Superman fans have been waiting long enough, missy!

Anyhoo, back on topic. I find it really interesting the direction in which this film is being made; I wasn't expecting dinosaurs, and monsters, and crazy tribesmen in the mix. This looks very engaging.

[Jedi Master Carr]

While visually I think it looks very good, I think it is unneeded film as well. It will probably hit 200 though, but I am more looking forward to Narnia and Goblet of Fire.

[Daiquiri]

I couldnt watch it and not feel angry/sad about and for Chris Reeve. For me, there will never be another actor in this role that could possibly be as 'super' as him.








:cry

[Daiquiri]

I knew there was something I was forgetting!! For all of you truly diehard Superman fans, send me your home address(es) if youre so inclined and in a week or so I'll mail you a postcard or picture from Metropolis :)

[Droo]

Originally posted by Daiquiri Van-Derveld
I couldnt watch it and not feel angry/sad about and for Chris Reeve. For me, there will never be another actor in this role that could possibly be as 'super' as him.

:cry

I agree. I don't think anyone, no matter how great an actor they are, will be able to replace him as Superman for me. He was perfect. Although, as Clark Kent, Brandon Routh is the spitting image of Christopher Reeve. :D

[Hera]

The King Kong trailer looks pretty good. The challenge will definitely be in trying to make such a familiar story new. The dinosaurs are a neat take on things.

[Ryan Pode]

He's fighting a T-Rex. Count me in.

[Jedieb]

I thought the trailer was fantastic. If this is done right, Kong could bring in as much cash as any of recent blockbusters. I think Jackson is giving it as much care and attention as he did the LOTR. Kong has always been a dream project for him. The clips I saw in that trailer really impressed me. I think he's giving the original a class retelling. This could easily make $300M or $400M if it catches the public's imaginiation.

[Hera]

I think there will be alot of initial interest anyway of people wanting to see what a post LOTR Jackson can do

[Droo]

I'll bump this thread with a quote from the first post:


Originally posted by Master Yoghurt
I am a little surprised there is not topic for this yet. King Kong is likely to become one of the biggest movies of this year.

The official trailer was released today and, oh my gosh, it looks incredible. Visually, it is absolutely gorgeous. Shame that Howard Shore jumped ship on the scoring, though.

Anyway, select your trailer size of choice and enjoy:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/king_kong/

[Shawn]

mmm... HD.

[Atreyu]

HD is nice. Pity its 214MB (have pity on my poor little dial-up modem :()

At least they have a smaller version that won't take me half a year to download. :)

[Yog]

HD version looks fantastic, although it seems 1080p is a little too much for my PC to handle (framerate is low). I went for the 60 MB 480p, and the detail level was still stunning :D

Btw, I really have to disagree with some of the comments earlier in the thread about it being an unneeded remake. There has been 1 -one- remake. The 1987 version directed by John Guillermin, starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange is what most people have seen, and its really not that faithful to the original story. Personally, I enjoy the 1987 version, but I know there are a lot of people (King Kong fans in particular) who hate that movie with a passion, and for valid reasons.

The original 1933 version on the other hand, had a story that both excited and inspired imagination. It was also pioneering the motion picture industry by being one of the first few movies that had voice acting and stop motion animation for special effects. Its on these merits the original King Kong is deemed a classic.

Despite all that, even as a black & white movie from the 30's, it feels very dated now. IMO, its not like other classics movies such as Casablanca where you could watch it 50 years afterwards and still be wowed by it. Some months ago, I decided to rewatch the original.. and man the acting was wooden and the animation looked like crap. In fact, in some respects, it looked like a bad movie, and I had mixed feelings after having seen it.

As much as the 1933 version was important to motion picture history, I believe the time is right for a good remake that is faithful to the artistic vision of the source material. When Peter Jackson of all directors is doing this, you better believe Im going to be excited about it.


I find it really interesting the direction in which this film is being made; I wasn't expecting dinosaurs, and monsters, and crazy tribesmen in the mix. This looks very engaging

Excactly! The 1933 version had dinosaurs, one of the many things they neglected to include in the 1987 remake. Another thing you might notice, the movie is based in the 1930's, just as the original.. :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

That trailer was awesome!!

I am doubly excited to see this movie. :D December is going to be such a good movie watching month.

[Yog]

Besides the trailer, you might want to check out "A Look Inside" at the same URL. Its an interesting preview with more footage from the movie. I also recommend the Postproduction Diary, which can be found along with King Kong news on this page:

http://www.kongisking.net/index.shtml

[Darth McBain]

Wow - at first I was skeptical of this, but the trailer really looks good and I'm pretty excited to see this now!

[Jedieb]

King Kong and Mighty Joe Young were some of my favorite movies as a kid. I must have watched them each over a dozen times on Saturday afternoons. They're being re-released on DVD soon and I can't wait to screen them for my boy. I'm definitely taking him to see Kong. I think he'll get a kick out of it. The trick is, how do I get the wife to see it? Not sure giant apes and rampaging T-Rex's will get her into the theater. Crazy woman.

[JMK]

Tell her Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon are in it, and they go shopping together for poodles and hand bags. If that doesn't work then nothing will.

[Jedieb]

Brilliant!!!!

[Darth McBain]

Originally posted by JMK
Tell her Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon are in it, and they go shopping together for poodles and hand bags. If that doesn't work then nothing will.

:lol Maybe then my wife will go...

[JMK]

I guarantee it.

But should that line not work, then go with this instead:

"Sandra Bullock is in it and she acts cute and quirky and goes to a carnival with this dorky aloof guy and they eat cotton candy together".

[Mu Satach]

I did a paper on stop-motion animation a few years ago and Willis O'Brien is one of the great masters.

For those stop-motion animation freaks out there if you want to see the genisis of his animation style scrounge around for the 1925 silent film "The Lost World" and if you want to see one of his very early works check out The Dinosaur and the Missing Link (http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@FILREQ(@field(TITLE+@band(The+dinosaur+and+t he+missing+link,+a+prehistoric+tragedy++))+@FIELD( COLLID+animat))) It's from about 1916 or there abouts. It's amazing to see the way he kept refining his style over the years from this one to Mighty Joe Young.

And then to take that and watch the progression of Ray Harryhausen's work...

I love animation. :rollin

[Jedieb]

Originally posted by JMK
I guarantee it.

But should that line not work, then go with this instead:

"Sandra Bullock is in it and she acts cute and quirky and goes to a carnival with this dorky aloof guy and they eat cotton candy together".
:lol




Originally posted by Mu Satach
I did a paper on stop-motion animation a few years ago and Willis O'Brien is one of the great masters.

For those stop-motion animation freaks out there if you want to see the genisis of his animation style scrounge around for the 1925 silent film "The Lost World" and if you want to see one of his very early works check out The Dinosaur and the Missing Link (http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@FILREQ(@field(TITLE+@band(The+dinosaur+and+t he+missing+link,+a+prehistoric+tragedy++))+@FIELD( COLLID+animat))) It's from about 1916 or there abouts. It's amazing to see the way he kept refining his style over the years from this one to Mighty Joe Young.

And then to take that and watch the progression of Ray Harryhausen's work...

I love animation. :rollin

As a kid, I remember loving fantasy and sci-fi films with stop-motion animation. I never once questioned them, because they looked great. Yeah, you knew it wasn't real, but it just looked so cool. I imagine the CGI that I tend to nit pick today looks just as amazing to my son as the old stop motion stuff did to me.

[Yog]

The world premier is december the 14, however there are allready some early reactions from sneak previews.


<a href=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10216525/site/newsweek/>Newsweek</a>:
"Earlier this month, Jackson invited NEWSWEEK to New Zealand for an exclusive first look at the finished (OK, nearly finished) product, and he proved once again that he might be the only guy whose films are worth getting on a plane and flying halfway around the planet to see."


<a href=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/bazbamigboye.html?in_article_id=370370&in_page_id=1794&in_a_source=>London Daily Mail</a>:
"This gorilla of a film is blockbuster of the year."


<a href=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/12/02/bfkingkong02.xml&menuId=564&sSheet=/arts/2005/12/03/ixfilmmain.html> Daily Telegraph</a>:
"Hokey and clichéd in parts, thrilling and dramatic at other times, King Kong is reminiscent of both Jurassic Park and Titanic. And like those two record-setting epics, it is certain to be a huge hit."


There is also a screening in New York today, so the reviews should be rolling in shortly :)

[Jedieb]

Everybody seen the life size Kong in Times Square? Awesome. I really think this movie is going to be huge, $350-$450M. Even my parents are going to see it and it takes an event pic, or a Clint Eastwood flick, to get them out to theaters.

[JMK]

#1 of the year??

[CMJ]

Not unless it gets Oscar consideration(which is possible btw). It's still gonna be hella big though.

[Jedieb]

I think it has every chance of matching the B.O. gross of ROTK. Plus, I think it can bring in younger kids than the LOTR films did. Even a 7 year old knows a giant gorilla stompin' around NYC is one of the coolest things they'll ever see. I hadn't even thought about it outgrossing ROTS. I just thought it could outgross ROTK. Especially when my parents told me they were going to see it. I think it's going to pull in a lot of older movie goers who loved the original.

[CMJ]

I'll be seeing it at an early screening Monday night. :smokin

[Jedi Master Carr]

Originally posted by Jedieb
Everybody seen the life size Kong in Times Square? Awesome. I really think this movie is going to be huge, $350-$450M. Even my parents are going to see it and it takes an event pic, or a Clint Eastwood flick, to get them out to theaters. I think it will make 250-300. I think Narnia and Kong are going to end up Cannibalizing each other.

[CMJ]

A guy on another messageboard got me thinking about this one. Has anyone ever wondered about why they'd rather take back a giant ape to New York instead of a couple of dinosaurs that were thought to be extinct? I don't know - finding a species that was thought to be dead for millions of years might be a bigger news story than some big gorilla.

:)

[JMK]

Ya dope - they saw Jurassic Park 3 and saw how bringing a dinosaur in to a crowded city would go over! :lol

[Jedieb]

Originally posted by JMK
Ya dope - they saw Jurassic Park 3 and saw how bringing a dinosaur in to a crowded city would go over! :lol

Perfect answer to a question only the internet could generate. :thumbup

[CMJ]

Actually more like they saw the original Lost World with the big Brontosaurus in London considering this takes place in the 30's. ;)

[Yog]

14 reviews up at Rotten Tomatoes so far, all of them fresh. Looking good :)

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/king_kong/

[Jedieb]

I saw that too, that's a great sign. I think it's a safe bet it'll probably end up over 90% Fresh.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

It's down to 93% now - one rotten rating from Slant magazine.

[CMJ]

A bit overdone on the "love story" between Anne and Kong.

But what a fantastic movie event that was!!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Hey when are you going to get so high up in the movie industry that we get to go to early showings too?

;) I want a private jet to LA from PDX to pick me up for the next one.

[CMJ]

Originally posted by Lilaena De'Ville
Hey when are you going to get so high up in the movie industry that we get to go to early showings too?

;) I want a private jet to LA from PDX to pick me up for the next one.

I usually get passes for two. I normally go by myself though. :p

[JMK]

Dude if I'm ever in L.A. we're going! :)

[CMJ]

Okay. ;)

[Jedieb]

This is why if the wife ever gets around to kicking me out of the house I'm headed straight for Court's couch, free movie passes!!!

[CMJ]

:lol

I also had a chance to se The Producers tonight. I really do get alot of passes.

