FAQ for
King Kong (2005) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for King Kong can be found here.

No. The giant gorilla known as Kong was the brainchild of American aviator and screenwriter Merian C. Cooper [1893-1973], conceived after a dream in which a giant gorilla was terrorizing New York City. Screenwriters Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman wrote the screenplay for the original King Kong (1933) movie. A novelization of the screenplay actually appeared in 1932, a year before the film, adapted by newspaper reporter and writer Delos W. Lovelace. It was published in serialized form in Mystery Magazine and in book form later that year by Grosset & Dunlap. This version of King Kong is the third version of the film, preceded by the original 1933 movie and King Kong (1976). Kong was adapted for this version by Australian screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens along with Peter Jackson, who directed the movie.

Carl Denham (Jack Black) states in his presentation of Kong to New York that 17 people were killed (although many of them were killed by different animals; Carl wants to make it sound as if Kong is a mindless savage beast who killed them all). Of course, the number of crew members killed on-screen depends upon whether one is watching the theatrical or extended DVD version.

Some viewers maintain the Jimmy (Jamie Bell) died; others disagree. When Kong throws the boat against the boulder, Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) immediately rushes toward Jimmy, who can be seen swimming in the water. After Kong is chloroformed by Carl Denham, Jimmy's eyes are still open. In Lovelace's novelization of the movie, it is mentioned that Jack is holding an unconscious Jimmy in the water. This can be seen in the movie. Peter Jackson doesn't specify in the DVD commentary whether Jimmy lives through the scene or not.

When the ice is blown apart by the army, some of the resulting chunks are two feet thick -- more than enough to support Kong's weight.

1. The most obvious difference is that of running time: while the films are very similar structurally, the 2005 film is over an hour longer than the 1933 film.

2. There is much more backstory given to the two principals, Ann Darrow and Carl Denham. Ann did not appear in the 1933 film until the point at which Denham covered for her attempted shoplifting of food.

3. The character of Denham is quite different. He was originally a successful, respected filmmaker. The newer film portrays him as a man on the outs with the studio heads who steals the footage for his own film and flees after learning the bosses are planning to scrap the picture. The newer incarnation is also played as much more of an antihero, whereas the 1933 film never brought the character's actions into question.

4. Jack Driscoll is now a playwright who is working on Denham's screenplay; previously, he was the First Mate of the Venture.

5. The natives of Skull Island are much more hostile. In the original film, they allowed Denham's party to leave without incident; in this version, they kill several members of the group before the Venture's captain arrives with help.

6. All references to and quotes from Conrad's Heart of Darkness are new to this version of the story.

7. Kong is played less as a monster and more as an animal. Relatively little was known about gorillas at the time of the 1933 film; the new film more accurately portrays the behavior of an actual ape.

8. The 2005 film contains a scene shot for the original film but later excised: the spider pit. Originally, stop-motion spiders attacked and ate the crew members who fell off of the log bridge and into the gorge it spanned. The new version presents a variety of insects and leechlike creatures, but eschews spiders, possibly to avoid feeling like a retread of Jackson's previous film, The Return of the King, which had featured a battle with a huge spider.

9. In the 1933 film, Ann Darrow remains frightened of the giant ape throughout the film. Now she and the gorilla form an emotional bond, with Ann recognizing human traits such as intelligence and empathy in her captor-turned-guardian.

10. Ann and Jack originally joined Denham on stage as he presented the captive Kong to a New York audience. In Jackson's film, both have become disillusioned by his glory-minded pursuits and decline to take part. Denham therefore hires an actress whom he tells his audience is Ann, and he credits her rescue not to Jack, but to the actor Bruce Baxter, who had actually abandoned the search for Ann to save himself.

11. The New York rampage in the 2005 version is more PC than in the 1933 Kong. The attack on the el train does not occur in the new version, nor does Kong throw a woman he mistakes for Ann to her death-at least not definitively; he does throw a number of women about casually, but their fates are not depicted.

12. Now, Jack is the only one to race to the top of the Empire State Building to save Ann at the film's climax. Previously Denham and a few other rescuers had also ascended the skyscraper.

13. Kong's death is no longer seen as the necessary destruction of a dangerous monster, but the tragic killing of a noble beast who has suffered at the hands of human exploitation.

1. Skull Island is "visually layered," as inspired by the original.

2. Some of the relics (spears, drums, and shields) that appear in early scenes on board the ship are original 1933 film props. The gas bombs that can briefly be seen in the cage full of chemical bottles are also original props.

3. Whilst in the cab Carl Denham mentions that "Fay's a size four" - referencing Fay Wray, the actress who played Ann Darrow in the 1933 original. When Preston informs Denham that she's "busy making a picture with RKO," he is actually referring to the original King Kong film itself, and Denham moans "Cooper, huh?," referring to Merian C. Cooper, one of the original movie's directors.

4. When Kong defeats the V-Rex creature he checks that the reptile's jaw is broken by flexing it open a few times. This action is almost a frame-for-frame copy of the 1933 original and is a direct tribute to the work of stop-motion pioneer Willis O'Brien.

5. Ann and Bruce act a scene on the ship. She says, "This is very exciting, I've never been on a ship before," to which Bruce replies. "Well, I've never been on one with a woman before." This "acted" scene is a direct copy of a "real" scene from the 1933 original.

6. During his stage presentation of Kong, Denham quotes an "old Arabian proverb" about how beauty tames the beast; this quote opened the original film in the form of an on-screen title. As an aside, Merian C. Cooper admitted in interviews that the alleged proverb was actually his own invention.

7. When Kong is struggling to free himself from the chains on the New York theatre stage, Denham says "Let him roar; it makes a swell picture." This line of dialogue was spoken by a journalist in the original movie.

8. The musical score which accompanies the dance routine in the New York theatre is Max Steiner's original composition from the 1933 film.

9. The native dancers on the New York stage are a direct copy of the natives from the original 1933 movie.

10. When Denham and Kong first see each other, they pause for a moment. According to Peter Jackson this is the moment during which they both recognise each other - a feeling that they have met before. This suggests that they are spiritually bonded to the original movie in some way.

11. The ultimate reference to the original movie was sadly never to be - Peter Jackson wanted Fay Wray, by then in her 90s, to make a cameo at the end of the movie, but she died before this was possible.

12. The last line of the movie is the same in the 1933 one.

Even as the theatrical cut was released, it was obvious that an extended cut of the ape-saga, announced by Peter Jackson, would follow. That arrived shortly a year later, spread over two DVDs and with a few surprises consisting of more than the already-familiar deleted scenes. A detailed comparison between the theatrical version and the unrated version with pictures can be found here.