King Kong (2005) - will there be a 4-DVD extended edition?

I was surprised to read that Peter Jackson's King Kong will only be a
2-DVD edition when released on March 28th. I thought for sure we'd get
a 4-DVD extended edition like his similarly long Lord of the Rings
movies got from New Line, but then I realized this was a Universal
rather than New Line release and that would be like expecting Toyota
quality out of a US auto maker.

Lately it seems Universal likes to announce 2-DVD editions (such as
The Blues Brothers, The Frighteners DC, or Dune EE) and then decides
to use a single DVD-18 (usually Made in Mexico which many people
report having playback problems) in place of 2 DVD-9s.

Does anyone know if we will only be getting a 2-DVD edition of King
Kong this year or if Universal is planning a stealth double-dip with a
4-DVD extended edition later this year?

I have respect for New Line having the decency to announce the 4-DVD
LOTR movies before the 2-DVD releases so I knew to wait, but I believe
most other studios purposefully plan to double-dip. Unless I have
reasonable confidence no 4-DVD edition is coming I'll have to pass on
this upcoming release. I've been double and triple dipped by most
studios too many times.

 

No. that's about 4 hours counting the original running time (even in
theathres the running time was nearly 3 hours) plus the added scenes
(nearly a hours worth) which is a bit much to jam onto a single disc,
so it's split between two discs with the other two holding all the
other extras.

 

4 hours is not too much for 2 disks, or even 3. Why 4?
Is there 5 hours worth of extra stuff?

 

In the case of ROTK, 4 hours is just the film itself, at a high video
bitrate, with DTS 6.1 and DD 5.1EX surround tracks, a doubly surround
track, and 4 audio commentaries. So the first 2 discs are packed.

The next 2 discs are all extras, including documentaries that altoether
total around 6 hours of material, not counting other extras and easter egss
on the discs.

-Jay

 

The real question for me is this: is the likelihood of a double-dip
with a 3 or 4 DVD edition very high? I'd like to know if I should buy
the 2 DVD edition coming out in March or wait for a better edition.

Obviously it's only a guess, but I was hoping someone "in the know"
might have an idea how likely a 3 or 4 DVD edition is. If it were Fox
or Sony I would say it's a virtual certainty, but Universal is a
little harder to predict in this area.

 

Jackson has said that he has 30-40 minutes of excised footage he could put
into an extended cut, but has stated that Universal hasn't yet greenlit a
longer cut.

-Jay

 

One confired extra being added is a documentary about the plight of
gorillas. Jackson has teamed up with the International Gorilla
Conservation Program to help prevent the extinction of the species
which in the case of the mountain gorilla, is estimated to number less
than 1000, in the wild. Andy Serkis, has recently become a trustee of
the Diane Fossey Gorilla Fund and numerous film crew members have
joined an "adopt-a-gorilla" scheme.

Charles
nzvideos.org

 

Is this extra you mention being added to the 2-DVD edition coming out
in March or are you saying you have information confirming that there
will be a more extensive King Kong edition coming out later?

 

Yes to the former, no to the latter.

Charles
nzvideos.org

 

Under the 2/14/06 and 2/13/06 updates at the rumor mill on
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html

It says there are rumors of extended editions of both The Chronicles
of Narnia and King Kong.

I hate to say it, but this is exactly what I expected. The decent
thing would be for the studios to announce it officially, but I think
many studios do their best to hide their pre-planned double/triple
dips from the public. Tricking people into buying multiple versions of
the same movie seems to be an integral part of the marketing strategy,
and it offends me greatly.

I'm surprised the studios allowed these rumors to slip out in the
first place because now I won't buy either The Chronicles of Narnia or
King Kong when they are released in March and April. I'll have to wait
another 6 months to a year to get the extended editions they should've
released in the first place. It seems like the studios' strategies
lately are trying to turn people into renters instead of buyers. It's
very rare that you can buy the first DD release of any movie these
days without a high probability of a double dip. Just my opinions.

 

Since these arguments date back to our fond old-school memories of
"Huh?--Two versions of LOTR?...Why don't they put them both out right
away??" and "Hey, why won't George Lucas put out Episode 1?", it's
rather convenient to note that they were *both* answered by the single
response, "Because they haven't FINISHED making the new scenes yet."

In Narnia's case, it's that Adamson is too busy and would rather finish
work on a *new* film before making an old one, and not that Peter
Jackson's plate is particularly empty as we speak, either.

....It may be oversimplifying to say, but "THAT'S why."

Derek Janssen (sometimes, the answers we seek lie in the past)

 

....Why?--What was WRONG with the Daredevil: Extended Edition?

Derek Janssen (what, some "Ben Affleck is evil" thing?)

 

Derek Janssen wrote on [Wed, 15 Feb 2006 18:08:42 -0500]:

Apart from the movie sucking?

 

Well, that would explain the delay in the release of the extended
editions for these movies, but if the studios know they are going to
be doing extended editions they should publicly announce these plans
before the first releases come out so people who don't want to have to
double-dip can wait.

The problem is I never know when to buy because I don't know if a
better edition is coming out soon, but if I wait then sometimes better
editions don't occur and I waited for nothing. Since I'm backlogged on
things I want to watch, I've been erring on the side of waiting.

 

Uh, 'scuse me, but...THEY DID!!!
I'm looking at the calendar, and it's two months till April!

(And that's "if" they know...Disney's still deciding.)

Derek Janssen (yeah, like they were "deciding' on a sequel)

 

Jackson was honest with the LOTR sets, you knew there was 4 disc special
sets on their way
mind you they were massive hits, KK was a bit of a dodo
and is NO LOTR, so maybe they wont bother, or are waiting to see how the
standard DVD sells before they go for a extended version.
remember Jackson spent a lot of money on LOTR 4 discs adding in all these
missing scenes which were finished scenes, as he filmed he knew what he was
planning as Chris Lee said "I know my scenes will be in the extended version