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THE LEGEND OF KING KONG (Kevin K. of MN)
Directed by:
Danny DeVito
Written by:
Aaron Sorkin
Executive Producers:
Aaron Sorkin and Danny DeVito
Producer:
Gary Goetzman
Music:
James Newton Howard
Director of Photography:
Stephen H. Burum
Editors:
John Bloom and Antonia Van Drimmelen
Production Designer:
Victor Kempster
Art Director:
Brad Ricker
Set Decorator:
Nancy Haigh
Costume Design:
Albert Wolsky
Cast:
Dino De Laurentiis: Danny DeVito
Rick Baker: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Barry Diller: Steve Carell
John Guillermin: Richard Gere
Lorenzo Semple, Jr: J.K. Simmons
Carlo Rambaldi: Antonio Banderas
Michael Eisner: Barry Pepper
Sid Sheinberg: Alec Baldwin
Jessica Lange: Charlize Theron
Jeff Bridges: Shawn Hatosey
Tagline: An optimistic artist… An overbearing producer… a film destined for chaos
Synopsis: The Hollywood strategy of unnecessarily remaking classics gets pulled across the coals in this outrageous satire, made all the more fascinating and funny due to it being a true story! The film industry was thrown into a firestorm in the summer of 1975 when two different film studios, Paramount and Universal, announced that they had acquired the rights to remake the 1933 RKO classic King Kong. The ensuing legal battle revealed how the troubles began: Michael Eisner (Barry Pepper), a young up-and-coming producer from ABC, had independently discussed the prospects of remaking the film with the heads of both the studios, Sid Sheinberg (Alec Baldwin) of Universal and Barry Diller (Steve Carell) of Paramount, neither of whom were interested in Diller’s plan (his film was to be a rock opera starring Bette Midler), but were interested in owning the rights to the property. To strengthen his case, Diller hired famed Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis (Danny DeVito) to head Paramount’s production. Eventually, the court decided that Paramount had the rights to remake Kong, but as the story to the original film (which had been published prior to the film’s release) had lapsed into the public domain, Universal would be allowed to do their own remake 18 months later. Diller decides that if Paramount can get its film out fast enough and with enough publicity, they can starve the public of Kong fever and prevent the Universal film from being made at all. He gives Dino De Laurentiis the green light to begin.
Dino De Laurentiis’ production of King Kong: The Legend Reborn began immediately, with De Laurentiis even promising two sequels: The Bionic Kong and King Kong in Africa. He also decided right away that his Kong would not be a monster, but a tragic hero instead:
“No one cry when Jaws die. But when the monkey dies, people gonna cry! Intellectuals gonna love our Kong; even film buffs who loved the first Kong is gonna love our Kong! Why? Because I no give them crap. I no spend two, three million dollars to do quick business. I spend $24 million on my Kong! I give them quality!”
Kong aficionados, however, became intensely suspicious over the remake business, insisting that there was no reason to remake the 1933 classic at all. When Paramount’s poster is revealed, with King Kong straddling the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the fan uproar became even more intense, with monster film fans dressing up in gorilla suits and carrying signs reading “Don’t Rape the Ape!” around the observation deck of the Empire State Building. De Laurentiis was completely unperturbed by this controversy, though, and his modernized and “intellectual” Kong continued production: the only question was, how would Paramount create their Kong? Neither of the best stop-motion artists of the time wanted to be associated with the production. Fans wanted the ape to be made as in the original, through stop-motion animation, but neither Ray Harryhausen nor Jim Danforth (the two best stop-motion aritsts in the industry) wanted to be associated with Paramount’s film, with Danforth even agreeing to work for the film planned by Universal! Besides, the cost and time commitment needed for stop-motion would risk delays, and Paramount was insistent that their movie open on Christmas Day 1976. Unshaken, Dino De Laurentiis says that they should leave everything to him.
