King Kong rights won by TV3

Television viewers may have to wait some time to see Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody in King Kong.

TV3 has won the rights to screen Peter Jackson's latest movie King Kong, but anyone wanting to see the epic for free could have to wait a few years yet.

NBC Universal International Television and Distribution struck a deal with the CanWest Mediaworks-owned television station this week, extending their existing licensing agreement.

Included in the deal is the right to screen King Kong.

TV3 group publicity manager Jacqui Loates did not expect the film would screen for "some time".

"The general amount of time between a theatrical release and a television premiere is about three years," she said.

The film will premiere on the big screen on December 5 in New York. The New Zealand premiere is in Wellington on December 14.

Ms Loates said Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy was not included in the deal between NBC International and CanWest.

Films such as Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and The Bourne Supremacy will screen from next year and new series of established television favourites are also set to return.

Medical drama House - which has rated well in Italy, Australia, and Britain - will run early in the 2006 season, as will crime series Law & Order (including Law & Order SVU and Criminal Intent).

The agreement means at least two series will make their New Zealand debut on TV3.

Three Wishes is described in a media release as a "heart-warming network reality show" hosted by Amy Grant, and Surface is a drama about "a mysterious new form of sea life appearing in locales all over the earth."

Beverley McGarvey, TV3 director of programming, said the deal would ensure some of the best American content available on the market would continue to be supplied to New Zealand viewers over the next few years.

Coming on TV3

* King Kong

* Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

* Love Actually

* Along Came Polly

* The Bourne Supremacy

* Van Helsing