NYC Mayor declares King Kong Day

Actress Naomi Watts poses with a giant promotional King Kong in Times Square, New York before the film's premiere. Picture / Reuters

As the billboards in Times Square blazed with images from the movie, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared today King Kong Day.

In front of a massive replica of King Kong in the heart of the city, Mr Bloomberg honoured the film.

"Today, December 5, 2005, is King Kong Day," he said.

As he spoke, he gave the 19-month-old son of actor Andy Serkis a high-five.

Serkis played King Kong in the movie.

Director Peter Jackson and all major cast members were present as hundreds of photographers and television crews recorded the event.

Jackson and Naomi Watts, who plays heroine Ann Darrow, posed in front of the replica gorilla.

Above one of the billboards was a revolving message urging New Yorkers to buy tickets for the now $US55 million ($NZ77 million) King Kong state lottery.
The world premiere tonight is set to be a family affair with stars of The Lord of the Rings trilogy flying in especially for the event.

Elijah Wood is one of several actors here to support his former director Peter Jackson and the Weta Digital and Weta Workshop crews.

All Blacks captain Tana Umaga and actress Nicole Kidman are among other celebrities who will also be there.

About 8000 people are expected to attend the premiere of the $US202 million ($NZ284 million) three-hour epic, screening simultaneously in 38 theatres in one complex on 42nd Street.

Weta Workshop head Richard Taylor watched the massive replica being erected overnight.

"It looks really good, I watched them assemble the pieces until about 2am," he said.

Among the crowd on Times Square were 40 fans of the www.kongisking.net fan club, who came from all over the world to be in New York for the premiere.

Several fans have travelled to New Zealand and have met Jackson and Taylor.

One of the event's organisers, Larry Stellar, said it was a leap of faith for the fans to be in New York.

The website was erected about 18 months ago and until this week few fans had actually met each other.

They have come from all over the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.

Mr Stellar, 44, is a Yankee Stadium tour guide and a die-hard King Kong fan.

At Stout's Pub in central Manhattan today, the fans met for a lunch paid for by the creator of the website, who lives in California but was unable to be in New York today.

There is a love story too -- the message board moderator Pat Dawson, from Denver, Colorado, fell in love with Auckland computer programmer Brett Thomas when they communicated online.

Mr Thomas flew to the United States in October for three weeks. At the end of the visit he proposed.

Ms Dawson and Mr Thomas will be married in the United States.

Mr Stellar said most of the fans would be attending tonight's premiere.

"We came to New York with the faint hope that maybe two of us would get tickets.

"Universal Pictures have pulled off a miracle and all of us are going.

"This is extraordinary."

- NZPA