King Kong Tribute Thread (THE REAL KING KONG!)

[Pkmatrix]

Not gonna lie. I wish those weren't jokes.

Yeah me too. It sounds right up Jackson's alley - a pulpy, WWII adventure story with a giant ape.

The Skull Island sequel with Wingard sounds cool too - essentially an adaptation of the World of Kong book.

I'm still trying to find if there was possibly any truth to him finally making King Kong Meets Frankenstein as a film - both as a sequel to his 2005 version of King Kong and as a tribute to Willis O'Brien, who originally conceived the story.

I can't even find my thread "Total mystery: King Kong Meets Frankenstein?" anywhere on this website and I know it's supposed to be here somewhere.

I don't recall that ever being discussed? I kinda vaguely remember people floating that as a suggestion for what could be done for a Kong 2 around 2006 to 2008, but that's all I remember...

[AllosaurHell]

Man the idea of a "neanderthal"-like Kong is a trippy one that sometimes I ponder on, and apparently Rick Baker stated that Carlo Rambaldi did make a test suit for 1976 that looked more neanderthal-like but there isn't images of it anywhere. Imagine the outrage if they actually went for a more humanoid design...

[LegendZilla]

Would anyone be opposed to there being another remake in our lifetime (not counting the Monsterverse stuff)?

[Vakanai]

Would anyone be opposed to there being another remake in our lifetime (not counting the Monsterverse stuff)?

Personally I feel there should always be at least 1 or 2 Kong films per decade, but that's just me.
Also Dracula, Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes, and Superman among others.

[Gigantis]

Would anyone be opposed to there being another remake in our lifetime (not counting the Monsterverse stuff)?

Honestly after the MonsterVerse wraps up and with Kong about to enter public domain, another, more traditional Kong story seems pretty inevitable.

[Major sssspielberg!]

I'd love a new Kong, but the problem is there's only two kinds of Kong they want to make: island adventure or just '33 again.
I guess I'd like something akin to the Gamera trilogy, a three part saga about Kong over the decades. The first one could be set in '33, but I'd like something more kaiju-ish. Maybe they bring Kong and another beast to New York, they fight and Kong wins, so he gets to live, but they keep him in a habitat on American soil, knowing that Skull Island is going to sink within the century.
The second film could be set a few decades on, maybe Kong defends against an alien invasion, and the third could be Kong being taken back to Skull Island cuz he's so fuckin old now, and they want him to die at home, only to face a son living on a volatile Skull Island that's sinking into the ocean.
One of my favorite aspects of Kong mythos is that Skull Island is typically doomed- there's something sad about a slice of prehistory just... falling into oblivion.

[Mr. Yellow]

Since there's a lot of new tokusatsu interest and influences in comics, do you think there's a chance that someone does another ongoing King Kong comic?

[Jermobooka]

Since there's a lot of new tokusatsu interest and influences in comics, do you think there's a chance that someone does another ongoing King Kong comic?

“Another”? There’s already been one? Could you link me to an article or something about it?

[Mr. Yellow]

Since there's a lot of new tokusatsu interest and influences in comics, do you think there's a chance that someone does another ongoing King Kong comic?

“Another”? There’s already been one? Could you link me to an article or something about it?

Scroll on down past the Godzilla section, second is Kong.

https://www.kaijubattle.net/comicbook-database.html

[The One and Only]

Interesting bit of info popping up about the 1998 Stephen Sommers' sea monster flick, DEEP RISING and the Eighth Wonder of the World as of late. Apparently, Disney was looking at doing their own take on King Kong. And as fans of Deep Rising may remember about the flick's ending. The survivors of the Argonautica make their way to an island after blowing up the ship, and monstrous sea creature terrorizing them. And just as things are settling down, they hear the roar of some massive beast. The story goes that roar was from none other than King Kong himself, and Finnegan, Joey, and Trillian had landed on none other than Skull Island. Deep Rising was supposedly intended from the scuttlebutt to a back door prequel to a Disney produced KING KONG. Although I have doubts to this story seeing that Universal was already working with Peter Jackson on his take for Kong. And Universal had quite the iron grip on Kong's rights, and even Disney couldn't pry them loose at the time. But the rumor fits in with the location of the sea monster flick's parting shot.

[edgaguirus]

Disney did get Mighty Joe Young, though.

