I’ll admit, I’m not a connoisseur of King Kong, but I’ve seen the original a few times, as well as various VS flicks. I was unaware of the fabled spider pit scene until such a big deal was made of Peter Jackson recreating it for his remake, talking about including it the way it was meant to be. Well, that may not be the case if this gentleman’s claim is proven true.
For decades, film lovers and King Kong fans alike have been looking for the “missing spider-pit scene” from Merian C. Cooper’s 1933 classic, King Kong.
In this season’s blockbuster remake, director Peter Jackson recreated the scene in which giant spiders devour scared sailors on Skull Island.
But a local comic book collector says he has proof the original “missing” spider pit scene was never shot.
Warren Reece, owner of Chamber of Fantasy — which provides research, art and articles for those in the fantasy field — has a leather-bound 1932 copy of Cooper’s King Kong script, given to James A. Creelman, a co-writer of the original film.
The script has typed production notes indicating which scenes were shot and which weren’t. It shows the spider-pit scene was not filmed.
I don’t think people are certain it was shot & cut — but it may have been. We know it was scripted though, and some kind of screen shots exist of the scene. But if you watch the (excellent) documentary that comes with the King Kong DVD, no one says with certainty that the scene was ever shot.