Chris Kaltenbach writes: Box office shouldn't be only measure for 'King Kong,' other films Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong has pulled in more than $176.5 million at the U.S. box office since it opened Dec. 14 (more than $400 million worldwide), and it's being touted by some observers as a box-office disappointment? Please! OK, Kong didn't do $400 million worth of business its first week and singlehandedly pull Hollywood out of its year-long box-office slump. But let's be reasonable here. The big guy's making plenty of money, critics (including this one) are praising the film, people are loving it, and it will have earned more than half-a-billion dollars before it's been in theaters a month. By no sane person's definition is this movie a failure, or even a notable disappointment. Somehow, a degree of reason needs to inject itself into the whole box-office obsession. Yes, it's nice (especially for the studios) when a film earns a gazillion dollars. But the fact that a film only made half-a-gazillion doesn't make it any less of a success, just less of a moneymaker. [More]