Monik sends along the good word that the King Kong DVDs are now available for Pre-Order on Amazon.co.uk! The street date is April 10th. [Pre-Order Now!]

Composer Chance Thomas has the gig of a lifetime. He writes scores for video games, and he's got some pretty hefty clients. His last project was creating the score for "Peter Jackson's 'King Kong' " game. "When I was called on to do that game," Thomas said by phone from his Northern California studio, "it was before James Newton Howard was assigned to do the movie soundtrack. I thought the game creators would shoot me off sections from (the movie score) and have me rework them. But that wasn't the case. I was informed that the score for the video game was to be an all-original work." Thomas, a former Utah resident and Brigham Young University graduate, said he had to get into the feel of the project before he started. "I went to France and met with the game-design team. I came home with a load of drawings and designs from the game. So I put up the drawings of the Skull Island in my studio. Skull Island is a pretty scary place and having those pictures up made the studio a different world." [More]

Steinberg Media Technologies reports that its Nuendo Media Production System formed the backbone of the audio production in the King Kong computer game. Released at the end of 2005 to coincide with the worldwide release of Universal's movie, King Kong: The Official Game Of The Movie was produced by Ubisoft in close cooperation with the film's director, Peter Jackson. "Nuendo gave us exactly what we needed, namely speed and stability," said Yoan Fanise, Lead Sound Designer on the project, who was charged with creating an immersive audio production for Kong and the dinosaurs he battles in the movie. [More]

‘Brokeback Mountain’ has scooped two of the top accolades at the 26th Awards of the London Film Critics’ Circle. The Hollywood blockbuster, which has already won four Golden Globes and secured eight Oscar nominations, came away with Film of the Year and Director of the Year for Ang Lee. The awards were presented on February 8 2006 at a ceremony held in aid of the NSPCC at London’s Dorchester Hotel. [More]

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's film industry is showing it's not all scenery and hobbits. The South Pacific nation's movie business, catapulted to fame by Peter Jackson's ``Lord of the Rings'' trilogy, which was filmed in the country, is tapping a surge in funding to make films such as Toa Fraser's ``No. 2,'' winner of the world cinema audience award at last month's Sundance Film Festival. Local studios have gained from Hollywood-funded productions such as ``King Kong,'' the latest blockbuster by New Zealander Jackson, and Andrew Adamson's production of ``The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,'' both filmed in the country. That boosted production financing to a record NZ$596 million ($406 million) in the year ended March 31, 2005, from about NZ$300 million in 1999. [More]

René writes: I just wanted tell you, that on Amazon in Germany the Kong DVD can be pre-ordered. It is announced to be released on the 4th of April. The covers shown there were also never seen before, I guess... I added them below. [Double Disc Set] [Single Disc]

It is time to come together and talk Kong! The chatroom has been a great success, however some people have been popping in at odd hours when there is no one to chat with. To that end I've devised a KONG Chat time, a set time and day of the week for all Kong chatters to meet and have fun! The bi-weekly Kong Chats will be Thursday nights at 8:30PM Eastern Standard Time (a new Saturday chat has been added click here for more info). World times are below, if you need more help click here. [Kong Java Chat Room] [irc chat settings: SERVER www.theonering.net ROOM: #kongisking.net]

8:30pm (Thursday) EST in New York, Montreal
5:30pm (Thursday) PST in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco
1:30am (Friday) in GMT (UK)
2:30am (Friday) CET in Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam
12:30pm (Friday) in Sydney
2:30pm (Friday) in Auckland and Wellington

From Eddie: The Montecito Award was created in recognition of a performer who has given a series of classic and standout performances in his or her career. This year the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is proud to honor Naomi Watts with the 2006 Montecito Award. Since her breakthrough performance in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive," Naomi Watts has consistently impressed theater-goers with such memorable films as "The Ring," "21 Grams," for which she received an Academy Award nomination, "We Don't Live Here Anymore," "The Assassination of Richard Nixon," "I Heart Huckabees" and her most recent and touching portrayal of the legendary 'Ann Darrow' in Peter Jackson's "King Kong". The evening's celebration will include a film montage recognizing Watts' body of work, a live on-stage interview hosted by an acclaimed film personality, and finally, the presentation of the award and acceptance speech. [More]

