It has now been confirmed by Universal pictures that Howard Shore (composer of the score to all three Lord Of The Rings movies) has parted ways with Peter Jackson for all music related duties pertaining to King Kong.
Shore has been replaced by James Newton Howard, whose previous credits include The Sixth Sense, Collateral, and Batman Begins (with Hans Zimmer). The decision comes very late in the post production process – Kong is due to hit screens in just under eight weeks (December 13 in New Zealand, 14th in the USA, and 15th in the UK).
Jackson released a statement concerning his decision: "I have greatly enjoyed my collaborations with Howard Shore, whose musical themes made immeasurable contributions to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. During the last few weeks, Howard and I came to realize that we had differing creative aspirations for the score of King Kong Rather than waste time arguing with a friend and trying to unify our points of view, we decided amicably to let another composer score the film. I'm looking forward to working with James Newton Howard, a composer whose work I've long admired, and I thank Howard Shore, whose talent is surpassed only by his graciousness."
Shore's next cinematic projects will be Tarsem Singh's fantasy drama The Fall, and The Departed for Martin Scorsese.