Remember the beast that made your childhood nightmares epic? What if Skull Island’s roar echoed louder than ever—25 feet of fury, rebuilt in 4K glory?
Ubisoft just unearthed the King from 2005’s shadows, but this remaster’s trailer hides horrors that could eclipse the original film’s thunder. Jack’s flashlight cuts deeper, Kong’s rampage feels primal… and something lurks in the fog that even Peter Jackson might fear.
Dare to venture back? 👹🌿 Dive into the first trailer and roar your wildest theories in the comments!
In a gaming landscape starved for genuine throwbacks, Ubisoft has swung into action with a surprise that feels like a time machine wrapped in gorilla fur: the first trailer for Peter Jackson’s King Kong Remastered. Dropped Thursday evening during a low-key Ubisoft Forward stream—sandwiched between Assassin’s Creed Shadows DLC teases and Rainbow Six Siege operator reveals—the 2-minute clip is a love letter to early-2000s licensed gold. Fog-shrouded Skull Island looms larger than life, Jack Driscoll’s spear pierces through upgraded foliage, and King Kong himself? A 25-foot titan rendered in ray-traced glory, his bellows shaking screens from Montreal to Manhattan. But with whispers of expanded lore and multiplayer skirmishes, is this just a shiny polish job, or the beast’s full evolution? Fans are pounding their chests either way, with #KongRemastered already clawing 300,000 X mentions in under 24 hours.
The trailer, uploaded to Ubisoft’s YouTube at 6 p.m. ET, kicks off with a nod to the 2005 film’s iconic voyage: the SS Venture slicing through stormy seas, Naomi Watts’ Ann Darrow silhouette against lightning cracks. Cut to first-person frenzy—Jack (voiced anew by a gravelly Adrien Brody soundalike) navigating vine-choked ravines, his flashlight beam catching glimpses of V-Rex packs with feathers that flutter like Jurassic World rejects. The HUD? Minimalist magic, echoing the original’s immersion: no clunky ammo counters, just raw panic as biplanes buzz overhead. Then, the switch—third-person Kong mode unleashes hell, the ape hurling boulders at swarms of giant bats, his fury meter building to a screen-cracking roar. A stinger teases post-Empire State tweaks: what if Kong didn’t fall? No release window, but a cheeky “Coming to where legends live” tag hints at PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and maybe Switch 2 cross-gen play. Peter Jackson’s cameo? A archival clip of him grinning: “The King’s not done climbing.”
X lit up faster than a flare in the jungle. “Finally! That Jade engine glow-up is chef’s kiss—Kong looks like he could bench-press Godzilla,” gushed @RetroRampage42, whose post racked 8,000 likes and a thread autopsy of every fog particle. Purists grumbled about “unnecessary multiplayer bloat,” tying back to the original’s co-op deathmatches, with @Kong purist88 firing off: “Keep it single-player soulful, Ubisoft—don’t Far Cry this beast.” TikTok’s already a frenzy: edits syncing Kong’s rampage to Post Malone’s “Circles,” amassing 2 million views. Positive vibes dominate, though— a Change.org petition for the remaster hit 50,000 signatures pre-trailer, now surging past 200,000.
To grasp the hype, dust off the VHS of 2005: Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake grossed $562 million worldwide, a passion project ballooning from $150 million to $207 million with Weta Workshop wizardry. The tie-in game? Ubisoft Montpellier’s brainchild, helmed by Michel Ancel (Rayman, Beyond Good & Evil), wasn’t some phoned-in cash-grab. Jackson co-directed development, insisting on film-accurate voicework—Brody, Watts, Jack Black as the hammy Carl Denham—and even approved an alternate ending where Kong survives his skyscraper siege, unlockable via high scores or cheats. Built on the Jade engine (pre-Assassin’s Creed), it blended FPS terror as Jack—scavenging spears, dodging bugs the size of Buicks—with third-person brawn as Kong, climbing sheer cliffs and using fallen foes as clubs. No multiplayer in the core campaign, but bonus arena modes let players pit apes against angels… er, dinosaurs.
Reception? A roar of approval. Metacritic averages hit 81/100 for consoles, with IGN’s 9/10 calling it “the best movie game since GoldenEye.” Sales smashed 4.5 million units by March 2006, platinum in the UK, and it snagged BAFTA nods for sound design—those guttural Kong grunts still echo in horror devs’ nightmares. Handheld ports faltered (DS version a glitchy mess, PSP trimmed short), but the core experience? Timeless. “It captured the film’s dread without spoiling the spectacle,” reminisced Ancel in a 2020 GDC talk. Tech hiccups—like Xbox 360’s infamous dark-mode bug on CRTs—were patched, but copy protection woes (StarForce DRM frying PC drives) soured some.
