King Kong premiere in New York

Peter Jackson

The world premiere of Peter Jackson's King Kong will be in New York, but Wellington is being considered for the Australasian debut.

After months of speculation, King Kong's Hollywood backers have confirmed the New York event. Others issues, including whether Wellington will host a premiere for the US$150 million ($215 million) movie, have still to be decided.

Universal Pictures vice-chairman Marc Shmuger, who is in Wellington for meetings with Jackson, said the trailer launched this week for King Kong was "the most significant trailer debut in our studio's history. We ran over 17,000 prints around the world, in dozens of languages simultaneously."