The length of Peter Jackson's King Kong has been extended to three hours, similar to the length of Jackson's Lord of the Rings films, according to Variety. Jackson had enough faith in the longer version to finance the increase in length himself, to the tune of most of the $32 million needed to complete the special effects for the additional footage. That brings the budget for the film to $207 million.
King Kong is expected to be the holiday genre blockbuster; it's being promoted by a massive marketing push (see 'King Kong's Gorilla-Size Marketing Blitz'), and there will be substantial product available to pop culture retailers, including a making-of DVD, which will be released before the movie (see 'Peter Jackson's King Kong Production Diaries'); cards from Topps (see 'Topps King Kong Movie Cards'); and toys from Playmates (see 'Playmates Has King Kong Toys').
