'Kong' quest

"King Kong" arrived with great pomp and circumstance from the industry, the media and its studio last weekend, but it was far from the promised spectacle at the box office.

Director Peter Jackson's $207 million remake of the 1933 classic took in $66.2 million in its first five days from some 7,500 screens at 3,568 venues.

Expectations for an opening of more than $100 million had been heard in some quadrants, and distributor Universal Pictures itself had benchmarked the film against Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," which made $75.1 million in its first five days. That figure would equal about $85 million today, adjusted for ticket price inflation.

Granted, much of the speculation was overblown for a picture like "Kong." Despite its budget and pedigree, the film was not an easy sell. It lacked strong actors for audiences to latch onto, and it brought along plenty of baggage from previous incarnations.

And "Lord of the Rings" aside, December is not historically a time for massive opening weekends, with holiday shopping and vacation activities vying for theatergoers attentions.

Still, "Kong" seemed like it was made to gobble up the box office, especially considering the massive marketing onslaught behind the picture. It has to be disheartening for Universal and Jackson that the big ape didn't arrive like an 800-pound gorilla.

There are those who will measure "Kong" against "Titanic," in part because there are few other three-hour December event movies to compare it with. But expectations were not astronomical for "Titanic."

Prior to its release in 1997, "Titanic" was seen as a huge gamble, a troubled production and the most expensive movie of all time. Its $28.6 million opening weekend was actually tremendous, especially for the period and for debuting opposite another big gun, the James Bond picture "Tomorrow Never Dies."

Adjusted for ticket price inflation, the first weekend of "Titanic" would be close to $40 million today from 2,674 theaters--not that far behind "Kong" and its much wider 3,568-theater release.

But "Titanic" was as much about the love story between Jack and Rose as it was the spectacle of the giant ship going down. No matter how sensitively rendered, the "King Kong" love story between beauty and beast just doesn't have the same widespread appeal.

Fortunately for "Kong," there aren't any other pictures likely to arrive as an obvious popular pick for an Oscar. And from time to time, Oscar does need to shine its light on a movie that a lot of people actually saw — lest the stigma grow that the Academy is out of touch with the public.

If "Kong" can display enough longevity over the next few weeks to make up for its disappointing debut, it may still be in the best picture hunt. Or maybe the Academy will consider a film like "Batman Begins," which proved itself in theaters, earning $205.3 million after a softer-than-expected opening, and was a more disciplined and consistent movie.

While "Kong" conked out, "Brokeback Mountain" continued to gain momentum as the best picture front-runner. Director Ang Lee's cowboy love story grabbed $2.5 million at 69 theaters, averaging a lush $36,354 per location. Distributor Focus Features will be more aggressive in its rollout than previously planned, securing about 400 theaters by Jan. 13.