Paramount executives next find themselves lambasted by Civil Rights groups when it is discovered that De Laurentiis had placed a casting call in Variety asking for “Ape-like black actors” to screen test for the role of King Kong. An enraged and embarrassed Diller forces De Laurentiis to hold a press conference to apologize for the racial insensitivities of the ad, and De Laurentiis shocks the world when at the conference he instead announces that in his film, the role of Kong will, in fact, be played by a life-sized, 42-foot-tall robot!
Nobody knew what to make of this, let alone how the robot could be successfully manufactured in time for the deadline. When an airplane company told De Laurentiis they could make the mechanical beast in two years, he turned them down flat and instead when to his friend, the Italian special effects wizard Carlo Rimbaldi (Antonio Banderas) to try and build the robot on the studio lot. He agrees, but recommends an ape suit be manufactured just in case, and recommends an up-and-coming makeup whiz named Rick Baker (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who also happened to be an expert on film apes, to make one and play the part if necessary. De Laurentiis agrees, but throws the two of them another curveball by saying that his Kong wasn’t supposed to be a gorilla at all, but instead a manlike missing link! Baker says he will only make a gorilla suit, and De Laurentiis tries to compromise by allowing Baker to make his suit (on a limited budget) as long as Rimbaldi makes a “missing link” suit as well, with the final decision to be given to the director, John Guillerman (Richard Gere).
The robot designed by Rimbaldi turns out to be a disaster. While it is indeed 42 feet tall, it ended up having two right hands, faulty hydraulics, and cables that tended to snap. This didn’t stop De Laurentiis from continuing to grandstand about it to TV cameras and insisting that all of Kong’s stunts were to be done by the robot, while secretly calling upon Baker and Rimbaldi to hurry up work on the suits.
At the same time, the screenplay is being quickly finished by Lorenzo Semple, Jr (J.K. Simmons), a veteran of the Batman & Robin tv show who is constantly being ordered to make changes by De Laurentiis. The plot was “streamlined” by removing all of the dinosaurs from Skull Island, and “intellectual” dimensions were added to the script, such as an anti-pornography message when the female lead played by newcomer Jessica Lange (Charlize Theron) is found adrift at sea by Oil explorer Jeff Bridges (Shawn Hatosey) after the yacht she was on exploded during a screening of Deep Throat (she survived because she wasn’t watching it). Also given to Lange was such “modernized” dialogue as when she tells Kong “You goddamn chauvinist pig ape, what are you waiting for? If you’re gonna eat me, eat me!!!” and later, “I’m a Libra. What are you? Don’t tell me… you’re an Aries! Of course you are! I knew it!”. De Laurentiis praises the screenplay for avoiding the “dated” qualities of the 1933 original.
As the movie begins filming, Guillerman is forced to make a final decision between Baker’s gorilla suit and Rimbaldi’s missing link. Despite De Laurentiis’ prodding, he goes with the gorilla suit. When it comes time to do the filming of the Kong scenes, Baker inspires more of De Laurentiis’ ire by playing the part on all fours (like a real gorilla). De Laurentiis insisted that his Kong be “A gorilla with the mind of a man” and forced Guillerman to direct Baker to walk upright for the rest of production. Baker does his best, but even inside the ape suit he can’t help but be project his lack of enthusiasm, as when he almost lazily strangles a snake puppet while filming Kong’s only battle with another monster.
The final nail in the coffin of the Kong robot was when the filmmakers tried to use the mechanical beast to shoot the climactic sequence where Kong breaks free of his cage in Shea Stadium. The robot barely moved, and when it did it was frustratingly sluggish. The disappointed extras are constantly being told by a hired comic how wonderful and innovative the robot is, while the technicians grumble about how they “Wish to hell the damn thing worked!”
