The Audience, bless 'em, Must Have A Pretty Face -- the result' Jack Black to play Carl Denham in PJ's KING KONG!!!

Hey folks, Harry here... KING KONG along with THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD are tied as being my favorite film of all time... literally - I can not pick between them... That Peter Jackson chose to remake KING KONG as his follow-up to LORD OF THE RINGS.... well - it thrilled me and makes me a bit nervous. I love Peter's films... I love KING KONG - if anyone anywhere was to remake KING KONG it should be Peter Jackson... Buuuuuuuuuut -- sometimes Dream Projects of Famous Directors turn into nightmares. Like HOOK for Spielberg. That being said - I have the utmost confidence in Peter.

Today - Peter Jackson announced to The Hollywood Reporter that he has cast Jack Black to play the wiley showman of showmen... Carl Denham, the man that sets the crew off on a voyage to an island nobody has ever heard of in chase of a legend. He's the man that brings Ann Darrow on that fateful journey... The man that stands with smoke bombs to face down a stegasaurus. He's the character that has literally the best last line in film history.

So... what do I think about the casting?

Well - it isn't what I would have gone with. In a heartbeat I'd have cast Kevin Spacey, but that would be logical casting - completely non-daring - and frankly... recently, Kevin hasn't done anything to excite me. Jack Black on the other hand... He's been amazing. I'm so drunk in love with the characters he's been playing that while he makes me nervous... I have this feeling he may be frickin' amazing in the role. Why?

I know that Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens have been looking at research materials having to do with Frank Buck, the author of BRING 'EM BACK ALIVE, FANGS & CLAWS and a late twenties to mid-fifties celebrity director, author and showman who went out into the wilds - pitted rare animals against each other as recreations of what took place in the jungles... He had immense live animal exhibitions at the 1939 WORLD'S FAIR in New York... He also happened to be the inspiration for the character Carl Denham... as well as a basis for the slight satire of Frank Buck that Robert Armstrong delivered. BTW-- RKO distributed BRING 'EM BACK ALIVE the year before they released KING KONG...

So - Peter and crew are looking at the correct material to give Denham more depth than he had in the original, and Jack Black is certainly a powerful showman in his own right. The only question is - what tone will Jack Black bring to the role and how will Peter Jackson direct him? It's daring casting, risky stuff -- but frankly it fascinates me.