Peter Jackson's 1st Draft King Kong Script (1996)

DISSOLVE TO

EXT. SUMATRAN DIG - DAY

 

CLOSE ON A grotesque face ... eyes bulging, tongue wedged between
teeth.

PULL OUT from the bizarre STONE CARVING of a man riding a buffalo as
the side of a WOODEN PACKING CASE swings shut, sealing the ancient
figure into a tea chest marked "BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON". A couple of
SUMATRAN LABORERS hammer nails into the chest ... CRANE UP to reveal an
extensive ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION underway in the foothills of the
Bukit Seguntang mountains near Palembang.

SUPER BRITISH MUSEUM ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG

SUPER SUMATRA 1933

The dig is nestled in a lush, humid valley. A spectacular WATERFALL
thunders into a river that bisects the camp - a GROUP OF TENTS, with a
UNION JACK fluttering from a makeshift flagpole. 8 BRITISH
ARCHAEOLOGISTS are spread around, huddling over shell pits and
primitive stone monuments - painstakingly freeing the remains of a 12th
century HINDU SHRINE from the grip of the Sumatran jungle.

The most spectacular MONUMENT is a huge loft STONE BUDDHA, set into a
shallow cave below a rocky cliff. It sits serenely, casting an
impassive gaze over the entire site.

Numerous SAMUTRAN LABOUR'S move about, carrying buckets of dirt away
from individual dig sites, CLOSE ON A YOUNG WOMAN'S HANDS excitedly
scraping mud from a buried artifact she has just discovered - a small
BRONZE STATUE of a warrior in a FIERCE WAR MASK ...Pitted with age, one
arm broken off, it carries a SPEAR made from IVORY.

ANN DARROW is an attractive young English woman in her early twenties.
She wears baggy khaki trousers and a cotton shirt, her blonde hair tied
back in a pony tail. She issues orders to MENTAWEI - a SUMATRAN
LABORER.

ANN
Mentawei! Fetch some warm soapy water.

MENTAWEI
 Yes, Miss Darrow!

MENTAWEI races away. ANN marvels at her find as she gently frees it
from the mud ... A SHADOW looms over her, and she quickly stands up,
her confidence suddenly draining ...

LORD LINWOOD DARROW is in his late seventies, but still cuts a dashing
figure. His only apparent concession to age - a stout WALKING STICK.

LORD DARROW
What have you got there?

ANN
(nervous)
A Neolithic bronze ... Reminiscent of the Nias Island cultures ... It '
s very curious. Defiantly Pagan. The use of ivory for the spear is
quite unique ... What do you think?

LORD DARROW
I think you're trying to run before you can walk, Ann.

ANN'S FACE drops ... LORD DARROW takes the STATUE and gently leads her
away from the site.

LORD DARROW (CONT'D)
You're here merely to observe. Leave the digging to people who know
what they're doing, my dear.

They approach an elaborate STONE PILLAR, carved. Intricately

LORD DARROW (CONT'D)
Now look at this fine example of early Hindu art ... I don't recall any
sketches of this passing across my desk ...

ANN
I photographed it extensively, father.

LORD DARROW
Photography teaches you nothing, Ann! Click! One second and you've seen
all you're going to see. I want you sitting here with your paper and
pencils ... I want to see every chisel mark reproduced with painstaking
accuracy. Understand the carving and you will understand the people!
That Ann, is the key to archaeology.

LORD DARROW walks away, leaving ANN scowling at the statue.

CUT TO

CLOSE ON ANN'S discovery viewed through a MAGNIFYING GLASS ... WALTER
DOUGLAS, a BRITISH archaeologist, slowly scans the small figure. LORD
DARROW stands beside him, a PERPLEXED FROWN on his face.

LORD DARROW (CONT'D)
It makes no sense, Dougie ... Pagan artifacts below a Hindu site.

DOUGLAS
It's like all the others ... it's human bone.

DOUGLAS carefully places the STATUE on a linen covered table ... MARY
OTHER SMALL ARTIFACTS - clearly the work of the same culture - cover
the table. All are BRONZE, and all have BONE accessories.

DOUGLAS (CONT'D)
My guess is it's sacrificial. Some sort of offering.

LORD DARROW
An unknown culture ... A barbaric race with no regard for human life.

CUT TO

EXT. PALEMBANG HARBOR - DAY

PALEMBANG DOCKS - a crowded series of wharves where NATIVE OUTRIGGERS
and FISHING BOATS compete for space with rusting COASTAL TRADERS ...

Amongst the junk that litters the harbor - an old AVRO SEAPLANE ...
beached on the muddy banks, canvas ripped, wings broken.

A LARGE Tramp STEAMER - "THE VENTURE", glides towards the DOCK,
blasting it's horn at the crowd of NATIVE BOATS crossing it's path.

EXT. VENTURE DECK - DAY

POV from "THE VENTURE" of PALEMBANG HARBOR. PULL BACK to reveal a
CAMERA CREW shooting the sight from the bow of the ship. The CAMERAMAN
is HERB COOPER - middle aged, steadfastly loyal, walks with a
pronounced LIMP. The SOUND RECORDIST is RANDELL PEEK - unpleasant,
ratty faced, potential trouble maker. Their EQUIPMENT BOXES are
STENCILED with "CARL DENHAM PICTURES".

CAPTAIN ENGLEHORN, a dry, old school SKIPPER steers the ship in.

PEEK switches his TAPE RECORDER off ... removes his HEADPHONES.

PEEK
Another God-forsaken Chinese rat-hole.

KURT VOSS is wandering past, reading an INDONESIAN/ENGLISH TRANSLATION
BOOK. KURT is an IMMENSELY STRONG ship's MATE ... BRUTISH LOOKING and
basically SLOW WITTED, the kind of guy who moves his lips when he reads
... he has a love of classical music.

KURT
"Hai sahabatku yang baik" ... That means "Hello, my good friend".

PEEK flips his MIDDLE FINGER at KURT.

PEEK
That means "**** off".

CAPTAIN ENGLEHORN yells from the BRIDGE.

ENGLEHORN
(yelling)
Secure the moorings!

CUT TO

EXT. PALEMBANG DOCKS - DAY

A group of TEN SUMATRAN OFFICIALS are waiting nervously on the docks as
the GANGPLANK is secured. PEEK is the first off, followed by HERB,
staggering under the weight of the camera and tripod.

MR SELAMAT GINTING, the local DISTRICT COMMISSIONER, steps forward,
thrusting a GARLAND FLOWERS around PEEK'S neck ... A TIN-POT BAND
strikes up an Out OF TUNE version of "DIXIE".

MR GINTING
(carefully practiced)
We welcome you, Mr Denham! We celebrate the bonding of our cultures ...
the peoples of Sumatra unite in friendship with the peoples of
Hollywoodland!

PEEK hands the GARLAND back.

PEEK
Save it buddy - you've got the wrong guy -

DENHAM (O.S.)
Roll camera, roll sound! I'm coming ashore!

DENHAM is a showman, a larger than life character - part Orson Welles,
part John Huston - a man in love with his own legend.  He has
reputation for traveling to the most dangerous corners of the world,
producing exotic documentaries. These thrilled audiences in the days
before TV with their images of elephant stampedes and lions hunting.
DENHAM is overweight, has no taste in wardrobe and sweats profusely.

MR GINTING puts the GARLAND over DENHAM'S head.

MR GINTING
We welcome you, Mr Denham! We celebrate the bonding -

DENHAM pumps MR GINTING'S HAND enthusiastically, steering around to
face the CAMERA

DENHAM
(interrupts)
Hi, Carl Denham ... How's going. Wonderful to be here...

DENHAM moves off down the line of OFFICIALS, shaking hands, not pausing
for their names, and always playing the camera...

DENHAM (CONT'D)
Pleased to meet you ... Hi, bow's it going? Pleased to meet you! Hi,
Carl Denham ... How's it going?

MR GINTING
We offer ourselves at your service, Mr Denham!

DENHAM
And I appreciate that so much, I really do - a sentiment that will be
shared by audiences across America when they view my latest documentary
sensation "Indonesia ...Hell Hole of the World". Ernie Hemmingway's
agreed to write the narration. We're going out through Universal ...
Laemmale's promised me fifteen hundred screens.

MR GINTING nods politely ...

SOUND OF LOUD TRUCK HORN ... A TRUCK, fully laden with SAWN LOGS is
trying to drive onto the WHARF. "Dixie" falls apart as the BAND grab
their instruments and SCATTER.

The TRUCK reaches the DENHAM and the RECEPTION GROUP ...

JACK DRISCOLL leans out of the CAB.

JACK
You guys are gonna have to move!

JACK is now in his early thirties ... He has not lost his boyish looks,
but years of tropical sun has darkened his skin.

The OFFICIALS look FLUSTERED ... JACK leaps out of the cab ... STRIDES
OVER. He gestures towards a CARGO BARGE moored next to the "VENTURE".

JACK (CONT'D)
If I don't get my cargo on this ship, I'll miss the sailing.