The Ape Wrangler.

“The one thing that the Lord of the Rings had taught us that we did not know in 1996 is that fantasy is best told in a very realistic way. The lesson we took in re-writing Kong last year was that the best fantasy experience in the cinema is one in which you utterly believe in what’s happening and in which the characters believe in what’s happening.” Three Monkeys talks Kong with Peter Jackson.

Apes, Aslan, & Aliens.

Courtesy of Coming Soon, Adrien and Naomi brave Skull Island in this new still from PJ’s King Kong, WETA Workshop shows off its Narnia designs in this catalog of sculpture, and Steven Spielberg unleashes the GOP’s worst nightmare — an ornery Tim Robbins brandishing a shotgun — in some recently-released images from War of the Worlds.

Running Ape, Running Water.

Coming Soon offers some choice updates on two long-awaited fanboy projects this afternoon. First, Naomi Watts finds it’s not easy seeing green as she films her New York scenes “with” Kong, and secondly, we have confirmation that Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain is finally off the ground with these first two shots from the movie, starring Hugh Jackman (not Brad Pitt) and Rachel Weisz.

December Spawns a Monster.

Quint, one of the AICN crew, recently enjoyed a month-long visit to PJ’s King Kong set in New Zealand, and now he’s telling us about it. Kind of spoilerish at times, but if you want the Cliff Notes: “Peter Jackson is making a modern day two hundred million dollar Ray Harryhausen film.Update: Part 2 here. Update 2: And Part 3.