Editing King Kong vs. Godzilla (section)

==Release==
===Theatrical===
{{quote box|quote=It was such an entertaining film. The house was packed, you know? We could barely get a seat.| source= – Filmmaker Masaaki Tezuka reminisces on watching the film in his childhood.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=185}}|align=right|width=30em}}
''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' was released in Japan by [[Toho]] on August 11, 1962,<ref name="Toho.co.jp"/>{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=194}} where it played alongside ''[[:ja:私と私|Myself and I]]'' for two weeks, afterward, it was extended by one more week and screened alongside the anime film ''[[:ja:おとぎの世界旅行|Touring the World]]''.{{sfn|Motoyama|Matsunomoto|Asai|Suzuki|2012|p=66}} The film was re-released twice as part of the [[:ja:東宝チャンピオンまつり|Toho Champion Festival]],<ref name="Perfection1">{{harvnb|Nakamura|Shiraishi|Aita|Tomoi|2014|p=127}}</ref> a children's festival centered on marathon screenings of ''[[kaiju]]'' films and cartoons. The film was first heavily re-cut and screened at the festival on March 21, 1970,{{sfn|Nakamura|Shiraishi|Aita|Tomoi|2014|pp=32-33}} and again on March 19, 1977,{{sfn|Nakamura|Shiraishi|Aita|Tomoi|2014|pp=62–64}} to coincide with the Japanese release of the 1976 version of ''[[King Kong (1976 film)|King Kong]]''.{{sfn|Shoemaker|1979|p=23}} The 1970 Champion Festival version was edited by the film’s director [[Ishirō Honda]], who shortened the runtime to just 74 minutes.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=257}} In 1983, the film was screened across Japan alongside 9 other ''kaiju'' films as part of the ''Godzilla 1983 Revival Festival''.{{sfn|Nomura|Fuyumon|2016|p=218}} The festival's success became the catalyst for relaunching the ''Godzilla'' series with ''[[The Return of Godzilla]]''.{{sfn|Hobby Japan|2019|p=63}}

In North America, ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' premiered in [[New York City]] on June 26, 1963.<ref name="Mason"/>{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=79}} The film was also released in many international markets. In Germany, it was known as ''Die Rückkehr des King Kong'' ("The Return of King Kong") and in Italy as ''Il trionfo di King Kong'' ("The Triumph of King Kong").{{sfn|Lees|1996|pp=20-21}}

To celebrate the film's 50th anniversary, Bay Area Film Events (BAFE) planned to screen the film at the Historic BAL Theatre in [[San Leandro, California]], on June 16, 2012, as a [[double feature]] with ''[[Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack]]''.<ref name="BAFE">{{cite web|url=http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2012/06/03/bafe-to-celebrate-king-kong-vs-godzillas-50th-anniversary/|title=BAFE to Celebrate KING KONG VS. GODZILLA's 50th Anniversary|date=June 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010211541/http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2012/06/03/bafe-to-celebrate-king-kong-vs-godzillas-50th-anniversary/|archive-date=October 10, 2014|url-status=dead|website=SciFi Japan}}</ref>

===American version===
When [[John Beck (producer)|John Beck]] sold the ''King Kong vs Prometheus'' script to Toho (which became ''King Kong vs. Godzilla''), he was given exclusive rights to produce a version of the film for release in non-Asian territories. He was able to line up a couple of potential distributors in [[Warner Bros.]] and [[Universal Pictures|Universal-International]] even before the film began production. Beck, accompanied by two Warner Bros. representatives, attended at least two private screenings of the film on the Toho Studios lot before it was released in Japan.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=87}}

John Beck enlisted the help of two Hollywood writers, Paul Mason and Bruce Howard, to write a new screenplay.<ref name="Mason"/>{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=88}} After discussions with Beck, the two wrote the American version and worked with editor [[Peter Zinner]] to remove scenes, recut others, and change the sequence of several events.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=89}} To give the film more of an American feel, Mason and Howard decided to insert new footage that would convey the impression that the film was actually a newscast. The television actor Michael Keith played newscaster Eric Carter, a [[United Nations]] reporter who spends much of the time commenting on the action from the [[Headquarters of the United Nations|U.N. Headquarters]] via an [[Communications satellite|International Communications Satellite]] (ICS) broadcast. [[Harry Holcombe]] was cast as Dr. Arnold Johnson, the head of the Museum of Natural History in New York City, who tries to explain Godzilla's origin and his and Kong's motivations.{{sfn|Ragone|Tucker|1991|p=27}}