:)

[Ryan Pode]

Just got back from 12:01. Two complaints: One, in the shot right before he is shot in the back, there is one boat in alll of those harbor slots.. talk aout lazy CGI guys and two: way to many bugs. That is what happens when deforestation does not occur. Other than that, spectacular. Simply brilliant. Any one else get the feeling that Anne and Kong were gonna make out on the ice?

[Dutchy]

King Kong opens with $9.7M on Wednesday. That's not in the all time Top 20 for Wednesday openers.

Seems low to me. :)

[CMJ]

Maybe a bit, but I expected it to be a smallish Wednesday. This isn't the summer we're talking about.

[Jedi Master Carr]

True, but Meet the Fockers which opened in December last year opened to 12 million. Of course, I will hold off on anything till after this weekend. I do think the talk of 350 million was never going to happen.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

King Kong is amazing.

I bawled. Literally. But I'm a girl.

[Droo]

Originally posted by Lilaena De'Ville
King Kong is amazing.

I bawled. Literally. But I'm a girl.

No excuse!

I can't wait to see it. Narnia with my little sister tomorrow afternoon and Kong on Sunday night. :D

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I was actually still crying through the credits. A first, even for me. :cry

I didn't think that the 'love' story was overdone. And no, I didn't think that that Kong and Ann were going to make out on the ice. :lol It was very cute though.

[Dutchy]

Originally posted by CMJ
Maybe a bit, but I expected it to be a smallish Wednesday. This isn't the summer we're talking about.

C'mon, $9.7M is really low. Take a look at the LOTR movies:

$18.2M FotR - Dec. 19th
$26.2M TTT - Dec. 18th
$34.5M RotK - Dec. 17th

All 3 movies also opened on a Wednesday.

Maybe KK has legs, though. It'll sure need them. :)

[CMJ]

Originally posted by Dutchy
C'mon, $9.7M is really low. Take a look at the LOTR movies:

$18.2M FotR - Dec. 19th
$26.2M TTT - Dec. 18th
$34.5M RotK - Dec. 17th

All 3 movies also opened on a Wednesday.

Maybe KK has legs, though. It'll sure need them. :)

Yeah and the LOTR movies had much more pent up interest than the 2nd remake to a gorilla movie. :p

[JMK]

I'm not so sure KK doesn't share a lot of the same advantages. Same director, same time of release. While LotR was a highly anticipated project, once people heard Jackson was doing King Kong they were foaming at the mouth. If LotR had more advantages, it certainly didn't have so much more of an advantage that even FotR nearly doubled KK's wednesday output.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well it went down 35% to 6.2. I want to see Friday's number to comment further, but if this doesn't make 50 for the weekend, I think it is a disapointment esepecially considering the budget of the movie.

[Dutchy]

Exactly, JMK. KK and the LOTR movies are much alike. :)

[Jedieb]

I took the boy to see it this afternoon. It was good, but not great. I don't think it's going to produce the LOTR type numbers I was expecting. My son didn't really like it that much. I thought the action sequences were amazing. Especially the Kong V. T-Rex 3x fight. The CG work on Kong was jaw dropping. HIs facial expressions in certain scenes had the crowd laughing and cheering at times. All of these early numbers make me thing it'll be lucky to hit $200M.

[JMK]

That would make it a flop. I don't think anyone was predicting less than 250-300 million.

200 million is an arseload of money, but based on the budget that's just not good enough.

[Jedieb]

It'll still do okay if it hits that mark. It's just going to need the international market and DVD revenues to start making money. But it's not going to be as big as many people, including me, thought.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah if it can make 400 million overseas it will be fine there. I am just surprised it is going to do less than 250 domestic and probably not finish in the top 3 of the year (looks like that will be reserved for ROTS; Harry Potter and Narnia). Maybe the weekend numbers will shock us, I guess we will wait and see.

[CMJ]

Originally posted by JMK
I'm not so sure KK doesn't share a lot of the same advantages. Same director, same time of release. While LotR was a highly anticipated project, once people heard Jackson was doing King Kong they were foaming at the mouth. If LotR had more advantages, it certainly didn't have so much more of an advantage that even FotR nearly doubled KK's wednesday output.

