Director Peter Jackson has, in a very friendly, brother-to- brother way, whacked composer Howard Shore over creative differences on the King Kong score and brought in James Newton Howard as a replacement. Last-minute score replacements are usually a sign of trouble (it happened on Gangs of New York) but let’s not jump to conclusions. If I were Jackson I would make sure of one thing: the ceremonial drums emanating from the native ceremony on Skull Island (as heard from Carl Denham’s ship anchored a few hundred feet off the coast) would sound just like Max Steiner’s… they would sound crude and spooky and not in the least bit orchestral.
