Check out Total Film's King Kong cover!

Here it is, in all its hairy (and scaly) glory – the stunning new Total Film cover, picturing Kong grappling his heart out with three gnashing V-Rexes, and designed specially for the magazine by the amazing effects team at Weta.

The issue hits UK newsstands tomorrow (Thursday 1 December) but here are just a few tasters of what our Guest Editor Peter Jackson has in store for you. For starters, there’s a brand new pic of Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns in Access. Singer’s a good mate of Jackson’s and popped over to New Zealand to visit the King Kong set while shooting his superhero blockbuster in Australia. Says Jackson in his blurb, “Bryan’s as excited about taking on this iconic figure as I am about taking on Kong.”

The Kong maker also commissioned the lead news story for our Rough Cut section, which focuses on the sudden surge in movies tackling weighty, political themes; films like The Constant Gardener, Sam Mendes’ Gulf War drama Jarhead and the Clooney-starring oil-industry expose Syriana.

And Peter’s dead jealous that our own Aubrey Ganguly got to see The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe before him! Jackson’s been a bit busy, of course, but he’s a massive fan of fellow Kiwi Andrew Adamson, who makes his live-action debut with Narnia after Shrek and Shrek 2. Check out the new issue for Aubrey’s verdict – the first official review of Narnia in the world!

And check back tomorrow so we can give you the lowdown on how Jackson filled up the Total Film features section…