No one cry when Jaws die but when the monkey die, people gonna cry.
So said Dino De Laurentiis, the legendary Italian producer who gave us Conan the Barbarian, Flash Gordon, and, in 1976, his most ambitious movie ever—the remake of King Kong. While largely forgotten now in favor of the original 1933 classic (which is still an all-time great adventure flick), or the Peter Jackson remake (not to mention all the MonsterVerse movies), in its day, King Kong was a sizeable hit. It made over $90 million (in 1976 dollars—equal to almost $500 million today), and was the fourth highest-grossing movie of the year. Yet, to De Laurentiis and Paramount, it was a box office disappointment, as they predicted it would outgross Jaws (fat chance).
Now, King Kong ’76 is getting a new 4K Blu-ray from Paramount, with it dropping on June 30th. Dubbed the “50th Anniversary Edition,” there’s no word yet on whether it will get any special features. An earlier Shout! Factory edition was loaded with extras, while Paramount’s previous edition of the movie had two cuts—the original theatrical release and the TV cut, which runs about forty-five minutes longer.
King Kong was directed by John Guillermin, with it being his follow-up to the disaster movie classic The Towering Inferno, which notably teamed Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. While Newman and McQueen sat this one out, it does have quite the cast, with Jeff Bridges playing an early lead as a palaeontologist hitching a ride aboard a massive oil freighter whose crew seeks to drill on the undiscovered island that would prove to be King Kong’s home. Jessica Lange made her film debut as the love interest of both Bridges and Kong himself, earning such poor reviews that she took the next three years off, only to re-emerge as perhaps the greatest actress of her era. Charles Grodin also stars in the reimagined Carl Denham role, albeit as an oil exec rather than a director.
While a flawed film, King Kong does have great make-up by Rick Baker (who plays Kong himself in a suit), and a fantastic score by John Barry. Ten years after it came out, it received a sequel, King Kong Lives, which flopped but is a cult classic now. Bridges and Lange predictably sat that one out, as both were Oscar nominees (she had already won) by that point.
Will you be picking up the new 4K reissue of King Kong ’76? Let us know in the comments.