“And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty, and beauty stayed his hand. And from that day forward, he was as one dead.”
Peter Jackson was paid $20 million to direct – the highest salary ever paid to a director in advance of a production. But after making $6 billion worldwide for The Lord of The Rings Trilogy (2001-2003), the producers understandably thought he was worth it. With a Best Actor Oscar for The Pianist (2002) Adrien Brody was on the ‘A’ list and the first and only choice to play hero Jack Driscoll. But he was under the impression that he was competing for the role until the producers told him they were only interested in him– so he signed on before the script was written. Brody liked to improvise and at the last minute even did his own stunt driving while filming the taxi scene through Times Square. Originally Jackson wanted either Robert De Niro or George Clooney to play the role of Carl Denham, and Kate Winslet was his first choice for Ann Darrow but they all declined. Howard Shore had written and recorded the score, but before finishing he left the project. Peter Jackson stated that because of “differing creative aspirations” they both thought it best for Shore to be replaced – by James Newton Howard, who was given less than two months to write a new score for the entire film. Over 2 million feet of film were shot, equivalent to 370 hours –123 times more than the final cut. The budget climbed from $150 million to $207 million making it the most expensive film ever made – until it was topped by Spider-Man 3 (2007). King Kong’s opening made $50.1 million with worldwide grosses adding up to $550 million plus $100 million from dvd sales.