Beck and his crew were able to obtain [[library music]] from a host of older films, including ''[[Creature from the Black Lagoon]]'' (1954).{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=90}}{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=194}} Cues from these scores were used to almost completely replace the original Japanese score by [[Akira Ifukube]] and give the film a more Western sound.{{sfn|Hirsch|2006|pp=4-9}} They also obtained stock footage from the film ''[[The Mysterians]]'' from RKO (the film's U.S. copyright holder at the time) which was used not only to represent the ICS, but which was also utilized during the film's climax.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=90}} Stock footage of a massive earthquake from ''The Mysterians'' was employed to make the earthquake caused by Kong and Godzilla's plummet into the ocean much more violent than the comparatively tame tremor seen in the Japanese version. This added footage features massive tidal waves, flooded valleys, and the ground splitting open swallowing up various huts.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=90}}

Beck spent roughly $12,000 making his English version and sold the film to Universal-International for roughly $200,000 on April 29, 1963.{{sfn|Ryfle|1998|p=89}} The film was released theatrically in the United States on June 26 of that year,<ref name="Universal Blu-ray"/> as a [[double feature]] with ''[[The Traitors (1962 film)|The Traitors]]''.{{sfn|Lees|Cerasini|1998|p=21}}

Starting in 1963, Toho's international sales booklets began advertising an English dub of ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' alongside Toho-commissioned, unedited international dubs of movies such as ''[[Varan the Unbelievable|Giant Monster Varan]]'' and ''[[The Last War (1961 film)|The Last War]]''. By association, it is thought that this ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' dub is an unedited English-language international version not known to have been released on home video.{{sfn|Toho|1963|p=62|loc=List of English-dubbed Pictures}}

===Home media===
In July 2014, the Japanese version was released for the first time on [[Blu-ray]] in Japan as part of Toho's plan to release the entire series on the Blu-ray format for Godzilla's 60th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|title=60th Anniversary Edition Godzilla series on Blu-Ray|url=http://www.toho-a-park.com/godzilla-60th/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306095452/http://www.toho-a-park.com/godzilla-60th/|archive-date=March 6, 2014|website=Toho Amusement Park|publisher=[[Toho]]}}</ref> [[Universal Pictures Home Entertainment|Universal Pictures]] released the English-language version of the film on Blu-ray on April 1, 2014, along with ''King Kong Escapes''.<ref name="Universal Blu-ray"/> The Blu-ray sold $738,063 in domestic video sales.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Kingu-Kongu-Tai-Gojira#tab=summary |title=Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962) Home Market Performance. |work=The-Numbers |access-date=November 7, 2019}}</ref> In 2019, the Japanese and American versions were included in a Blu-ray box set released by [[The Criterion Collection]], which included all 15 films from the franchise's [[Godzilla (franchise)#Shōwa era (1954–1975)|Shōwa era]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/25/8930381/godzilla-criterion-collection-showa-era-films-release-date|title=Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set|last=Patches|first=Matt|date=July 25, 2019|website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|access-date=July 25, 2019|url-status=live|archive-date=December 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217223541/https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/25/8930381/godzilla-criterion-collection-showa-era-films-release-date}}</ref> The 4K remaster of the Japanese version was released on Blu-ray and [[Ultra HD Blu-ray|4K Blu-ray]] in May 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/king-kong-vs-godzilla-4k-uhd-blu-ray-details/|title=Original King Kong vs. Godzilla 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Details Announced |work=[[Comic Book Resources]]|date=April 3, 2021 |access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref> The special features for the 2021 Blu-ray include one of the Toho Champion Festival reissues of the film, the film's theatrical trailer, and a still gallery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.toho.co.jp/dvd/item/html/TBR/TBR31163D.html|title=キングコング対ゴジラ 4Kリマスター Blu-ray|work=[[Toho]]|language=Japanese|access-date=April 21, 2022|url-status=live|archive-date=April 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421222526/https://www.toho.co.jp/dvd/item/html/TBR/TBR31163D.html}}</ref>