King Kong (1976) Starring: Jeff Bridges, Charles
Grodin, Jessica Lange. Directed by John Guillermin. Screenplay by Lorenzo
Semple, Jr. Based on the film King Kong written by James Creelman and
Ruth Rose (RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 1933) from an idea conceived by Merian C.
Cooper and Edgar Wallace. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Run time: 135
minutes. USA Color Horror, Adventure, Monster.
As we’ve discussed before, Hollywood can’t stop itself from doing remakes. One might think that the classics would be off-limits, but even those occasionally get the remake treatment. RKO’s 1933 King Kong would seem to be untouchable but, alas, Hollywood has not only remade the film once, but they’re on their third revision of the legend, with Kong: Skull Island (2017) and its soon to be released sequel, Godzilla vs. Kong.
It has also been noted that Hollywood seems to go through cycles, in which the same types of films come out at the same time. This goes back to the Pre-Code days but still seems to continue to this day. King Kong is also a case in point in that trend. Back in 1975, two separate production companies had the idea to remake the 1933 classic; producer Dino De Laurentiis and Universal Pictures both approached RKO General, the successor to RKO Radio Pictures about the rights to the picture. And for a time, both thought they had exclusive rights to make their film. I won’t go into the grisly details of the dispute but safe to say that De Laurentiis would win the first round. Universal’s remake would have to wait until 2005 when director Peter Jackson, fresh from his success with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, would do his own take.
