Los Angeles County fire officials said two workers and a supervisor were putting up shingles in an alley on the New York Street set. They finished at 3 a.m., spent an hour watching for any sign of fire, then took a break. At 4:43 a.m., just as the crew was returning, a security guard saw flames and reported the fire.

Roofing shingles? Really? At 3 o'clock Sunday morning? Join our skepticism after the jump.

As previously reported, dodgy water pressure on the backlot prevented a speedier extinguishing of the blaze, whose casualties have been revised to include New York Street and the King Kong tour exhibit but only part of the historic Courthouse Square set (the lame part, natch; the Courthouse façade remains). The studio's video vault was another confirmed kill, as were "master copies of reel-to-reel audiotapes of music from the 1940s and 1950s" belonging to Universal Music Group, which leased vault space from the studio. But UMG had made copies "as the site was being phased out," a spokesperson said, "so in a sense nothing was lost."

But we do mourn King Kong, whose odds for restoration appear slight at best:

"We plan to rebuild and replace everything that was lost," the Uni spokeswoman said. "Will we replace the King Kong attraction? I don't know, because it was a 20-year-old exhibit. But we will create some guest experience in its place."

Allow us to suggest The Universal Backlot Inferno of Convenience, in which every Sunday's first 10 studio guests receive a souvenir blowtorch, fire extinguisher (empty, of course) and roofing shingle to "heat" before placing it on a wood façade specially constructed to mimic the highly flammable, 20-year-old structures that burned over the weekend. Guests can then "phase out" their visits by dropping by Hollywood's only non-fireproof "vault," where the bulky, obsolete audio master of their choice will be made available for torching. (No photography, though!) Finally, they can wind down with a "Aftermath Brunch," where actors portraying studio brass provide talking points for explaining what just happened if or when they're asked by friends and family back home.

Seriously, this could be huge! Are we on to something here or what?

[Photo Credit: AP]

• Workers' blowtorch sparked Universal Studios fire [LAT]
• Workers Started Universal Fire [THR]

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Oddly enough, we were just asking a friend last night if the animators, who reportedly did a smash up job, included any glimpses of the swinging King Junk. If they had, there could well be some inflated expectations on the part of our Craigslist Kong cruiser.

• going to see King Kong AT UniversalCityWalk Im looking to suck cock in - 32 [Craigslist]

"My little monkey's doing great," said Nikki Rocco, Universal's head of distribution. "We're convinced with all the information we have that this is the big guy, and he's going to be around for a long time."

Putting aside the odd, public emasculation of a 4,000-lb. gorilla with that adorably diminutive nickname, we imagine they're not going to start panicking just because there weren't enough rental monkey suits available to accommodate every fanboy who otherwise might have lined up for opening night. They'll probably save the behind-the-scenes pants-soiling for the weekend if things don't pick up in the next couple of days.

• 'King Kong' Takes in $9.8M in First Day [AP]
• 'King Kong' a Gentle Giant on Opening Day [Box Office Mojo]

THR: How do you determine the budget of a movie, whether it's "King Kong," at $207 million, or "Brokeback Mountain," at $14 million?

Snider: It starts from a completely subjective gut check: What do we think this movie can do? Then you go to the research to see if that first gut reaction is supported by the historicals. Then you ask if there's a reason for this movie to exceed the historicals or is there something about the project that would lead it to underperform? We talk with each other, so it's not just one's person's enthusiasm.

Due to space considerations, we won't blockquote Snider's entire response, which included a surprisingly candid admission that "one person's enthusiasm" lead to Brokeback being originally envisioned as a Kong-style, CGI-filled blockbuster. But after early test footage revealed that much of America was not ready for a $200 million gay love story about a 50-foot cowboy and his human companion (their first sexual coupling, while tastefully shot, was ultimately too terrifying) laying waste to an intolerant ranching community, a scaled-back, Oscar-friendly version was rushed into production.

• Dialogue: Universal's Snider trusts her reactions [THR]

Kudos to Universal for handling all these people with the organization that they did. After the premiere, we were shuttled on buses to Pier 92 where a vast jungle had been recreated complete with waterfalls, vaudeville scenes (this Kong is a period piece), fake snow (which proved to be a hazard as it was more slippery than the real stuff), Kong video game setups, and plenty of free food and booze to go around.

Some of the stars of the movie were there (we happened to spot Adrien Brody, Colin Hanks, and Jack Black) but I was a bit disappointed that the giant Kong had not been moved (or at least duplicated) from its Times Square location. They even had a replica of the tram steamer Venture when you entered the pier, water sound effects and all.

We must say, even by our spoiled LA premiere standards, this one sounded like a must-see. We're left craving more details: Did Jack and Adrien delight the crowd with a take-no-prisoners synthetic-snowball fight? Did the hors d'oeuvres and beverages have cleverly themed names ("Two more Fay Wrays, please, extra cran!")? Was Naomi Watts present, and if so, did she resist the urge to wash down her celebratory cocktails with a handful of Heavenly Blues? And perhaps most of all: Was Lindsay Lohan the only one in attendance who came down with a nasty case of food poisoning, causing her to miss her appearance on Live With Regis and Kelly this morning? Just a heads up, Universal: one batch of bad Skull Island Springrolls and you're looking at a class action lawsuit.

• King Kong Attacks Manhattan [Towleroad]
• King Kong returns to New York [AP]
• Lindsay Lohan Stands Up Regis & Kelly [Gawker]

So I went to Comic-con on Saturday, and like most of the people there, went primarily to see Tenacious D. Well in order to see the concert, you had to get there 4 hours early and sit through some panels advertising the latest films coming out. Not bad, because you get to see some actors and actresses trying to deal with a group of people that they probably have forgotten about since high school - Geeks.

So, the panel for King Kong comes up, and they show the trailer and a 2 1/2 minute rough cut of a scene from the film. Then the lights come up and Adrian Brody, Naomi Watts and Jack Black are standing on the stage. Every body goes apeshit (pun intended), and the three of them are really happy, until it becomes apparent that everyone is only really excited about seeing Jack Black. Here is one of those humbling experiences that will only happen to Brody and Watts a few times in their career. Sitting on a panel not being asked any questions by 3000 people who care less if they are there, and having to listen to question after question being directed to a B-list actor. [Ed.note—JB a B-lister? Hush your mouth, lest you be torn limb from limb by Comic-Con attendees.]
The best part: somebody went up to the mic during the Q & A and said offhandedly, "Oh, and I really like Michael Brody's work too." To which Adrian responds, "Dude, that was the guy from Jaws."
Almost as good was the woman asking Jamie Foxx how much of a letdown working on Stealth was compared to Ray, in front of the cast and director Rob Cohen! Picture 3,000 people going "OUCH!"

If you really want to tax your powers of imagination, try and picture 3,000 people turning out to see Stealth.