Back in 1933 RKO studios shot the original version of King Kong for $670,000—roughly $10m in today's money. Next week a new version of the film, made for $207m, goes on general release around the world. Perhaps only Hollywood would hope to profit by offering a 70-year-old product, refurbished, at 308 times its original cost. Yet chutzpah may have its rewards. Early reviews have verged on the adulatory, after a premiere in New York on Monday, declared to be “King Kong Day” by the mayor. Sponsors are putting King Kong logos on everything from breakfast cereal to credit cards. Big queues at cinemas for King Kong, and for another big-budget film out this month, Walt Disney's “Chronicles of Narnia”, could push total American box office takings for 2005 back towards last year's level, after a slide earlier this year. [More]