By now, hopefully all of you who read this blog have seen the wonderful "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters." The documentary became a cult hit instantly as it introduced the world to Donkey Kong rivals Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. First Showing spoke with the documentary's director, Seth Gordon, who has "Four Christmases" due out this month, about the narrative remake of "Kong."
Gordon explained that "from the moment we first thought, people might want to see [the documentary], and therefore we might be seeking a theatrical release, it became clear that a narrative remake for it was what film studios would really be interested in." He adds that New Line always had their eyes set on the remake rights. So after the studio picked it up, the first step was to get the documentary transcribed. "That was the first pass of the script in a sense, but then we hired a real writer to come in and take that content and shape scenes." That writer is Michael Bacall, a well-known actor who recently took up screenwriting and also penned Edgar Wright's upcoming "Scott Pilgrim."
The director goes on to explain that there will actually be few changes from the film we've all grown to love.
"There's going to be less of the talking heads," Gordon tells the site. "And we couldn't be everywhere for the making of the documentary, so some stuff had to be done that way. So we'll show the moments we weren't able to be present for, but in terms of the story, it's going to be a very similar story - about Wiebe losing his job, rediscovering Kong, thinking he's the best in the world at something only to have it taken away by a guy who won't let go of his title. We're going to try, if we can, to really reference and use the documentary where possible," Gordon adds. "To me it's about not compromising the original, if we can help it."
Although I'm not usually a fan of remakes, this sounds like it has all its eggs in the right basket. Man - if there ever was a project perfect for another teaming of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, this is definitely it! Although I think Tim Heidecker and Eric Werheim of "Tim & Eric's Awesome Show" would work awesomely as well. Gordon hopes to begin production on the remake soon. Until then - be sure and check out the hours of extras and bonus features on the King of Kong DVD. There's enough supplementary material on the disc to almost count as a sequel in itself!
"Four Christmases," starring Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenoweth, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight and Jon Favreau, opens November 26th.