[LegendZilla]

Keep in mind that copyright and trademark are not the same thing as one may assume. Even if the rights to the original film lapse into the public domain in 2029, (King) Kong will still be a trademark of Universal. Same goes for Mickey Mouse after Steamboat Willie goes PD in 2024.

[Pkmatrix]

Disney did get Mighty Joe Young, though.

Unless I'm mistaken, I believe Mighty Joe Young is still owned by RKO? (Yes, they still exist.) Everyone forgets that the Disney Mighty Joe Young was actually a Disney/RKO co-production.

Keep in mind that copyright and trademark are not the same thing as one may assume. Even if the rights to the original film lapse into the public domain in 2029, (King) Kong will still be a trademark of Universal. Same goes for Mickey Mouse after Steamboat Willie goes PD in 2024.

It was ruled that Universal did not own a trademark on Kong and that the character could not be trademarked in the United States because the term had entered the common vernacular in Universal v. Nintendo way back in the 80s.

EDIT: And just to reiterate, Kong has been recognized as public domain since the verdict in Universal v. RKO back in the 70s.

EDIT 2: Sorry about repeating myself, I didn't look at the post you were replying to until after posting this, I forgot about that previous post lol

[LegendZilla]

^I will like to ask another question : After the original Kong goes PD in 2029, does that mean the 1966 Kong cartoon will enter too? Rankin-Bass Productions has long-since closed its doors.

[SoggyNoodles2016]

The current way the rights work is Kong the character and basic story are public domain but the name King Kong and the rights to make films are owned by Univeral (perhaps, the public domain NECA figure is called King Kong so maybe this has changed)

The original Kong going PD will not change any of this and that's considering WB might attempt to renew their copyright on it (as they own that incarnation thanks to buying Turner who bought it from RKO)

Added in 11 seconds:

^I will like to ask another question : After the original Kong goes PD in 2029, does that mean the 1966 Kong cartoon will enter too? Rankin-Bass Productions has long-since closed its doors.

Likely, yes

[Terasawa]

^I will like to ask another question : After the original Kong goes PD in 2029, does that mean the 1966 Kong cartoon will enter too? Rankin-Bass Productions has long-since closed its doors.

Copyright doesn't work that way. The 1966 series is its own copyrighted work; it won't lose its copyright protection when the 1933 film enters public domain.

[John Pannozzi]

Keep in mind that copyright and trademark are not the same thing as one may assume. Even if the rights to the original film lapse into the public domain in 2029, (King) Kong will still be a trademark of Universal. Same goes for Mickey Mouse after Steamboat Willie goes PD in 2024.

FWIW, there's already legal precedent for trademark not trumping copyright expiration: https://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/who ... 37419.html

And like SoggyNoodles2016, Neca's PD Kong figure was called King Kong (as was their PD Kidrobot Kong plush).

^I will like to ask another question : After the original Kong goes PD in 2029, does that mean the 1966 Kong cartoon will enter too? Rankin-Bass Productions has long-since closed its doors.

Copyright doesn't work that way. The 1966 series is its own copyrighted work; it won't lose its copyright protection when the 1933 film enters public domain.

True. The 1960s Kong cartoon is currently owned by Comcast/NBCUniversal (via their acquisition of DreamWorks Animation and the Classic Media library).

[LegendZilla]

I am guessing that even after 2029, NBC Universal will hold exclusive rights to make a new (King) Kong film and not just hold rights to pre-existing ones. It will probably remain that way until 2043, 70 years after the death of Merian C. Cooper.

[Terasawa]

I am guessing that even after 2029, NBC Universal will hold exclusive rights to make a new (King) Kong film and not just hold rights to pre-existing ones. It will probably remain that way until 2043, 70 years after the death of Merian C. Cooper.

What exclusive rights does Universal apparently have? The Wikipedia page states "Universal still retains the majority of the character rights" but doesn't clarify why this is the case (nor are there any referenced sources confirming this). If the original story and film characters are public domain (via the Lovelace novelization), then I can't imagine what rights Universal could lay claim to (except to their three Kong films).

FWIW, there's already legal precedent for trademark not trumping copyright expiration: https://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/who ... 37419.html

Interesting read, thanks!

[Mr. Yellow]

I admit I haven't read the recent Kong books, but do any of the recent reads go deep into detail on the legal history of Kong? I'd love someone to do a deep dive, with