Ubisoft confirms King Kong game

A fascinating article in this past Sunday's New York Times Magazine profiled the increasingly incestuous relationship between the film and game industries. Besides mentioning director John Woo's Metroid movie, the piece speculated that Peter Jackson will likely profit more from the game version of his King Kong remake than from the film itself.

Besides the fact that there will be a King Kong game, the big news in the story was that Ubisoft is publishing it. Although they refused to reveal any details, Ubi reps contacted by GameSpot did confirm that a game based on the great ape epic is in the works. Ubi would also not confirm if they were developing the game internally.

Ubisoft's King Kong deal must sting rival publisher VU Games, given that the film is being bankrolled and distributed by its former Vivendi Universal sibling, Universal Films. Last fall, the movie studio was bought by NBC's parent General Electric in a multibillion-dollar deal that is in the final stages of completion. VU Games was not part of the agreement, and has since been unsuccessfully offered for sale, according to reports.

The King Kong game will likely be released around the same time as its film inspiration hits theaters in 2005. Set in the 1930s, the film will star Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow, the beautiful actress who becomes the super-sized simian's object of affection. Adrien Brody and Jack Black will co-star.