Why resurrect it now? Timing’s primal. 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of both film and game, and monster mania is peaking: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire topped $567 million earlier this year, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 drops next month on Apple TV+. Ubisoft, reeling from Skull and Bones‘ $200 million flop and Star Wars Outlaws‘ lukewarm launch, needs a win. The publisher holds King Kong rights (renewed in 2023 per insider leaks), and Montpellier—fresh off Beyond Good & Evil 2‘s eternal vaporware—craved a palate cleanser. “We’re not remastering; we’re reawakening,” teased producer Guillaume Pierre in the trailer outro, hinting at Unreal Engine 5 overhauls: dynamic weather flooding Skull Island paths, haptic feedback for Kong’s seismic stomps on PS5 DualSense. Jackson? Blessings poured—his X post: “Kong’s roar deserves the big screen… and bigger frames. Thrilled to climb back aboard.” No direct involvement, but Weta consulted on beast models, ensuring that furrowed brow (famously reworked after Jackson’s son vetoed an early “too cuddly” sculpt) stays soulful.
Trailer deep-dive reveals Easter eggs galore. That foggy chasm at 1:12? A nod to the original’s “Wall of Voodoo” level, now with destructible environments—smashable skulls raining debris. Jack’s arsenal expands subtly: throwable torches ignite spider nests, echoing The Last of Us survival. Kong’s fury mode? Amped with slow-mo QTEs for mid-air grapples, biplanes exploding in fiery blooms. Voice cast returns piecemeal—Brody’s unavailable, so Corey Stoll (Ant-Man) steps in as Jack, his timbre a spot-on echo. Ann? Florence Pugh rumored, per Variety whispers, adding modern grit to the scream queen. Multiplayer? Teased in a lobby glimpse: 4v4 “Beast Mode,” humans vs. dinos, with Kong as a raid boss. “It’s the co-op Denham dreamed of—expeditions gone wrong,” Pierre elaborated in a Ubisoft blog, promising cross-play sans microtransactions… for now.
Skeptics sniff overreach. “Ubisoft’s track record on remasters? Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was pretty, but Assassin’s Creed Mirage felt phoned,” sniped Kotaku’s 7/10 preview. The original’s brevity—six hours of taut terror—might bloat under “expanded” banners, risking the lean dread that made it shine. DS/PSP scars linger; fans demand no handheld half-measures. Platforms? Trailer logos scream current-gen, but PC via Ubisoft Connect and Epic suggests Steam rivalry. Pricing? $39.99 base, $59.99 Ultimate with film docu redux and art book—preorders unlock the “V-Rex Saddle” skin, because why not ride extinction?
Broader strokes: Tie-ins evolved from trash (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial‘s landfill infamy) to treasures (The Last of Us, Arcane). King Kong paved that path, predating Batman: Arkham in immersive minimalism. Ubisoft’s leaning in—Montpellier’s next gig? A Rayman revival, but this Kong detour funds it. Industry eyes watch: With Legendary’s Monsterverse eyeing Kong vs. Godzilla 2 for 2027, could this spawn DLC crossovers? “Imagine Kong hurling Ghidorah eggs,” fan-artist @WetaWannabe dreamed on DeviantArt, her piece viral at 100K views.
Fanbase fractures add flavor. Nostalgics hail it as “the cure for live-service fatigue,” tying to Assassin’s Creed‘s Odyssey overload. Speedrunners eye the alternate ending—original WR at 4:12, remaster’s physics tweaks could shave seconds. Toxicity? Minimal, save Taylor Swift stans mistaking Ann’s theme for a “Folklore” rip. Cosplay cons buzz: Kong suits at NYCC next week, complete with LED eyes. A heartfelt Reddit AMA from original dev Eric Quarez: “We built fear from fog; now it’s fog from code. Play it for the chills you forgot.”
As October’s Ubisoft sale looms (Oct. 10-17), expect deeper dives—gameplay at Gamescom? No, but Jackson’s hinted at a director’s cut screening bundled in Deluxe. Will King Kong Remastered scale Everest or tumble like its namesake? History roars yes: 4.5 million once, in a pre-mobile era. Today’s beast-hungry crowd—Palworld‘s 25 million, Ark: Survival Ascended‘s dino boom—could double that. For now, Skull Island calls. Answer? Or hide in the Empire State shadows?
One certainty: The eighth wonder ain’t dead. It’s just gotten bigger teeth.
