King Kong is coming to television exclusively on Turner in 2008

MUMBAI: Turner Brodcasting has announced that it has acquired the network premiere rights from NBC Universal for King Kong, with broadcast slated for 2008.

TBS and TNT senior VP of programming Ken Schwab said, “King Kong is one of the most popular and critically praised movies of 2005, and we are proud to add it to our stable of top-notch movies airing on TBS and TNT. Obtaining this enormously popular title demonstrates Turner Broadcasting’s continuing commitment to provide our audiences with top-notch movie entertainment.”

Since its release in December 2005, Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong, the 1933 classic about a giant ape who falls in love with a human woman, has grossed over $215 million in the US and $540 million globally.

The film has been nominated for four Academy Awards: art direction, visual effects, sound mixing, and sound editing. Jackson and composer James Newton Howard each received Golden Globe awards for direction and score, respectively. King Kong stars Adrien Brody, Naomi Watts, and Jack Black.

Also included in the deal are TV rights for the NBC Universal movies Doom, starring The Rock, Two for the Money, starring Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey, The Ice Harvest, with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton, and the second window for Prime, starring Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman.