THE BEAST RETURNS - MADAME TUSSAUDS NEW YORK LAUNCHES
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Featuring an 18-ft tall Roaring Animatronic Kong head and the first-ever wax figure of Tom Hiddleston
Madame Tussauds New York and Madame Tussauds London in partnership with Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures have officially unleashed KONG: Skull Island, an all-new, multi-sensory experience based on the upcoming film hitting theaters March 10th. The iconic Times Square attraction now offers its intrepid guests the one-of-a-kind chance to fully immerse themselves in the film’s environment, take a journey through the jungle and come face to face with an over 18-foot tall animatronic head of mythical monster … if they dare.
Visitors will quickly forget that they are in the middle of Manhattan, as they become entirely immersed in the tropical jungle of Skull Island. Journeying through bamboo, foliage and vines, they will encounter the first ever wax likeness of British actor Tom Hiddleston, portraying the film’s heroic Captain James Conrad. Well equipped with binoculars, a holster and gun, the figure was styled with the help of Legendary Pictures film stylists to perfectly portray the brave and resilient character.
Evading the traps of a colossal Mother Long-Legs spider, visitors will come face-to face with the over eighteen-foot, monstrous animatronic Kong head – a first for the iconic wax brand. True to the scale of beast portrayed in the film, the head took a team of 33 artists over 72 days to build. Weighing in at over 3,000 lbs, it required over 350 square feet of specialist faux hair and took approximately four weeks to hand paint. Each movement of the head, eyes and lips use state-of-the-art pneumatic controls, designed specifically for this figure. The system precisely controls the pressure and flow of air to recreate life like facial movements, grunts, snorts and roars made by the ferocious beast. Guests will feel the intensity and the power of this monstrous animal, with every step they take.
“I think it’s great that there’s a Kong Skull Island experience at Madame Tussauds,” said Tom Hiddleston. “The idea that I’m going to be part of that exhibition is remarkable, and not something I ever expected.
“I hope when people come face-to-face with Kong himself they get some sense of what it might be like. Probably, a better sense than I had, because when I made the film, Kong wasn’t there, we had to imagine him. If people love the Kong character, they’ll love the Madame Tussauds head.”
“Madame Tussauds is famous for providing the most authentic, thrilling and fun experiences for our guests so we are excited to launch our largest ever animatronic today as part of KONG: Skull Island,” said Anna Domingo, General Manager of Madame Tussauds New York. “We worked closely with Legendary Pictures to ensure our animatronic head is made to the exact film-scale, so visitors really will come face-to-face and feel the power and scale of the Kong depicted on the big screen.”
