King Kong is a 1933 American monster film directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. It is based on the 1932 novella of the same name by American author Edgar Wallace. The film was produced by Cooper and Schoedsack, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It stars Fay Wray as Ann Darrow, the fictional Carl Denham's leading lady, who is captured by the film's title character and taken to Skull Island.