The Venture II was used by Peter Jackson to film King Kong. It will be sunk to the bottom of the Cook Strait, between the North and South islands, tomorrow.
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Upon completion of the US$207 million film, Universal Pictures had sold the vessel for scrap. Venture II was picked up by a Wellington property developer whose business has since wound up. According to AAP, ownership then transferred to the Greater Wellington Regional Council, during which the ship remained docked at Miramar Wharf, Wellington. Initial plans to sink the ship elsewhere as a dive site eventually fell through.
As the GWRC owns the ship, this means that the fees needed to remove the oil; loose material that could float and wiring on board the ship in preparation for its sinking will be borne by Wellington's taxpayers. Harbormaster Mike Pryce conceded that the fee of approximately $30,000 was an unfair sum to impose on the locals, but that the ship had become unfit for any other purpose.
The 2005 remake of the 1933 film eventually became the fourth-highest grossing film in Universal Pictures' history with international and domestic grosses that came up to US$550 million. Critics were generally positive about the "eighth wonder of the world" despite its marathon 3 hour 8 minute duration, and the film won Academy Awards for best visual effects, best sound mixing and best sound editing.
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