Which 2007 documentary follows gamers competing for the world record in the arcade game Donkey Kong? The answer is The King of Kong.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is a 2007 documentary directed by Seth Gordon about competitive arcade gaming. It follows Steve Wiebe as he challenges Billy Mitchell’s celebrated high score on Nintendo’s 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong.
Wiebe, an engineer from Washington state, buys an arcade cabinet and studies the game’s patterns while trying to achieve a record score. The film also features Walter Day and Twin Galaxies, the organization that tracked classic arcade records, and presents the rivalry through tournaments, videotaped scores and disputes over verification.
The documentary is often remembered as a straightforward sports-style competition, but its lasting appeal comes from its portrait of arcade culture, celebrity and status. Later, Twin Galaxies removed Mitchell’s Donkey Kong records in 2018 after concluding that he had used emulation software rather than original arcade hardware. That later controversy is distinct from the film’s 2007 release.