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It was the sexy Bitter Rice, starring Sylvana Mangano, who became his wife, that made Dino his first fortune. He used the money to build Dino Citta, his film studio in Rome. Thereafter he plunged big on spectacles like War and Peace and The Bible; tides of money ebbed and flowed. Four years ago, he moved his operations to the U.S. The reason: "I begin to sniff trouble in Italia. I no like what I smell in the politics or the economy." He now says that his only mistake was not moving a decade earlier. "No other country makes room for foreigners. An American go to Europe to make movies, he be shut out. But European come here, everyone say, 'O.K let's see what he can do.' My God, how wonderful!"
There have been flops, of course, like The Valachi Papers, but with Serpico and, Death Wish De Laurentiis has made killings as well as an admirable reputation as a man who is as good as his word if he makes a verbal commitment (and a bad enemy to someone who breaks his word) Says Paramount Boss Barry Diller: "Ever since Dino arrived on the scene, the major studios have had to be much more on their toes. Dino moves fast and makes all his own decisions—none of this corporate delay for him." If Kong hits big—in the Jaws category—De Laurentiis could make $100 million.
That would suit him fine since he lives baronially, if quietly, in a huge hilltop estate in Beverly Hills, recently purchased from a member of the Doheny family. He has the mandatory electric gate and swimming pool, and a dining room table that could very nearly accommodate the Kong cast. But money is not as much fun to him as the game in which it can be made or lost. Says an associate: "Dino is never happier than in a King Kong situation, where the stakes are enormous, where he can win or lose everything."
It was doubtless the appeal to his gaming instinct that caused him to enter into negotiations with RKO for rights to remake the original while rounding up a portion of his financing. Then in June 1975 Universal released Jaws. It was a picture about a giant creature, and it started producers —notably Universal—thinking about other big-animal properties, like Kong. Universal also entered into negotiations with RKO and thought they had a deal when the sale to Dino was suddenly announced. Hurt feelings—and lawsuits—ensued. Both sides advertised start-shooting dates of Jan. 15 of this year, thinking to scare the other off. Says De Laurentiis: "We need four months to get ready to shoot, but I gotta show Universal that I'm ready when they are."
Eyeball to eyeball, Dino blinked briefly by proposing that he join forces with Universal to make the picture. "But they want their script. She is just a remake of Kong, set in the 1930s. I say, 'No, we gotta do the picture in modern day only. I do mine, you go to court.' " They did and eventually settled for a tidy 11% of De Laurentiis' take.