'King Kong' grows to 3 hours long

Posted Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 4:46 PM Central

by John Couture

When Peter Jackson was given a shot at King Kong, you knew Kong was going to be larger than life. Clocking in with a running time of 3 hours, the remake of the 1933 original is nearly twice as long as its predecessor.

While Universal executives are keeping a watchful eye on the budget which has been reported to have surpassed the $200 million mark, the company is still firmly behind the Lord of the Rings director.

"This is a three-hour feast of an event," said vice chairman of Universal Pictures Marc Shmuger. "I've never come close to seeing an artist working at this level."

Universal chairwoman Stacey Snider remarked, "I anticipated it would be long, but not this long. This is a masterpiece. I can't wait to unveil it."

King Kong will take over theaters on December 14th, just in time for the holidays and Oscar race.