Universal to release 'King Kong' diaries DVD

King Kong is released in NZ theatres on December 14.

LOS ANGELES - Universal is taking a novel approach to marketing its upcoming, big-budget film "King Kong" by releasing a DVD documenting the making of the movie a day before the film hits theaters.

The DVD "KING KONG Peter Jackson's Production Diaries" marks the first time a major studio will ship retailers a DVD featuring a behind-the-scenes look at a film ahead of its theatrical release.

By releasing the two-DVD set along with a companion book on December 13, the package helps promote the "Kong" movie that hits theaters on December 14. In turn, the movie helps drive DVD sales among fans who want to learn more after they see the film.

Generally speaking, behind-the-scenes material for a movie gets packaged with the DVD version of the film itself, which typically follows a film's theatrical run by four to six months.

Many studios add promotional clips for upcoming movies to their DVD sets, but industry sources said doing so differs from manufacturing an entirely new product devoted to a future release.

The advance DVD set for "Kong" includes a first-hand account of the film's eight-month production process by director Peter Jackson, who also made the billion-dollar grossing "Lord of the Rings" movies. The companion book includes conceptual art designs of the film's sets, scenery and other facets of movie making.

Universal Pictures is 80 per cent owned by General Electric Co. and 20 per cent by French company Vivendi Universal.

- REUTERS