Submitted by: kirkland on Sunday September 05th, 2004 at 03:57 AM EST

Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson will relive a childhood dream when he starts filming a remake of the 1933 classic "King Kong" in his Wellington hometown next week.

Speaking to reporters Thursday at his studio in the New Zealand capital, the "Lord of The Rings" director said his first attempt to film "King Kong" was as a youngster. It involved a Super 8 camera and a cardboard model of the Empire State Building.

"It's great to be able to finally get the film made. It's a film which I've loved ever since I was a child. It really inspired me to want to become a film-maker," he said.

A screaming, vine-swinging special effects extravaganza, Jackson's "King Kong" will also be a character-driven psychological study of a monster -- and, of course, a love story.

Jackson already had in mind Brody and Watts to play their characters, but decided on Black during the social whirl at the Academy Awards in February, when he won three Oscars for his final installment of the "Rings" trilogy, "The Return of the King."

"King Kong" is reported to be likely to cost as much as US$130 million to make. Jackson spent $300 million making the three Rings films, which have grossed about $3 billion worldwide.

Universal Studios is due to release "King Kong" worldwide on December 14, 2005.

» Read full story @ Reuters