The King Ain't Dead, Long Live King Kong 2!

[Embryo]

You thought King Kong dies at the end of the game? Well, not in the secret alternate ending (http://www.playfuls.com/news_4343_The_King_Aint_Dead_Long_Live_King_Kong_2 .html) he doesn't! And not if recent reports about a King Kong 2 sequel will turn out to be true. Ubisoft has already replied with a couple of statements, but so far they're doing a damn good job at keeping our hopes up, without actually admitting anything.

[mightbe]

It would be interesting to see the Kong game polished up a bit.

Not that we really need to be asking for more sequels.

[Everlost_MI]

Err, I caught the movie today and that big ape can stay dead in both genres. The movie & game were decent. But waiiit if it's Son of Kong or Godzilla vs. Kong then yeah I can get behind that!

[Royal Fool]

For a second there I thought you were talking about a movie sequel. Thank goodness it's only a second game tie-in.

[Evil Avatar]

For a second there I thought you were talking about a movie sequel. Thank goodness it's only a second game tie-in.

Do you really think that there won't be a movie sequel? The movie made $50M domestic and $80M international on opening weekend.

Lets get ready to Seqqquuuueeeelll.

[Rafer]

Does the secret ending include a rendition of "We are the Champions"?

[Last of the Red Hot Mamas]

The movie will make back its budget but it's still already considered a disappointment. The $65 million five-day total was $15-25 million short of Universal's projections and the international take was similarly short. Given that the total budget (including marketing, distribution etc.) was probably somewhere around $300 million -- and given that Jackson keeps 20% of whatever the movie ends up making -- it's unlikely to be the second Titanic the studio was hoping for. They'll be lucky if it's even a second Fellowship of the Ring.

[Achilles]

The man doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to make the sequel to Lord of the Rings, which did something like 1 billion world wide. That being the Hobbit, which is an actual story, as opposed to some Hollywood manufactured tack-on which is what a movie sequel to Kong would be. I don’t think we’ll ever see a movie sequel to Kong.

The Kong game on the other hand. If they have enough liberty to change the story so that Kong doesn’t die at the end, well that’s great, and I hope the next game is just as good, and longer than the last. Usually IP holders draw a pretty close line of what can be done, and having Kong survive crosses that line about 20 times.

About the Kong movie’s box office. I can see how it would make less than any one of the Lord of the Rings movies. It’s too ‘artistic’ for regular folks I think (also see: it has things that only artsy people would tolerate being in the movie). If they cut about 30 mins out of it to tighten up the story a bit (take out the whole first mate and the kid he was helping sub-story, and cut the fight with the bugs and the dinosaur stampede down) it would probably have done much better.

[Evil Avatar]

The man doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to make the sequel to Lord of the Rings, which did something like 1 billion world wide. That being the Hobbit, which is an actual story, as opposed to some Hollywood manufactured tack-on which is what a movie sequel to Kong would be. I don’t think we’ll ever see a movie sequel to Kong.

At the time they were making the Lord of the Rings movies (and when the decision was made to make King Kong) the studio didn't own the movie rights to The Hobbit, making it impossible for Jackson to Direct a Hobbit movie.

I seem to remember reading that New Line now owns the rights to The Hobbit.

No sequel to King Kong? How quickly we forget such classic films as Speed 2, Blair Witch 2 and 2 Fast 2 Furious.

[Vipermmx]

I loved the game ;) It was thrilling running into T-rexs and seeing Kong on my Xbox 360.....damn the graphics were nice.

Id love for a part 2 of the game improved. As for the movie....didnt they make a King Kong sequal after he falls? was it his son? I thought King Kong was the last as his kind though.

[Last of the Red Hot Mamas]

No sequel to King Kong? How quickly we forget such classic films as Speed 2, Blair Witch 2 and 2 Fast 2 Furious.

That's apples and oranges, though. Speed 1 and The Fast and the Furious were modestly-budgeted films that made four times their budget at the U.S. box office alone; Blair Witch 1 was an incredibly modestly-budgeted film that earned 25 times its costs in this country. Kong would have to make over a billion dollars in the U.S. to match that, which would make it the biggest non-adjusted single-release earner in history. That's not going to happen. Kong will probably top out at around $250-300 million in the U.S. and a similar amount overseas, which would represent a healthy return on investment but won't merit the "cash cow" status that generally leads to a sequel.

[Achilles]

No sequel to King Kong? How quickly we forget such classic films as Speed 2, Blair Witch 2 and 2 Fast 2 Furious.Well Kong's dead, and the story is over. They didn't make a sequel to the original either, they just remade it twice. It would be like making a sequel to Saving Private Ryan, The Gladiator, or Titanic. The ship sunk, Ryan's found, and Crowe is going through the fields on a dolly. Poor Kong's dead, a sequel just ain't going to happen the way I see it, I don't think Jackson would make such a thing.

[Last of the Red Hot Mamas]

They didn't make a sequel to the original either

Well, actually... (http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0024593/)

(Not to mention the two Japanese (http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0056142/) spinoffs (http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0061868/), which are just bizarre.)

[kinggoosey]

They even made a sequel to the first remake, Kong Lives (http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0091344/) so it would make sense to work out some kind of sequel for this one too.

[atariv8]

If you watched the King Kong video production diaries, the sequel(Son of Kong), was approved by the studio during the shooting. kongisking.net has the video diaries. I forget which one it is. I don't know if it was a joke or not, but where there's money, there's sequels.

[EGO]

Is it a surprise that EA-French... ahem... I mean Ubisoft would be spitting out a sequel to something?!? C'mon, they're the new leaders in Franchise Milking.

I'm sure we'll see:
Kong 2
Kong 3
and King Kong 4: The Return for One More Little Bit of Profit by Forcing Little Chinese Workers to Spit Out a Sequel.

[Achilles]

Well, actually... (http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0024593/)

(Not to mention the two Japanese (http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0056142/) spinoffs (http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0061868/), which are just bizarre.)Whoa, Son of Kong. Well I guess there is precedent. I don't think he'll go there though, if he does it'll be a sad day.

[enversi]

If you watched the King Kong video production diaries, the sequel(Son of Kong), was approved by the studio during the shooting. kongisking.net has the video diaries. I forget which one it is. I don't know if it was a joke or not, but where there's money, there's sequels.

That was an April fools joke.

The only way they'd make a sequel is if Universal decided to go and get some crap director to create a crap follow up movie. Peter Jackson will most likely not do another Kong movie. I can only expect a second movie to suck major ass.