King Kong is a 2005 remake of the 1933 King Kong film about a fictional giant ape called Kong. It was directed by Peter Jackson and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and its cast included Naomi Watts in the role of Ann Darrow, Jack Black as Carl Denham, Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll and, through performance capture, Andy Serkis as Kong. Serkis also played Lumpy, the galley chef on the USS Venture.
In 1933, Great Depression-era New York City, actress Ann Darrow has just lost her job at the local theater and is recruited by film director Carl Denham because of the presence of her favorite writer Jack Driscoll. They set sail to a remote Indian Ocean island known as Skull Island, inhabited by prehistoric creatures and the mighty giant gorilla Kong.
The film's budget climbed from an initial $150 million US to a record-breaking $207 million. The film was released on December 14, 2005 and made an opening of $50.1 million. Kong turned out to be very profitable as domestic and worldwide grosses eventually added up to almost $550 million, becoming the fourth-highest grossing movie in Universal Pictures history. Strong DVD sales also added over $100 million to the grosses. It also received positive reviews, with some considering it one of the all-round best movies of 2005, though it has been criticized for its length at three hours and eight minutes. It won Academy Awards for visual effects, sound mixing, and sound editing.
With a take of $9.7 million box office on its opening day, and an opening weekend of $50.1 million, King Kong failed to live up to its pre-release hype, and did not meet expectations of Universal Studios executives. Some media outlets even considered the film to be a flop after its weak opening weekend, as at that point it wasn't on pace to make back its $207 million budget. Its opening weekend of $50.1 million, while good for most movies, fell short of the inflated expectations caused by the movie's enormous budget and marketing campaign.
However, King Kong was able to hold its audience in the subsequent holiday weeks and ended up becoming a domestic hit, grossing $218.1 million at the North American box office (putting it in the top five grossing films of 2005 domestically). King Kong fared much better in the international market, as it grossed $331.3 million outside North America, leading to a worldwide total of $549.4 million (putting it in the top five grossing films of 2005 Worldwide).
Other factors also affect a film's profitability besides box office sales, such as the DVD sales. King Kong, as of April 3, 2006, sold more than 7.2 million DVDs, over $100 million in the largest six-day performance in Universal Studios history. As of June 25, 2006 King Kong has generated almost $38 million from DVD rental gross.
Thus, despite the film's inauspicious start at the box office, King Kong turned out to be very profitable. Ticket and DVD sales combined, the film earned well over $700 million, becoming the fourth-highest grossing movie in Universal Pictures history. Its release on home video and DVD was also a great success.Wikipedia
