THE superb original 1933 King Kong ran for a brisk 100 minutes. Advance word is that the lavish new version by Peter Jackson will clock in at the three-hour mark - and cost $207 million, of which the director is receiving a record $20 million plus a chunk of the movie's earnings, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Jackson is going down to the wire as he finishes the film in time for its world premiere in New York early next month, having parted company recently with his Lord of the Rings composer, Howard Shore, over "differing creative aspirations". Shore was replaced by James Newton Howard, who's still working on a new score. Undaunted, Universal Studios chief Ron Meyer claims, "It's going to change the way movies are made". Judge for yourself when it opens in Ireland on December 15th.