Can a film that's going to rake in more than $500 million be a disappointment? Depends on whom you ask.

King Kong, the three-hour Peter Jackson opus that swung into theaters last month amid a publicity campaign that would make a monkey blush, is already the eighth-biggest film of 2005 with $195 million in North American ticket sales. Worldwide, it has taken in $465 million and will likely break the half-billion mark by this weekend. But "compared to expectations, it was a disappointment," says Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo. "But that's what's going to happen when you spend $200 million on a movie that stars an ape." [More]