whole thing is a love story with the two apes, but there's also a lot of action and an uplifting ending, although there are some elements of tragedy, as there were in the original. We even give a nod to women's lib with Lady Kong falling for the male scientist. Of course, this is before she meets the King." Guillermin said later that making a sequel to King Kong was a bad idea. "Dino was striking out on all sorts of things at the time. It's really too bad [that he suffered a run of flops]. He was involved with some interesting projects." Brian Kerwin said, "I knew that my name would be up there as the lead, but there was never any question that the star of the movie was the ape. Also, the 1976 movie had such low prestige and Jessica Lange was ridiculed, but then so was Christopher Reeve for Superman, and look at the subsequent success of those two. So, I don't worry about it. We tried to have fun when we were making the movie, without poking fun at it. It's an adult fairy tale and it has humor. If people think it's a silly piece of fluff and we're all jerks, then that's the way it goes. I hope it doesn't happen." Linda Hamilton said "I'm happy that I don't have to get picked up by the monkey and become the object of his desire. I save Kong. And it's nice to play someone who is not hysterical and dramatic and intense all the time." Filming started in April 1986 in Tennessee. "The movie is about Kong, about special effects, about jeeps being blown up," says John Ashton. Release Home media King Kong Lives was released on VHS in 1987 by Lorimar Home Video and on DVD in 2004 by 20th Century Fox. Reception Box office Despite its marketing campaign, King Kong Lives was a box office flop in the United States and Canada, grossing $4,711,220 during its theatrical run. According to one account, "Besides the fact that audiences have noses for a stinker, King Kong Lives lacked an effective advertising campaign that sold its premise (Kong finds a mate), and the movie was sold as if it was just another B-movie retread. Which it was, but on an A budget." Overseas, the film was a success in the Soviet Union, where it sold