Still, the movie is finished on time and on schedule. Remarkably, many viewers and critics have been fooled by the media grandstanding of Dino De Laurentiis and truly believe all of Kong’s motions were done by the famed robot (not in the least due to the fact that Rick Baker’s only mention in the film’s credits was thanks for “a special contribution”), and Laurentiis takes advantage of this by buying out trade ads demanding a special Academy Award for the mechanical creation. This enraged Rick Baker and Carlos Rimbaldi, and the two of them confront De Laurentiis on a television broadcast, insisting he tell the world the truth. He finally admits that he has misrepresented the amount of time the robot was on screen: all but 30 seconds of Kong’s screen time was Baker in the ape suit. AMPAS decides to award a special Oscar to Baker and Rimbaldi instead, for their remarkable (though still unsatisfactory, in Baker’s eyes) ape suit and masks.
As mediocre as De Laurentiis’ film was, it accomplished its goal: Universal’s remake, The Legend of King Kong, was never filmed, partially due to their belief that the De Laurentiis movie gave Kong a bad name. This didn’t stop De Laurentiis from continuing to seek publicity, though: in addition to greenlighting a sequel (which would eventually become the even more maligned King Kong Lives) he goes on to sue the Korean produced 3D rip-off A*P*E and the Italian-made spoofQueen Kong.
Awards Campaign: Modern film lovers always complain about remakes and insist that “Hollywood has run out of ideas”, when in reality the industry has been built on remakes since its earliest days. The beauty of The Legend of King Kong, a (mostly) true story played for laughs, is that it works as a Hollywood satire whether you hate remakes or accept them as a fact of the business. Aaron Sorkin (who previously combined fact with satire in Charlie Wilson’s War) wrote a script that is remarkable for how few of the details he had to change to make the story into a comedy, and the direction by Danny DeVito captures the times and the reality of the industry perfectly. He recreates the Paramount and MGM lots of the 1970s with an eye for cheerfully exaggerated detail, and he recreates the scenes of filming the De Laurentiis Kong with wit and style, and the expertise that both DeVito and Sorkin have gathred through their years of participation in the film industry works shines through in every scene.
DeVito’s performance in the role of De Laurentiis is a perfect example of a cinematic balancing act: the performance was never meant to be fully representative of the real De Laurentiis, but in working with many of the late producer’s real words and actions, DeVito ends up giving the best performance of his career, creating in his Dino De Laurentiis a character who confidently throws himself head first into the production of a film that he really doesn’t know or understand. It’s a hilarious performance, that can still maintain depth, and even though DeVito captures some of the Italian producer’s accent and vocal mannerisms (he pronounces the ape’s name “Konk”), he never falls into caricature and is never unfair to the spirit of the man. Steve Carell adds dry, straight-man humor as the studio head who seems continuously baffled by the antics of his Italian partner, and Richard Gere’s John Guillerman ends up equally flabbergasted as he tries his hardest to add his own artistic vision into the picture while still adhering to De Laurentiis’ every whim. His reaction when told he has to return for a sequel is priceless.
The key supporting role in the movie is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance as makeup legend Rick Baker. He brings to the role a stubborn spirit of an artist determined to do his best no matter what, and he meets his match when he goes head-to-head with De Laurentiis. Gordon-Levitt demonstrates impressive athletics as he does all of his own stunts while wearing the ape suit (he also does un-credited Performance Capture work as the CGI reproduction of the disastrous robot, where his movements are understandably more restricted). Gordon-Levitt’s Rick Baker is hounded, angered, provoked, and sometimes practically beaten into emotional submission in order to give De Laurentiis what he wants, but he emerges victorious in his own way when it is he, and not Dino De Laurentiis, who wins the Oscar for visual effects.
Hollywood satires can be notoriously difficult to pull off successfully without delving into farce, but by basing their story on fact, Danny DeVito and Aaron Sorkin deliver what many consider to be impossible: a satire of Hollywood’s commercial system that feels equal parts authentic, biting, and innocent. Danny DeVito’s Dino De Laurentiis truly seems to believe that his remake of King Kong could be better than the original. But what can we say about a production where everybody involved insists that they “need” to complete the project, without anybody ever daring to ask “why”?
