King Kong (1976 film)
1976 film directed by John Guillermin
King Kong is a 1976 American adventure monster film directed by John Guillermin. It is a remake of the 1933 film about a giant ape who is captured and taken to New York City for exhibition. It stars Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange in the leading role, and features mechanical effects by Carlo Rambaldi and makeup effects by Rick Baker, who also portrayed the title character. It is the fifth entry in the King Kong franchise.
The idea to remake King Kong was conceived in 1974 by Michael Eisner, who was then an ABC executive. He separately proposed the idea to Universal Pictures CEO Sidney Sheinberg and Paramount Pictures CEO Barry Diller. Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis quickly acquired the film rights from RKO-General and subsequently hired television writer Lorenzo Semple Jr. to write the script. John Guillermin was hired as director and filming lasted from January to August 1976. Before the film's release, Universal Pictures sued De Laurentiis and RKO-General alleging breach of contract, and attempted to develop their own remake of King Kong.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “King Kong (1976 film)” as 1976 film directed by John Guillermin. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1976 film directed by John Guillermin. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1142862. VIAF identifies the subject as 182066402. The Library of Congress control number is n95030695. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1976, 1933 and 1974.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “King Kong (1976 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.