Even 'King Kong' can't save US box office

Los Angeles, Dec 20 (DPA) He was the invincible gorilla that was meant to save the US cinema industry from one of its worst years on record. But then "King Kong" hasn't yet managed to get the cash registers ringing.

The blockbuster movie about a giant ape who falls in love with a Hollywood actress debuted over the weekend with a less than stellar box office take of $66.2 million. Not peanuts for sure, but far less than the $100 million that many insiders were predicting.

Their hope had been that the $206-million spectacular by Peter Jackson, director of the stunningly successful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, would bring back the movie-going crowds that seem to be forsaking the multiplexes in ever increasing numbers.

In 2005, North American attendance will total about 1.4 billion tickets, down more than six percent from last year, and marking the first time in history that the US film industry has recorded three years of consecutive decline.

Total box-office receipts should be about $8.7 billion, down from $9.2 billion in 2004, according to tracking firm Nielsen EDI Inc.

"This was one of the films that was supposed to help get the business back to last year's levels, and clearly it didn't happen," Richard Greenfield, a media analyst with Fulcrum Global Partners, told the Los Angeles Times." "The bottom line is that this is a surprisingly low figure."

Executives at Universal Pictures, which produced "King Kong", are putting on brave faces and betting that the movie will defy recent box office patterns and continue to draw large crowds long after the opening weekend.

Prior to the lack-lustre opening, some even privately dreamed that the seemingly broad attraction of the movie - a classic tale reinterpreted with modern technology by a supremely gifted and successful director - could make it the next "Titanic".

On Sunday, the Hollywood elite was reduced to noting that even the best selling film of all time barely failed to beat the James Bond movie "Die Another Day" on its opening weekend.

"I'm incredibly encouraged by where we are right now," said Marc Shmuger, Universal's vice chairman, adding that positive word of mouth could make "King Kong" a box-office monster for weeks to come. "I couldn't be more bullish."

The thinking is that people were simply too busy on the last Saturday before Christmas to spend three hours and seven minutes watching a movie, never mind the time to queue for tickets and popcorn and sitting through the commercials.

"I think we're going to do better as a movie with sustained playability, rather than a typical blockbuster," Shmuger said.

If that prediction proves to be less than totally accurate, Shmuger will join a long list of film executives with egg on their faces in 2005.

Among the high-powered flops of 2005 were Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" and Ron Howard's "Cinderella Man", while the failure of "XXX: State of the Union", "Stealth" and "The Island" caused executives to wonder whether the entire action-movie genre was dead.

More likely is that audiences now have more choices than ever to avoid mediocre cinema, especially if they know that within three months they will be able to see the same movies in the comfort of their own homes.

But Hollywood's true believers still argue that audiences will return for quality fare.

"The initial reaction was, 'Wow, we thought the box office would be more,'" said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which monitors box office results. "There were high expectations placed on this movie. The bottom line is, it's going to do more, but it's going to take longer. This is a must-see movie that people have to find the time to see."

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