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Black Captures "Kong"
Jack Black is going bananas.
The comic actor, fresh off a Golden Globe nomination for his hilarious performance in School of Rock, has landed a plum role opposite Naomi Watts in Peter Jackson's 1930s period remake of King Kong, his publicist has confirmed.
Black will play Carl Denham, a documentary filmmaker and showman who captures the super simian on a remote island and brings him back to the Big Apple where he puts him on display to make a name for himself.
Watts will take on the role of Ann Darrow, the alluring blonde starlet who attracts the love of the great ape.
As the story goes, when Denham uses Darrow as bait to subdue the monkey, Kong breaks free from his shackles, grabs Darrow and takes her around town, including a moonlit stroll atop the Empire State Building.
Black's role was first played by Robert Armstrong in the 1933 original while Fay Wray starred as Darrow.
"I've been wanting to work with Jack Black ever since I saw him in High Fidelity," Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter. "He's a smart and versatile actor blessed with an abundance of energy and charm, and I'm absolutely thrilled that he is joining us on Kong. I look forward to seeing Carl Denham come to life in this new version of the story, and I have no doubt Jack will make him a truly memorable character."
Aside from his Golden Globe nod, Black was also honored as Comedy Star of the Year last week at ShoWest 2004, theater exhibitors' annual confab in Las Vegas.
The 34-year-old thespian's recent credits include Orange County, Saving Silverman and Shallow Hall.
Next up, Black appears with Ben Stiller in the comedy Envy, due out next month. And as one half of Tenacious D, the rock/comedy band he has with Kyle Gass, he's also writing a movie following how the acoustic metalhead duo came to be.
Jackson, who's dreamed of doing his own epic take on Kong since he was a boy, will co-write the script with his Lord of the Rings team of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. He'll also co-produce the film with Walsh just as soon as he wraps up work on the extended edition DVD of his trilogy-capping The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which swept the Academy Awards last month.
In related Kong casting news, Jackson and Universal are also in talks with Oscar winner Adrien Brody about playing the last principle role--that of Jack Driscoll, a former World War I fighter pilot and Darrow's love interest who tries to rescue her from the horny gorilla.
Brody, the youngest thesp to ever win Best Actor for his riveting performance in Roman Polanski's The Pianist, next stars in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, due out in July.
If all goes as planned, King Kong will start shooting this summer in Jackson's native New Zealand and will unspool on the big screen on December 14, 2005.
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