15 years since this Kong sized disappointment

King Kong is an ODD Movie

It was clearly a box office success, But It does have the reputation of being a disappointment(and IMO Its deserved)

I dont remember there being a lot of discussions of King Kong being The "Next Titanic" like the article says when it came out....In fact, I was following box office weekly back then and remember most expectations were that it would NOT even top Return of The King...I think at absolute BEST, The Highest expectations were HOPING for Maybe 1 Billion, Back in 2005, 1 Billion was Very RARE and truly something special.

I think though what really hurt this film and really set the narrative for it being a disappointment was Its Disappointing OW(Like the article notes)

I Literally Remember Checking Box office Mojo Sunday Morning the weekend it came out and seeing it made 66 Million and Thinking "wow Thats disappointing, what went wrong"

I think If I remember right, I was expecting it to opening over 90 Million with a shot at 100 Million


I know for me, The 66 Million just seemed like a "Miss"....Or I couldnt help but think it was a "Missed Opportunity"


Looking back now, It had a pretty Good Domestic run and good WW run

I'm sure The Studio ended up making a nice profit..But Coming off The Lord Of The Rings where all 3 films came close to 1 Billion

I got to believe When the studio Signed Peter Jackson to do this movie and Greenlit the 200 M+ budget, and SIGNED Jackson to the massive 20 M Upfront and 20% of Box office, The Studio had HOPES of 1 Billionish type totals but expectations of at least 800 M+ WW, Which would lead to HUNDREDS of million in profit

in the end, The Studio earned a nice profit but it couldnt have been what they were hoping for and Expected based the Budget and deal they signed


I do feel King Kong did not live up to expectations, But Not because It was supposed to be the "Next Titanic", IMO It didnt live up to expectations because of its weak OW and because of Jacksons deal + The Movies Massive Budget

I think it's one of the finest remakes in movie history.

I remember Peter Jackson's obsession with King Kong before he embarked on The Lord of the Rings. During his press tour for "Heavenly Creatures" he mentioned his childhood obsession with King Kong, and I could relate to his feelings but I had no idea that his dream was to remake it, so when he finally did I was really shocked at the sophomoric effort. I was really hoping for some expansion on the creature's character or maybe an added wrinkle in the story's plot itself. Instead, the movie left me feeling the same way I felt about Brandon Fraser's The Mummy movies. It was just cartoonish pop fair utilizing more CGI.

Okay I just read this. This dude is clueless.

" one that was sold as the second coming of Jurassic Park just four short years after Jurassic Park III. It had a “name” cast, but Jack Black was the only arguable “butts in seats” draw alongside Adrien Brody and Naomi Watts. The pitch was “that guy who blew your mind with The Lord of the Rings is going to make you s*** your pants with King Kong!”

I never read or heard about it being some sort of second coming. Aside from the usual PR/marketing stuff typical for this sort of blockbuster, there was nothing unusual about the response to its coming. Nobody was expecting it to be Jurassic Park or Titanic.

Yes, the cast names were well known, but Jack Black as the 'butts in seats' draw!? Yeah, nobody was saying: "Hey, this move has Jack freakin' Black! I gotta go see it!" Nobody was going to see this movie based on anyone in the cast.

And I don't recall it being tagged as a disappointment. The author himself notes it did respectable business.

It wasn't as good as it could have been for sure. Jackson followed his LOTR template -- make it LONG with lots of lingering SLO-MO shots and drag out the build up -- for a movie which didn't require it. There are also a few subplots that should have been left on the cutting room floor.

(Sidebar: I actually bought the extended edition. Now THAT was a long movie, but I wanted to see more monsters. I can see why they were left out of the finished product -- the CGI was awful.)

But, I don't think anyone considered it a flop or disappointment as this guy believes.