Kong survives the fall because he really is the GOD of Skull Island.
Here's the story of King Kong - A bunch of White Men and a Blonde find an island where dinosaurs still survive. The natives give the Blonde to their God, a giant ape. The White Men try to rescue the Blonde, mostly get killed by dinosaurs but eventually succeed and capture the giant ape at the same time. The White Men exhibit the giant ape in the City. The giant ape escapes and, carrying the Blonde, climbs the tallest building around. Airplanes come, shoot him full of bullets and falls and DIES. End of story.
I've spent a stupid amount of time trying to come up with a sequel to King Kong that doesn't either require a second ape (who is therefore not Kong) or change the ending of the original movie. I don't usually waste time thinking about how to continue a story when the original author is still around or the story is held by a corporation. It's unsatisfying to come up with an idea I'd never be able to use. King Kong is a weird example of a story that's partly in public domain. I'd need to do more research to see how far I could go with an idea but it's not outside the realm of possibility to do a sequel. Universal would probably sue over a big budget movie but might ignore a novel or a comic book. If one were careful.
Anyway.
Recently I watched the original movie and She within a week of each other and an idea occurred to me. When Denham introduces Kong to the audience in New York he says that Kong had been a king, a GOD, in his world. Denham, being a White Man, was speaking metaphorically. Only White Men had a real god.
But what if Kong were a God - the immortal protector of Skull Island? The sort of Lost World that Skull Island is, is pretty much impossible. An ape the size of Kong is pretty much impossible. So there must be Other Forces at work.
Won't New York be surprised when the ape gets up again? The Blonde will really scream then.
