Kong or Not Kong, That is the Question

Thanks to Variety and a report that Spirit Pictures has picked up the rights to Joe DeVito (artist) and Brad Strickland’s illustrated novel Kong: King of Skull Island, sites across the net are enthusing over the idea that a new Kong frenzy is in the making. The story behind the novel is being described as a “prequel” to Merian C. Cooper’s classic giant monster flick King Kong (1933), though the dust-jacket’s description of the book is more suggestive of a sequel:

In 1933, American showman Carl Denham returned from a mysterious, hidden island with a priceless treasure. A treasure not gold or jewels, but the island’s barbaric god, a monstrous anthropoid called “Kong.” The savage giant escaped and wreaked havoc among the man-made canyons of Manhattan, but within hours of the giant ape’s death his body – and Carl Denham – disappeared. Twenty-five years later, the son of Carl Denham makes a shocking discovery that leads him back to the site of his father’s greatest adventure and to the answers that will unlock the century’s greatest mystery and history’s greatest miracle. (Amazon)

The rights to the original King Kong story are owned by Cooper’s family, as are the rights to his famously unmade War Eagles, and both have apparently been optioned by Spirit Pictures.

Back in May 2008, it was Fantastic Films International who was making the film, as I wrote about here, and their site still lists a Kong film, but one referred to as King Kong — The Beginning. Is FFI now making a different Kong prequel? Have the franchise rights changed hands, or is Spirit Pictures related to Fantastic Films International? If anyone knows, give us the goss. In the meantime, consider this image from Kong: King of Skull Island artist DeVito’s website:

gaw_appears

This is a creature named Gaw, one of the non-simian inhabitants of DeVito’s Skull Island, here seen smashing his way through the gates that Kong would later (?) pulverise. Hopefully this is indicative of the sort of thing that will be making its way into the new production.

It will be even more exciting if Spirit Pictures is actually going to make War Eagles, which IMDb is still listing as due for 2010 release by Ray Harryhausen Presents, which I suspect is related to Spirit Pictures in some way.

For those readers of this site who’ve been living under a rock — or the big toe of a giant ape — and aren’t aware of War Eagles, it’s a project that Cooper planned as his magnum opus follow-up to King Kong. Kong SFX guru, Willis O’Brien, had been working on the project, which was aborted by the War. Read about it here. The story went :

Modern adventurers discover a lost tribe of Vikings in a secluded valley. These vikings have survived amidst some pretty fearsome wildlife, including dinosaurs and giant prehistoric eagles. As they reacquaint themselves with the modern (1930s) world, they learn of an imminent invasion of New York by Nazis in zeppelins and altruistically take to the skies on their tamed War Eagles to engage in a huge airbourne battle over the streets of Manhattan.

Groovy, eh?

Anyway, there have been lots of rumours, reports and copyright acquisitions relating to War Eagles over the years, and as far as I can see, a degree of uncertainty still reigns. You know the film industry — for every successfully completed project there are a thousand developmental non-starters. But I seriously look forward to what will come from these new reports. If nothing else, they sound convincing, with Spirit Pictures’ Steve Iles and Arnold Kunert (who has produced other Ray Harryhausen Presents films) being named as producers, and Andy Briggs assigned the writing job on both the Eagles and Kong films.

Kong: King of Skull Island poster

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5 Responses to Kong or Not Kong, That is the Question

  1. Avery says:

    Boy I really hope that both of these films do get made as they have so much potential! These could be really awesome!!

  2. Tim says:

    I’m looking at the link to King Kong- The Beginning you provided. Also looking closely at the other films being listed on that same web page. “The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra” was funny but not blockbuster epic, and “The Living Forest” sounds like a stage in Mortal Kombat II. Basicly, I’m concerned these two blockbuster deserving stories will recieve Sci Fi channel (okay, it’s SyFy now) treatment.

    Also, I’ve read the book. It is in fact a sequel following Carl Denham’s son, but there’s a story within a story told through flash backs about Kong’s battle with the monster Gaw. Actually the flash backs are most of the book. There’s plenty of simian vs. saurian combat in the novel. If you haven’t read it yet, go find a copy on Amazon.

  3. Avery says:

    Well as far as “Fantastic Film”s usual output; I think we shouldn’t use that to judge what this production will look like. They’ve had the rights to do this for several years now. It’s this new company; “Spirit Films” that seem to be pushing it now, so hopefully it will look good. They’re usual films use basic cgi while this mention state-of-the-art motion capture fx. Could be that they’re liscensing it out or just the middle man so to speak. Only the future will tell but I think it’s too early to pass judgement on it just yet. I do keep hearing great things about the book though. It sounds great.

  4. Pingback: Intimations of Kong | Undead Backbrain

  5. Pingback: Kong: King of the Apps | Undead Backbrain

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