FYC
Best Picture
Best Director - Danny DeVito
Best Actor - Danny DeVito
Best Supporting Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Best Original Screenplay
Best Crew
Danny DeVito
Written by:
Aaron Sorkin
Executive Producers:
Aaron Sorkin and Danny DeVito
Producer:
Gary Goetzman
Music:
James Newton Howard
Director of Photography:
Stephen H. Burum
Editors:
John Bloom and Antonia Van Drimmelen
Production Designer:
Victor Kempster
Art Director:
Brad Ricker
Set Decorator:
Nancy Haigh
Costume Design:
Albert Wolsky
Cast:
Dino De Laurentiis: Danny DeVito
Rick Baker: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Barry Diller: Steve Carell
John Guillermin: Richard Gere
Lorenzo Semple, Jr: J.K. Simmons
Carlo Rambaldi: Antonio Banderas
Michael Eisner: Barry Pepper
Sid Sheinberg: Alec Baldwin
Jessica Lange: Charlize Theron
Jeff Bridges: Shawn Hatosey
Tagline: An optimistic artist… An overbearing producer… a film destined for chaos
Synopsis: The Hollywood strategy of unnecessarily remaking classics gets pulled across the coals in this outrageous satire, made all the more fascinating and funny due to it being a true story! The film industry was thrown into a firestorm in the summer of 1975 when two different film studios, Paramount and Universal, announced that they had acquired the rights to remake the 1933 RKO classic King Kong. The ensuing legal battle revealed how the troubles began: Michael Eisner (Barry Pepper), a young up-and-coming producer from ABC, had independently discussed the prospects of remaking the film with the heads of both the studios, Sid Sheinberg (Alec Baldwin) of Universal and Barry Diller (Steve Carell) of Paramount, neither of whom were interested in Diller’s plan (his film was to be a rock opera starring Bette Midler), but were interested in owning the rights to the property. To strengthen his case, Diller hired famed Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis (Danny DeVito) to head Paramount’s production. Eventually, the court decided that Paramount had the rights to remake Kong, but as the story to the original film (which had been published prior to the film’s release) had lapsed into the public domain, Universal would be allowed to do their own remake 18 months later. Diller decides that if Paramount can get its film out fast enough and with enough publicity, they can starve the public of Kong fever and prevent the Universal film from being made at all. He gives Dino De Laurentiis the green light to begin.
Dino De Laurentiis’ production of King Kong: The Legend Reborn began immediately, with De Laurentiis even promising two sequels: The Bionic Kong and King Kong in Africa. He also decided right away that his Kong would not be a monster, but a tragic hero instead:
“No one cry when Jaws die. But when the monkey dies, people gonna cry! Intellectuals gonna love our Kong; even film buffs who loved the first Kong is gonna love our Kong! Why? Because I no give them crap. I no spend two, three million dollars to do quick business. I spend $24 million on my Kong! I give them quality!”
Kong aficionados, however, became intensely suspicious over the remake business, insisting that there was no reason to remake the 1933 classic at all. When Paramount’s poster is revealed, with King Kong straddling the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the fan uproar became even more intense, with monster film fans dressing up in gorilla suits and carrying signs reading “Don’t Rape the Ape!” around the observation deck of the Empire State Building. De Laurentiis was completely unperturbed by this controversy, though, and his modernized and “intellectual” Kong continued production: the only question was, how would Paramount create their Kong? Neither of the best stop-motion artists of the time wanted to be associated with the production. Fans wanted the ape to be made as in the original, through stop-motion animation, but neither Ray Harryhausen nor Jim Danforth (the two best stop-motion aritsts in the industry) wanted to be associated with Paramount’s film, with Danforth even agreeing to work for the film planned by Universal! Besides, the cost and time commitment needed for stop-motion would risk delays, and Paramount was insistent that their movie open on Christmas Day 1976. Unshaken, Dino De Laurentiis says that they should leave everything to him.
