King Kong (2005 film)

King Kong
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Jackson
Screenplay by	Fran Walsh Philippa Boyens Peter Jackson
Based on	King Kong by Merian C. Cooper Edgar Wallace
Produced by	Jan Blenkin Carolynne Cunningham Fran Walsh Peter Jackson
Starring	Naomi Watts Jack Black Adrien Brody Thomas Kretschmann Colin Hanks Jamie Bell
Cinematography	Andrew Lesnie
Edited by	Jamie Selkirk
Music by	James Newton Howard
Production companies	Universal Pictures WingNut Films
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	December 5, 2005 (2005-12-05) (New York City) December 13, 2005 (2005-12-13) (New Zealand) December 14, 2005 (2005-12-14) (United States)
Running time	188 minutes[1]
Countries	New Zealand United States
Language	English
Budget	$207 million[2]
Box office	$556.9 million[2]

King Kong is a 2005 epic adventure monster film co-written, produced, and directed by Peter Jackson. It is the ninth entry in the King Kong franchise and the second remake of the 1933 film of the same title, following the 1976 film. The film stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black, and Adrien Brody. Set in 1933, it follows the story of an ambitious filmmaker who coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island. There they encounter prehistoric creatures and a legendary giant gorilla known as Kong, whom they capture and take to New York City.

Development began in early 1995, when Universal Pictures approached Jackson to direct the remake of the original 1933 film. The project stalled in early 1997, as several ape and giant monster-related films were under production at the time and Jackson planned to direct The Lord of the Rings film series. As the first two films in the Rings trilogy became commercially successful, Universal went back to Jackson in early 2003, expressing interest in restarting development on the project, to which Jackson eventually agreed. Filming for King Kong took place in New Zealand from September 2004 to March 2005. It is currently one of the most expensive films ever produced as its budget climbed from an initial $150 million to a then record-breaking $207 million.

King Kong premiered at New York City on December 5, 2005,^[3] and was theatrically released in Germany and United States on December 14. The film garnered positive reviews, and eventually appeared in several top ten lists for 2005; it was praised for the special effects, performances, sense of spectacle and comparison to the 1933 original, though some criticisms were raised over its 3-hour run time. It was a commercial success, grossing over $556.9 million, and became the fourth-highest-grossing film in Universal Pictures history at that time and the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2005.^[2] It also generated $100 million in DVD sales upon its home video release in March 2006.^[4] It won three Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects. A tie-in video game was released alongside the film, which also became a commercial and critical success.