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Variety is reporting this evening that Spirit Pictures is looking to bring to life a brand new King Kong project, which was initially developed by effects legend Ray Harryhausen. Producers at Spirit have picked up the rights to the book “Kong: King of Skull Island,” a prequel the traditional gigantic ape tale that we’ve seen in previous cinematic incarnations.

Written by Joe DeVito and Brad Strickland, the book tells the backstory of Skull island and how Kong became the king, introducing other characters including other giant gorillas and dinosaurs. The critically acclaimed book is one that has caught the eye of many high-profile Kong lovers, including Ray Bradbury, who had this to say about it:

“Anyone who loved KING KONG with Carl Denham and Ann Darrow in 1933 and hated DeLaurentis’ 1976 remake cannot help but love this new Kong book. Bravo!”

So aside from picking up this book to read myself, I’m also interested in how this movie is going to come together. Surely it won’t be a $200 million dollar photo-real CG-fest like Peter Jackson’s 2005 film. According to the Variety report, the producers at Spirit intend to use motion-capture technology similar to what Robert Zemeckis used on The Polar Express, Beowulf and the upcoming A Christmas Carol.

Andy Briggs is currently working on a script for the new project, with additional details to come.