Director Peter Jackson's boyhood dream of remaking King Kong is to become reality.
Hollywood studio Universal announced yesterday that Jackson is to begin working on King Kong straight after he finishes the third and final part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King.
"I'm making movies today because I saw this film when I was 9 years old. It has been my sustained dream to reinterpret this classic story," Jackson said.
The new King Kong will be shot in New Zealand, with visual effects by the Oscar-winning Weta Workshop, and is scheduled for release in 2005.
Universal said the special effects would "supplement real-life New Zealand locations in creating primordial jungles and 30s-period America".
Universal said the movie would be written by the team from the Lord of the Rings: Jackson, his partner Fran Walsh and co-writer Philippa Boyens.
The screenplay will be based on the story by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace, which became the classic 1933 film, directed by Cooper and Ernest B. Schoesdack.
Universal chairman Stacey Snider said Jackson's vision for the tragic tale of the misunderstood creature, with its poignant character development and technological wonder, will make King Kong compulsory viewing.
- NZPA
Jackson tackles King Kong
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