USA Today breaks the details on the upcoming, long-awaited DVD release of the 1931 classic:
“The big ape is coming to DVD just weeks before he appears on the big screen. Warner Home Video will release the original 1933 King Kong on DVD Nov. 22, right before director Peter Jackson’s remake opens theatrically Dec. 14.
The original Kong, never before available on DVD, will be issued in both a two-disc special edition ($26.99) and a two-disc collector’s edition ($39.98) packaged in a collectible tin and including a 20-page reproduction of the original souvenir program and postcard reproductions of the original one-sheets.
Jackson is helping Warner prepare a new documentary, RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World, to be included on the DVD. One part of the documentary focuses on the mysterious “spider pit” sequence deleted from the film before its theatrical premiere in New York and Los Angeles. “For years, there has always been speculation, does this footage exist, so we have a piece that actually explains what it was, and we do a re-creation of it,” says Warner’s George Feltenstein.
In addition to the new seven-part documentary, the King Kong special edition DVD includes such extras as a documentary on Kong director (and creator) Merian C. Cooper, a trailer gallery of Cooper’s other films, and a commentary from Ray Harryhausen, Terry Moore and Ken Ralston.”
Awesome. The newspaper edition, by the way, has a shot of the actual special release tin, which is different from the box seen above.
