LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A new version of "King Kong" to be released for the holiday season, from New Zealand director Peter Jackson, is reportedly the sixth most expensive film in Hollywood history. The adventures of the giant gorilla are shown through special effects costing 207 million dollars, compared with the 10 million dollars, in today's money, spent on the original by Merian Cooper in 1933, according to the New York-based business magazine Forbes. Forbes said Hollywood spent an average of 64 million dollars per film in 2004.

The most expensive ever was "Cleopatra," with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, directed by Joseph Mankiewicz in 1963, for 286.4 million dollars (in 2005 money). The rest include:

"Titanic," by James Cameron (1997) $247 million.
"Waterworld," by Kevin Costner (1995) $229 million.
"Terminator 3," by Jonathan Mostow (2003) $216 million.
"Spider-Man 2" by Sam Raimi (2004) $210 million.
"Wild Wild West" by Barry Sonnenfeld (1999) $203.8 million.
"Speed 2" by Jan de Bont (1997) $198.8 million.