From bungie.net: This is one of those stories that’s kind of apropos of nothing, but a week or two ago, our new building was graced by the presence of one Mr. Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, Heavenly Creatures, Meet the Feebles and more. In short, a genius. You may or not know that he is also signed up as executive producer on the forthcoming Halo movie. Mr. Jackson was not only nice enough to come visit, but also to pose for a photo with the entire Bungie crew. [More]

REZ sends this along: Jack Black has been tapped to host Nickelodeon's 19th Kids' Choice Awards April 1 (8 p.m. ET/tape PT) from UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. Kids can vote in 16 categories for their favorites in movies, TV, music and sports. Voting begins online March 6 at nick.com. [More] [Yet Even More]

Scott writes: WE NEED AN IMMEDIATE MODELMAKER to work on a KING KONG TRIBUTE SCULPTURE. Please see photo. The white understructure that Kong is standing on is made of a dense spongy foam. The dome of the Empire Sate bldg needs to be fashioned over top of this "armature". By heating , curving and laying down plastic, wood, whatever might work in order to accomplish the look of the dome. Naturally the details - such as the collar at the top, the portholes, the rivets, the vertical 3 layered ribs would have to be included along with the spire on top. E-mail Scott Essman immediately - needs to be done by February 20. We are in Southern California - item is too large to ship outside of LA, Ventura, Orange counties.
E-Mail: scottessman@yahoo.com
Phone: 626-963-0635
Sculptor: Brent Armstrong

Time has created their own special brand of awards you most likely won't see being handed out on national television. Take a look at some of these, thanks to REZ for the link! Read the entire list here. [More]

I Directed A Big Studio Picture and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt Award

Peter Jackson: King Kong (Universal)

Best Job Staying in Character Off Screen Award

King Kong: He fell off the Empire State building — and the Academy's radar screen—earning only technical nominations.

Most Supportive Spouse Award

Fran Walsh: Imagine having to put up with King Kong director Peter Jackson when he's filming his multi-year epics, much less when he's sulking without a nomination.

KING KONG star Andy Serkis has defended his decision to play Moors Murderer Ian Brady in a controversial new film - saying it will give the audience the chance to learn from the child killer's crimes. The 41-year-old starts filming the Channel 4 movie next week and will appear alongside Samantha Morton as Myra Hindley with Jim Broadbent playing Lord Longford, the man who campaigned for her release. Speaking for the first time about being cast as Brady - who murdered five children in the 1960s with his twisted lover - the 40-year-old told Sun Online: "People attach a really special thing to the Moors Murders and I guess that is because children are involved and that is seen as the last taboo." [More]

It is time to come together and talk Kong! The chatroom has been a great success, however some people have been popping in at odd hours when there is no one to chat with. To that end we've devised 2 KONG Chat times, a set time and day of the week for all Kong chatters to meet and have fun! Tonight's chat will be at 5:30PM Eastern Standard Time (click here for more info). World times are below, if you need more help click here.

5:30PM (Saturday) EST in New York, Montreal
2:30PM (Saturday) PST in Los Angeles, Seattle
11:30PM (Saturday) (Central European Time)
7:30AM (Sunday) in Sydney
9:30AM (Sunday) in Auckland, Wellington

More than 10,000 women voted for their pin-ups in a survey in March's edition of New Woman magazine. The top 100 of which have been posted on independent.co.uk, Adrien Brody has made the list, he clocks in near the end at 89. Get the entire list here. [More]

It is time to come together and talk Kong! The chatroom has been a great success, however some people have been popping in at odd hours when there is no one to chat with. To that end I've devised a KONG Chat time, a set time and day of the week for all Kong chatters to meet and have fun! The bi-weekly Kong Chats will be Thursday nights at 8:30PM Eastern Standard Time (a new Saturday chat has been added click here for more info). World times are below, if you need more help click here. [Kong Java Chat Room] [irc chat settings: SERVER www.theonering.net ROOM: #kongisking.net]

8:30pm (Thursday) EST in New York, Montreal
5:30pm (Thursday) PST in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco
1:30am (Friday) in GMT (UK)
2:30am (Friday) CET in Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam
12:30pm (Friday) in Sydney
2:30pm (Friday) in Auckland and Wellington