Paramount executives next find themselves lambasted by Civil Rights groups when it is discovered that De Laurentiis had placed a casting call in Variety asking for “Ape-like black actors” to screen test for the role of King Kong. An enraged and embarrassed Diller forces De Laurentiis to hold a press conference to apologize for the racial insensitivities of the ad, and De Laurentiis shocks the world when at the conference he instead announces that in his film, the role of Kong will, in fact, be played by a life-sized, 42-foot-tall robot!
Nobody knew what to make of this, let alone how the robot could be successfully manufactured in time for the deadline. When an airplane company told De Laurentiis they could make the mechanical beast in two years, he turned them down flat and instead when to his friend, the Italian special effects wizard Carlo Rimbaldi (Antonio Banderas) to try and build the robot on the studio lot. He agrees, but recommends an ape suit be manufactured just in case, and recommends an up-and-coming makeup whiz named Rick Baker (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who also happened to be an expert on film apes, to make one and play the part if necessary. De Laurentiis agrees, but throws the two of them another curveball by saying that his Kong wasn’t supposed to be a gorilla at all, but instead a manlike missing link! Baker says he will only make a gorilla suit, and De Laurentiis tries to compromise by allowing Baker to make his suit (on a limited budget) as long as Rimbaldi makes a “missing link” suit as well, with the final decision to be given to the director, John Guillerman (Richard Gere).
The robot designed by Rimbaldi turns out to be a disaster. While it is indeed 42 feet tall, it ended up having two right hands, faulty hydraulics, and cables that tended to snap. This didn’t stop De Laurentiis from continuing to grandstand about it to TV cameras and insisting that all of Kong’s stunts were to be done by the robot, while secretly calling upon Baker and Rimbaldi to hurry up work on the suits.
At the same time, the screenplay is being quickly finished by Lorenzo Semple, Jr (J.K. Simmons), a veteran of the Batman & Robin tv show who is constantly being ordered to make changes by De Laurentiis. The plot was “streamlined” by removing all of the dinosaurs from Skull Island, and “intellectual” dimensions were added to the script, such as an anti-pornography message when the female lead played by newcomer Jessica Lange (Charlize Theron) is found adrift at sea by Oil explorer Jeff Bridges (Shawn Hatosey) after the yacht she was on exploded during a screening of Deep Throat (she survived because she wasn’t watching it). Also given to Lange was such “modernized” dialogue as when she tells Kong “You goddamn chauvinist pig ape, what are you waiting for? If you’re gonna eat me, eat me!!!” and later, “I’m a Libra. What are you? Don’t tell me… you’re an Aries! Of course you are! I knew it!”. De Laurentiis praises the screenplay for avoiding the “dated” qualities of the 1933 original.
As the movie begins filming, Guillerman is forced to make a final decision between Baker’s gorilla suit and Rimbaldi’s missing link. Despite De Laurentiis’ prodding, he goes with the gorilla suit. When it comes time to do the filming of the Kong scenes, Baker inspires more of De Laurentiis’ ire by playing the part on all fours (like a real gorilla). De Laurentiis insisted that his Kong be “A gorilla with the mind of a man” and forced Guillerman to direct Baker to walk upright for the rest of production. Baker does his best, but even inside the ape suit he can’t help but be project his lack of enthusiasm, as when he almost lazily strangles a snake puppet while filming Kong’s only battle with another monster.
The final nail in the coffin of the Kong robot was when the filmmakers tried to use the mechanical beast to shoot the climactic sequence where Kong breaks free of his cage in Shea Stadium. The robot barely moved, and when it did it was frustratingly sluggish. The disappointed extras are constantly being told by a hired comic how wonderful and innovative the robot is, while the technicians grumble about how they “Wish to hell the damn thing worked!”
