Bond Producers Chase King Kong Beauty
ITN reports that King Kong heroine Naomi Watts is being lined up to star in the next James Bond movie, Casino Royale.
The call comes after Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron both refused the role. Many actresses are shunning the role due to stars such as Halle Berry and Terry Hatcher suffering a dip in their careers immediately after playing the parts.
The AP reported that a Sunday night surge gave Universal’s “King Kong” the needed push for the No. 1 box offcie spot over the Friday-through-Monday period with $31.4 million, edging Buena Vista’s “Chronicles of Narnia” estimated $30.1 million take.
Kong’s cumulative estimated domestic gross now stands at a respectable $118.7 million, with an additional $120.9 million from overseas - totalling nearly $240 million worldwide.
King Kong Game Features Alternate Ending
Ubisoft revealed that its official King Kong video games features an un-lockable, exclusive alternate ending in which players can save Kong from his cinematic death, pilot an airplane and discover Kong back home on his native Skull Island.
“I wanted the game to be able to take the audience a bit further than what the film could,” said Peter Jackson. ”
Read more on teamxbox.com
CNN.com reviews Kong the video game
A very positive review has been posted on CNN.com. Written by Marc Saltzman of the Gannett News Service, Marc writes that:
While on the short side, the end result is a cinematic thriller that is difficult to put down.
He goes on to say:
Evident by a credits screen that takes more than 10 minutes to scroll by, Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” is one massive video game production.
Gamers can also unlock many goodies such as movie footage, hand-drawn artwork, interviews and a classic video filter that makes the game look like a grainy black-and-white movie.
While it may only take seven or so hours to complete, which is on the short side for a $50 video game, “Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie” is undoubtedly a “must-play” title regardless of your preferred platform.
You can read the full review on CNN.com.
EW: The Ultimate Guide to King Kong
King Kong once again graces the cover of Entertainment Weekly. This week’s issue of the magazine features a fun A-to-Z guide on Kong, providing readers with “everything [they] need to know about this year’s biggest blockbuster.”
Variety: King Kong Opens Weak in U.S.
This one’s hard to believe… In a story titled ‘Kong: Ape or Chimp?’ Variety has reported that King Kong opened to only $9.7 million in domestic box office yesterday, which is about half of the opening day take of “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” four years ago.
On the plus side, overseas grosses were fairly strong, with particular strength in (no surprise here) Australia/New Zealand.
The domestic number is so shockingly low (I need to confirm it from another source) that we hadn’t even thought to offer a ‘below $10 million’ option in our Opening Day Box Office poll (only 6% of you thought the movie would earn $10-$20 million).
MORE from Variety (registration required)
King Kong Receives Glowing Review from NY Times
A.O. Scott of The New York Times offers up a glowing review of King Kong in today’s paper, calling the “gargantuan” film “mightily entertaining.”
Scott goes on to say that, “The sheer audacious novelty of the first King Kong is not something that can be replicated, but in throwing every available imaginative and technological resource into the effort, Mr. Jackson comes pretty close.”
The New York Post has put King Kong on its cover for the second time in two weeks. Inside the paper is a two-page spread that features both a four-star review of Peter Jackson’s film and a fun look back at the Post’s less-than-glowing original review of the 1933 King Kong.
Post critic Lou Lumenick says of the new King Kong:
King Kong is the most pulse-pounding and heart-stirring romantic adventure since Titanic. Peter Jackson’s stupendous, supersized remake not only pays loving tribute to the 1933 classic, it elaborates on the “Beauty and the Beast” story in smart, awe-inspiring ways that will have audiences repeatedly bursting into applause — and reaching for their handkerchiefs as the big ape heads for his date with destiny on the Empire State Building
This augurs well for Kong at the box office as the film’s ability to draw in the female audience will determine whether or not King Kong can approach the all-but-impossible half billion dollar mark at the domestic box office.
Another notable comment by Lumenick, “Most great movies are lucky to have a handful of moments to remember; King Kong has at least two dozen.”
King Kong Opening Day Box Office
Just about three days away from opening day and overwhelmingly (53%) of our visitors think King Kong will do more than $50 million on opening day. That’ll be a challenge given that Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith holds the all-time opening day record at just over $50 million.
My prediction is that Kong brings in around $46 million.
King Kong for PSP - coming soon
King Kong, the video game, will soon be available for the Sony PSP. According to gameinfowire.com, we should expect to see it later this month.
You can find more screenshots here
Anybody planning to pick it up ? feel free to post your review in the comments.