"I just want to make a good movie, the best movie I can," he smiles, with the modesty and confidence of a man whose last project wracked up billions of dollars and 17 Oscars. So how come the life-long obsession with the oversize ape? "I think it's because Kong feels like it's been with us forever. The story has this mythic quality to it that makes it feel incredibly ancient, the product of another age, when it actually only dates back about 70 years."

If the Kong story, and fidelity to it, is important to Jackson, he isn't afraid to take chances. The casting of comic actor Jack Black as filmmaker-turned-Kong capturer Carl Denham raised more than the odd eyebrow. To Jackson, however, bringing Black on board made perfect sense. "Jack's a fine actor, every bit as capable of playing drama as comedy. And when I looked at Carl Denham, this trailblazing, wunderkind director, the person who came to mind was the young Orson Welles, the 23-year-old who came to Hollywood with big dreams and a unique contract. So with Welles foremost in my thoughts, casting Jack, who has something of the look, physique and indomitable spirit of Welles, seemed increasingly sensible."

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