TRIPLE ACADEMY Award winner Peter Jackson, whose The Lord of the Rings trilogy made motion picture history, now brings his sweeping cinematic vision to one of the screen's most enduring classics and one of the greatest filmic adventures of all time: King Kong.
It is 1933, and vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Oscar Naomi Watts) has found herself like so many other New Yorkers during the Great Depression without the means to earn a living. Unwilling to compromise and allow herself to sink into a career in burlesque, she considers her limited options while aimlessly wandering the streets of Manhattan. When her hunger drives her to unsuccessfully try to steal an apple from a fruit vendor's stall, she is rescued literally by filmmaker and multiple hyphenate Carl Denham (Jack Black).
TRAVELOGUE/ACTION FILM
It seems that the entrepreneur-raconteur-adventurer is no stranger to theft, having that day lifted the only existing print of his most recent and unfinished film from under his studio executives' noses when they threatened to pull his completion funds. Carl has until the end of the day to get his crew onboard the Singapore-bound tramp steamer, the S.S. Venture, in hopes of completing his travelogue/action film. With that, the showman is certain he will finally achieve the personal greatness he knows awaits him around the corner ... and although the crew believe that corner to be Singapore, Denham actually hopes to find and capture on film the mysterious place of legend: Skull Island.
Unfortunately for Carl, his headlining actress has pulled out of his project, but his search for a size-four leading lady has, fatefully, led him to Ann. The struggling actress is reluctant to sign on with Denham, until she learns that the up-and-coming, socially-relevant playwright Jack Driscoll (Oscar winner for Adrien Brody) is penning the screenplay.
With his newly-discovered star and coerced screenwriter reluctantly onboard, Denham's "moving picture ship" heads out of New York Harbour ... and toward a destiny that none aboard could possibly foresee.
COMMANDER OF THE VENTURE
Joining Watts, Black and Brody is an accomplished ensemble cast from around the globe. German star Thoma Kretschmann (U-571) portrays Captain Englehorn, commander of the venture. Colin Hanks (Orange County) is Preston, Denham's put-upon assistant and unwitting moral compass. Young actor Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) plays Jimmy, the youngest crew member. Evan Parke lends his talents to the role of first mate Hayes. Kyle Chandler takes on the character of Bruce Baxter. Andy Serkis provides both on-set performance reference and motion-capture performance for the Eighth Wonder of the World ... the title character of King Kong; he also appears onscreen as the eccentric sailor in charge of the Venture's galley, Lumpy the Cook.
