Remaking a classic movie is always a gamble, especially when it is as beloved as "King Kong." For Peter Jackson the risks are looking greater than ever, though.

Universal Pictures has announced that Jackson's three-hour cut of the film has exceeded the running time they expected and gone significantly over budget. The studio appears to be unconcerned, however, and Jackson says he will pay the difference himself, according to the New York Times.

"I anticipated it would be long, but not this long," said Stacey Snider, a Universal chairwoman. "This is a masterpiece. I can't wait to unveil it."

The film, which originally had a budget of $150 million, will now cost around $207 million. The budget had already been increased once to $175 million. Ms. Snider said that Universal had reached an agreement with Jackson to split the $32 million cost over-run. There is some confusion on that point, however, after the New York Times reported that Jackson contradicted Snider in an e-mail. Apparently he and his partner, Fran Walsh said that they wanted to take responsibility for the extra expense themselves because they believed in the three-hour cut of the movie.

Jackson worked with Walsh on his enormously successful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and he is also collaborating again with co-writer Philippa Boyens and the special effects wizards at Weta Digital and Weta Workshop. It is the work that he gave the effects team that seems to have been the main cause of the inflated cost of "King Kong."

At around 180 minutes, Jackson's film is now substantially longer than any previous version of "King Kong." The British Board of Film Classification has the 1933 original listed at around 100 minutes and the 1976 remake at up to 134 minutes. Long running times are nothing unusual these days, however, even for family films. The "Lord of the Rings" movies and all but one of the Harry Potter films have been over 150 minutes long.

The original "King Kong" was based on a story by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace. That formed the basis of the new screenplay by Jackson, Walsh and Boyens, but the extended running time suggests that they have fleshed out some plot points. This is in contrast to their adaptation of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which required them to substantially abbreviate parts of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels.

Peter Jackson's "King Kong" opens at cinemas on Dec. 14. Both the 1933 and 1976 versions will be released on DVD on Nov. 22.