It shouldn’t surprise anyone that a film about King Kong would leave a production footprint worthy of its star, which was the case last year when the film from Legendary Pictures shot on Oahu.
“Kong: Skull Island” was a big part of production spending in Hawaii in 2015, when films and television projects contributed $244 million to the economy, according to the state film office. That was the most spent in the islands since 2012, when productions brought $245.6 million to the state.
The film reportedly cost $125 million, but its budget in Hawaii, where one-third of the film was shot, is not publicly available. Nonetheless, with several weeks of preparation and shooting during October, November and December, “Kong: Skull Island” was a job machine. .
IATSE Local 665, the union whose membership includes grips, electricians, wardrobe specialists, makeup artists and set builders, estimates the film employed 180 to 200 people a day, which is almost twice as many people employed daily by the CBS TV show “Hawaii Five-0,” said the union’s business representative, Henry Fordham III.
“Kong: Skull Island” shot at Kualoa Ranch and in Nuuanu, Mokuleia, Heeia Kea, Waikane and downtown Honolulu. At one point the filmmakers transformed a Chinatown outdoor market into 1970s Vietnam, which meant that signs had to be rewritten and regional food items stocked. They also shot green-screen scenes inside a hangar at Kalaeloa Airport and built a large cargo ship on part of the runway so helicopters could pretend to land on a fake deck.
The film, which will be in theaters in 2017, re-imagines the origins of the famous giant ape and stars Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman and Brie Larson. To do that, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts needed primordial vistas.
When the filmmakers first debated where to shoot, they considered Australia, Thailand, Vietnam and Kauai. Oahu was barely on their radar. But a “speculative call” to Honolulu Film Commissioner Walea Constantinau turned into “tens of millions of dollars” spent on Oahu, according to a letter of praise that the film’s supervising location manager, Ilt Jones, sent to the Honolulu City Council’s Budget Committee in April. Constantinau drove him around the island and gave him a solid briefing, responding faster than any film commissioner he had dealt with in 22 years as a location manager, he said.
Constantinau called the film a huge success for Oahu that probably went unnoticed by many.
“It’s interesting when we do jungle pictures,” she said. “They have tremendous economic and job creation effects, and most of the time you don’t know it is going on because it is in these sequestered areas.”
More visible, though, was “Hawaii Five-0.” State Film Commissioner Donne Dawson said “Five-0” is a fast-moving and demanding show, in part because after nearly six years its creators are always searching for new locations and bigger stunts.
Last year was no exception. The show was allowed to dunk a tethered shipping container into Honolulu Harbor and shut down the H-3 freeway.
“It was a busy year,” Dawson said. “I don’t think you can tell by looking just at the numbers. It was a very busy year.”
One telling detail: “Kong: Skull Island” was the third Legendary Pictures project in three years to film in Hawaii, following “Jurassic World” in 2014 and “Godzilla” in 2013.
“That’s a good testament to our reputation and the fact that this is very much a word-of-mouth business,” Dawson said. “One successful production begets the next and the next. We have a strong relationship with Legendary, and it’s demonstrated by the significant time and money they spent in our state.”
AND that’s a wrap …
Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com
