Film history is littered with proposed projects that seemed tantalizing in concept, but somehow never found their way before the cameras. But were these aborted efforts destined to succeed? Seriously, would Stanley Kubrick’s proposed biopic of Napoleon or Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “Dune” been instant classics? I think that some vigorous debates could be enjoyed on whether or not we should be fortunate those works never got made.
The 1933 classic “King Kong” inspired a number of strange projects, including two Japanese Kong films that are considered lost and a wealth of ideas ranging from a three-camera Cinerama remake to “King Kong vs. Frankenstein” by Willis O’Brien, the genius behind the original’s special effects. On this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” we look at these remarkable Kong projects with John LeMay, author of “Kong Unmade: The Lost Films of Skull Island.”