Another Peter Jackson trilogy, almost by accident!

If you'd rather hear it from the horse's mouth instead of reading my summary, skip to the link below and watch one of the Quicktime videos for King Kong Production Diary Day 123...

http://www.kongisking.net/kong2005/proddiary/

Peter Jackson has been working on King Kong, his first movie after Lord of the Rings. Lately, he's been wrapping up principal photography, but he and some cast and crew have been keeping a secret since Christmas that he just revealed in King Kong Prod. Diary Day 123. The movie hasn't even come out yet (has just barely gone into post-production), but Universal wants Peter Jackson to start directing sequels to King Kong, King Kong: Son of Kong and King Kong: Into the Wolf's Lair. They want him to shoot and produce the movies back to back just like he did with Lord of the Rings. The releases for the three movies will be December 2005, June 2006, and December 2006, respectively.

Not only is Universal trusting a back-to-back quick-release trilogy with the guy who perfected the method and won a buttload of Oscars in the process, but the funding for the Kong sequels are coming from the budget for the second Chronicles of Riddick movie (bllechh!), which Universal has decided not produce (yay!!!). So, not all movie studios are stupid afterall.

If you didn't know Peter Jackson was keeping a production diary, check out some of the previous entries. There are several that focus on the re-creation of several Depression-era New York Streets, complete with a steam pipe distribution system (to create the steam that comes out of gutters, manholes, and grates in New York streets & sidewalks). A recent one focuses on the re-creation of a type of old-timey military prop plane that is no longer in existence, anywhere. There is one about the use of Depression-era automobiles and another about the stunt driving. One of the early ones had to with Peter Jackson actually buying and renovating a real ship that would be used in the movie.

Most of the entries are about technical aspects such as sound, camera film, special effects, sets, editing, etc. I think he should include the entire production diary in the DVD when it comes out. It's like Peter Jackson's Filmmaking 101. By not only making awesome movies but also disecting and presenting the making of the movies, I think Peter Jackson really has a grasp on how to take advantage of DVD technology.

Christmas is going to "Peter Jacksony" again for two more years!!!

Turns out this was all just one big April Fool's Day joke.

Okay, I've read somewhere that this was an April Fools joke.

Just so I don't look like a monumentally gullible dufus, the video diary (which was very convincing) may have been posted on April 1, but I didn't realize it was there until Saturday or Sunday. So, I didn't make the obvious connection to April Fools.

You gotta admit that if anyone could be trusted with pulling a back-to-back trilogy out of their butt, it would be Peter Jackson. And if anything deserved to have its budget diverted to something with more potential, it's the 2nd Chronicles of Riddick.

Besides, www.kongisking.net shows that the sinking of Peter Jackson's ship that he bought for the movie was just a doctored photo. It could be that that was the prank. Three days later, and they still haven't confirmed that the sequels were the hoax.

Even if it was a joke, man, it's still a great idea.

Yeah, I figured you read about it after April Fool's Day, and you posted it here after that. I have no doubt that Jackson could pull it off, and who knows, it may end up happening anyway.