Still, the movie is finished on time and on schedule. Remarkably, many viewers and critics have been fooled by the media grandstanding of Dino De Laurentiis and truly believe all of Kong’s motions were done by the famed robot (not in the least due to the fact that Rick Baker’s only mention in the film’s credits was thanks for “a special contribution”), and Laurentiis takes advantage of this by buying out trade ads demanding a special Academy Award for the mechanical creation. This enraged Rick Baker and Carlos Rimbaldi, and the two of them confront De Laurentiis on a television broadcast, insisting he tell the world the truth. He finally admits that he has misrepresented the amount of time the robot was on screen: all but 30 seconds of Kong’s screen time was Baker in the ape suit. AMPAS decides to award a special Oscar to Baker and Rimbaldi instead, for their remarkable (though still unsatisfactory, in Baker’s eyes) ape suit and masks.
As mediocre as De Laurentiis’ film was, it accomplished its goal: Universal’s remake, The Legend of King Kong, was never filmed, partially due to their belief that the De Laurentiis movie gave Kong a bad name. This didn’t stop De Laurentiis from continuing to seek publicity, though: in addition to greenlighting a sequel (which would eventually become the even more maligned King Kong Lives) he goes on to sue the Korean produced 3D rip-off A*P*E and the Italian-made spoofQueen Kong.
Awards Campaign: Modern film lovers always complain about remakes and insist that “Hollywood has run out of ideas”, when in reality the industry has been built on remakes since its earliest days. The beauty of The Legend of King Kong, a (mostly) true story played for laughs, is that it works as a Hollywood satire whether you hate remakes or accept them as a fact of the business. Aaron Sorkin (who previously combined fact with satire in Charlie Wilson’s War) wrote a script that is remarkable for how few of the details he had to change to make the story into a comedy, and the direction by Danny DeVito captures the times and the reality of the industry perfectly. He recreates the Paramount and MGM lots of the 1970s with an eye for cheerfully exaggerated detail, and he recreates the scenes of filming the De Laurentiis Kong with wit and style, and the expertise that both DeVito and Sorkin have gathred through their years of participation in the film industry works shines through in every scene.
DeVito’s performance in the role of De Laurentiis is a perfect example of a cinematic balancing act: the performance was never meant to be fully representative of the real De Laurentiis, but in working with many of the late producer’s real words and actions, DeVito ends up giving the best performance of his career, creating in his Dino De Laurentiis a character who confidently throws himself head first into the production of a film that he really doesn’t know or understand. It’s a hilarious performance, that can still maintain depth, and even though DeVito captures some of the Italian producer’s accent and vocal mannerisms (he pronounces the ape’s name “Konk”), he never falls into caricature and is never unfair to the spirit of the man. Steve Carell adds dry, straight-man humor as the studio head who seems continuously baffled by the antics of his Italian partner, and Richard Gere’s John Guillerman ends up equally flabbergasted as he tries his hardest to add his own artistic vision into the picture while still adhering to De Laurentiis’ every whim. His reaction when told he has to return for a sequel is priceless.
The key supporting role in the movie is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance as makeup legend Rick Baker. He brings to the role a stubborn spirit of an artist determined to do his best no matter what, and he meets his match when he goes head-to-head with De Laurentiis. Gordon-Levitt demonstrates impressive athletics as he does all of his own stunts while wearing the ape suit (he also does un-credited Performance Capture work as the CGI reproduction of the disastrous robot, where his movements are understandably more restricted). Gordon-Levitt’s Rick Baker is hounded, angered, provoked, and sometimes practically beaten into emotional submission in order to give De Laurentiis what he wants, but he emerges victorious in his own way when it is he, and not Dino De Laurentiis, who wins the Oscar for visual effects.
Hollywood satires can be notoriously difficult to pull off successfully without delving into farce, but by basing their story on fact, Danny DeVito and Aaron Sorkin deliver what many consider to be impossible: a satire of Hollywood’s commercial system that feels equal parts authentic, biting, and innocent. Danny DeVito’s Dino De Laurentiis truly seems to believe that his remake of King Kong could be better than the original. But what can we say about a production where everybody involved insists that they “need” to complete the project, without anybody ever daring to ask “why”?
FYC
Best Picture
Best Director - Danny DeVito
Best Actor - Danny DeVito
Best Supporting Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Best Original Screenplay
Best Crew