Recent developments around two very anticipated films have producers of Munich and KingKong rather nervous.

Munich

Dark Horizons is reporting that Steven Spielberg, director of Munich is in a hurry to get the film wrapped up in time to be considered for the 78th Academy Awards. The film reportedly finished shooting in September and Spielberg’s team have been racing to get the final cut done; the only thing holding them back is the fact that John Williams ­– who often composes scores for Spielberg’s films – has yet to pen a single note.

Spielberg guides Eric Bana on set in late September
Image Copyright © Universal Pictures, 2005.

Munich is due for a mid-December release and is based around the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the events that followed.

(Starring Eric Bana, Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush)

King Kong

Peter Jackson, the man who brought J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy to life is raising the bar again. Hot on the heals of his Oscar win for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King he is already finishing up his rendition of the famed King Kong movie. While Jackson is used to the tiniest of details, Kong is running into the odd snag, already the budget has reached an eye-popping 207 million dollars. The film is said to be in the three-hour time frame, with producers quipping that the running time won’t change. Finally Jackson and his good friend and co-worker Howard Shore – who scored Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, even winning two Oscars in the process – have been unable to find a common creative ground on the sound of King Kong’s musical score. Each parted ways gracefully and Jackson issued a statement assuring fans it was a mutual decision.

“Rather than waste time arguing with a friend and trying to unify our points of view, we decided amicably to let another composer score the film.”

Peter Jackson is an old hand at expansive and complex landscapes.
Image Copyright © Universal Pictures, 2005.

Replacing Shore will be James Newton Howard who has scored films such as Batman Begins, Collateral and Hidalgo. Howard will have no time to waste and undoubtedly will get to work as fast as possible with the December 13th release date looming quickly.

(Starring Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody)