The producer of a 1970s movie about a gorilla trained in kung fu that fights its way across Wichita says the film might have been one big-name actor away from being a hit.

Bob Walterscheid says “King Kung Fu” was intended to be a widely distributed comedy but instead became a movie that “most people look at in the evening so they can drink.”

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the film about a gorilla that stops in Wichita “to let the rednecks gawk at him.”

“King Kung Fu” played in only 11 U.S. theaters and lost most of the money sunk into the film. Still, Walterscheid and director Lance Hayes say they feel they accomplished something by making a movie in Wichita.

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Associated Press Information from: The Wichita Eagle

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