Fox Monkeys Around With "King Kong"

According to reports, 20th Century Fox has hired writers Christian Magalhaes and Bob Snow to script a modern, animated take on the "King Kong" property... from the ape's POV.

Producers are 21 Laps and Radar Pictures.

The fictional monster that resembled a giant gorilla debuted in the 1933, RKO Pictures feature "King Kong" as well as live-action remakes in 1976 and 2005.

Rights to the character are currently held by Universal Studios, with limited rights held by the estate of Merian C. Cooper, as well as certain rights in the public domain.

"Kong: The Animated Series", from BKN International, debuted in 2000, airing the first 13 epsiodes on "Fox Kids". Additionally, two direct-to-DVD movies based on the cartoon series were released, including "Kong: King of Atlantis" in 2005 and "Kong: Return to the Jungle" in 2007.

Two video games were released based on the series for the Nintendo Gameboy Advance. The first, "Kong: The Animated Series", was released by Planet Interactive in 2002. The second was released by Majesco Games in 2005, based on the direct-to-video animated film "Kong: King of Atlantis".

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