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Although the film is often described as being a financial flop, King Kong was in fact commercially successful, earning Paramount Pictures back over triple its budget. The film ended up at #5 on Variety's chart of the top domestic (U.S.) moneymakers of 1977.^[1] (The film was released in December 1976 and therefore earned the majority of its money during the early part of 1977.) The film made approximately $80 million worldwide on a $24 million budget.^[2]

While the film received mostly mixed responses from critics at the time of its initial release, especially from fans of the original King Kong, it did obtain positive reviews from several prominent critics. Pauline Kael in The New Yorker, Richard Schickel in Time,^[3] Charles Champlin in the Los Angeles Times, Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times, and 'Murf' in Variety,^[4] among others, responded favorably to the film's pathos and (often campy) sense of humor. Kael, in particular, truly loved the film, noting "I don't think I've ever before seen a movie that was a comic-strip great romance in the way this one is - it's a joke that can make you cry."^[5] The performances by Bridges and Grodin were generally well regarded, and even the film's detractors found Richard H. Kline's Academy Award-nominated cinematography and John Barry's musical score noteworthy.^{[citation needed]}

Currently, critical response to King Kong continues to be mixed. Of the 24 reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes regarding the title, 54% reflect negative reactions. According to Entertainment Tonight's Leonard Maltin, the film "...has great potential; yet it dispels all the mythic, larger-than-life qualities of the original with idiotic characters and campy approach." ^[6]

The movie's success and notoriety helped launch the career of Jessica Lange, although she reportedly received some negative publicity regarding her debut performance that, according to film reviewer Marshall Fine, "almost destroyed her career". ^[7]

Although Lange won the Golden Globe for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture - Female for Kong, she did not appear in another film for three years and spent that time training intensively in acting.^[8]

Other notable actors in the cast, some in early roles, include Rene Auberjonois (Benson, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Boston Legal), Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law), Jack O'Halloran (Superman, Superman II, Dragnet) and Joe Piscopo.

The film received an Academy Award for Best Special Effects, an award it shared with Logan's Run (1976).

King Kong found new and sustained life on television. NBC bought the rights to air the movie and it was a rating success. NBC paid De Laurentiis $19.5 million for the rights to two showings over five years; the highest amount any network had ever paid for a film at that time. This led De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (with Canadian distribution by Paramount) to make a sequel called King Kong Lives (1986), starring Linda Hamilton. Unlike the 1976 remake, the sequel was a commercial failure.

Doc Dynamo wrote:

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Lorenzo Semple's name on a Sci-Fi or adventure film (King Kong, Flash Gordon, Never Never Say Never Again, Sheena) is like a skull and crossbones warning.

I did like the Parallax View though.