From WOKJ-


Something that I hadn't thought of before about this year was with the way that Christmas is situated this year, and the way it has affected the holidays, at least around where I live. This year Christmas is placed on the 4th (and last) sunday of December, so all schools are lasting a week longer than they have in the previous few years, and then resuming a bit later. This year, all schools are getting out on Friday December 23rd.

In 2001, Christmas fell on the last Tuesday, and Fellowship of the Ring opened December 19th, the actual week school ended, since Christmas started the next week.
In 2002, Christmas fell on the last Wednesday, and The Two Towers opened December 18th, again the actual week school ended.
In 2003, Christmas fell on the last Thursday, and The Return of the King opened December 17th, again the actual week school ended.

This year King Kong opens December 14th, which is the 2nd last week of school, not the actual week school ended. Previous few years had to cut school off a week earlier since Christmas was during the week. Therefore, it could be that the arguments for people being too busy with school (and work, since I imagine a lot of people's works would also continue too) is in fact very true and different from the Lord of the Rings films, since with another week of school to go still, students aren't settling down yet and would have their last minute projects and papers to finish up still. This could also have combined with the "non-rush" effect that King Kong may have, since it isn't "Lord of the Rings".

So, yeah, I dunno if this means anything or not, but it is a possible explanation (although we'll just have to wait and see for the weekend - maybe there is no explanation and King Kong is just destined to open poorly).

PEACE, Mike.

[Ryan Pode]

They totally were.

[Jedieb]

I know that this year we only have 1 week off for X-Mas. And don't forget the ice storms that hit the east coast. They kept a lot of people at home as well.

[Rutabaga]

Or maybe they just underestimated the number of people like me out there who have zero interest in seeing this movie. ;)

[Dutchy]

Or maybe it just plain flopped. :p

[Jedi Master Carr]

It made 14.4 for Friday it looks like it will do about 45 million for the 3 days and 60 for the 5. That is okay but still not great. I really think it being 3 hours hurt it. King Kong isn't epic enough for 3 hours, he should have cut it down to 2.5 or so that might have helped. Also I wouldn't say flopped, it still might get 200 million but it won't finish in the top 3 of the year where most of us thought it would so I call it a disapointment.

[Rutabaga]

You should see all the rationalizing going on at Rotten Tomatoes, it's hilarious. About a dozen threads on the first page of General Discussion alone are Kong-related, some tongue-in-cheek, some serious. People still think it's going to have legs, which I doubt. There's going to be some serious Monday morning quarterbacking going on at Universal, and the spin will probably be pretty torturous to see.

Although I have no interest in seeing the movie whatsoever (sick of remakes, love the first, don't want to spend 3+ hours in the theater, and also sick of the Peter Jackson fanboys at places like RT), I am actually shocked at how poorly it's doing. I'd figured about $30 million on Wednesday, $75-80 million this weekend, and a final take of $300-350 million. Now it looks like it's going to struggle to make even its production budget back. That's not even taking into consideration the huge marketing budget for it...I heard speculation that the big New York premiere cost in the neighborhood of $30 million alone.

It will do well overseas and also on DVD, but boy, did this one ever flame out. It's like one of the more calm, cogent postings I read at RT...it's as if everyone totally overestimated Kong and totally underestimated Narnia. Narnia has held up tremendously well against Kong so far, and could very well end up outgrossing it. That's okay by me, because I thought Narnia was one of the best movies I've seen this year :).

So what did kill the beast? Twasn't beauty, I think it was massively overhyped, the general public isn't interested in another remake, and the 3-hour running time is a big turnoff too.

And I had to laugh, I heard yesterday what Peter Jackson's next project is...not directing, but producing...a big screen version of Halo. Considering how *ahem* well Doom did, that should be a big ol' blockbuster too. :cool

[JMK]

Either way we will have our answer about how much of a hit or flop it will be in about a week. I'm hesitant to call it a bomb just yet but the early signs aren't so promising.

[CMJ]

It's not going to be a bomb. A disappointment seems likely, but a bomb? People throw that term out too easily these days. Try The Island for a bomb. ;)

[Jedieb]

One thing is for sure, this isn't going to help Hollywood's slump any. I think a lot of people were hoping Kong and the other big Dec. flicks could help end the year on an upswing.

[JMK]

Yeah, there was an article in last week's paper here saying that this movie had a shot at Titanic, and at the very least was going to save Hollywood for this year.

[Rutabaga]

Yeah, I'd heard 2 different entertainment reports on TV leading up to the release where the reporters were describing Kong as if it was a given it would top Titanic at the BO. So that goes to show that the hype has been setting it up to be something it simply couldn't be. Titanic was a once in a generation thing, and its performance is something that won't be duplicated for a long time. So to present Kong as the next Titanic almost doomed it from the start, because there was no way it was going to happen.

[CMJ]

There hasn't even been another film that's hit 500M yet. I think the boat will reign till about 2011 when inflation enables a movie to beat it.

[Rutabaga]

http://mysite.verizon.net/res07tt5/foxtrotkong.gif

[Dutchy]

Check Titanic's weekend numbers (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=titanic.htm) and be amazed about its extremely strong legs. :)

This movie made $28 million dollars in its NINTH weekend. Just half a million below its opening weekend.

Following its boxoffice run was how I got highly interested in BO numbers.

Titanic was a phenomenon.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Originally posted by Jedieb
One thing is for sure, this isn't going to help Hollywood's slump any. I think a lot of people were hoping Kong and the other big Dec. flicks could help end the year on an upswing.

Actually the box office is up from last year. This is mostly because of the combination of Narnia and Kong, along with the holdovers of Syriana and Harry Potter and the Family Stone. November and December of this year was a lot stronger than last year, of course Goblet of Fire and Narnia has much to do with that, both should make more than 250, with Potter aiming for 275 and Narnia aiming for 260, IMO.
As for Kong its no bomb, I agree with CMJ that word is thrown around way too much. Actually Stealth is the biggest bomb of this year. Sony lost their shirt with that movie. At least the Island made money overseas (of course that ended up going to WB, Dreamworks lost a lot because they got the gross from the U.S) Kong should do somewhere between 185-250 in the U.S and 535-700 WW, if it does like 700 WW that is a lot of change and Universal will make a profit of it. Sure it won't make what people wanted but it isn't a flop or anything.

[CMJ]

I remember watching Titanic's run as well. It didn't seem possible the things that it did. I actually started following BO figures in the summer of '93 and had never seen anything like it.

[Dutchy]

$50.1M estimated for the weekend. That's pretty good, beats FotR by 3 million.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Its good I agree although its world wide take is disapointing. It took in 80 million overseas and it opened in 56 markets. GOF did almost 3 times that when it opened and it only opened in like 25 markets. It did horrible in Japan 2.5 million, yikes. Now it is looking at between 500-600 ww and that is best case scenerio.

[Droo]

King Kong is an excellent film. In my opinion, Jackson has taken Spielberg's place as mainstream leading director and rightly so. Unlike with Spielberg's blockbusters, I truly feel for the characters in King Kong because Jackson knows how to pull on the audience's heartstrings effectively and with subtlety.

The scene on the ice is one of the most heart-warming things I've seen in a long time. It brought tears to my eyes.

On that note, all scenes involving Ann and Kong are pure gold. The animation on Kong's eyes and facial expressions is perfect and Naomi Watts sells the rest. She is completely enchanting.

The generous helpings of comedy, even moments involving vicious giant dinosaurs, were very welcome and well-executed. The action sequences were spectacular but some in the jungle were unnecessary - specifically, the insects. A minor gripe of mine which in no way detracts from the overall impact of the film.

Loved every moment of it.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I'm going to see it again. Would have tonight except that we are afraid that when we got out of the theatre our car would be frozen to the ground. ^_^;