Person with no nickname suggested :”My 2 cents says maybe we will see a ringwraith “plunging” out of the sky? It would be pure PJ to do that, maybe in a startling way…just my guess, though

Jamie imagined something similar: “I suspect that the plunge will involve an aerial visual (roller-coaster in effect) involving the
Uruk-Hai (or the Three Hunters) plunging onto the plains of Rohan from the Emyn Muil.”

Jacqui: my guess: “I’d guess that it starts with Deagol being pulled into the river and finding the ring, I mean its’ logical, he is plunged deep into the water, and i heard that there will b a flash back 2 that scene in the movie….”

Hardy elaborated on the Gandalf vs. Balrog possibilities:

“Here’s my vision of the opening (from an article I posted in the
usenet’s alt.fan.tolkien:”

+++ begin LotR:TTT opening prophecy +++

New Line Cinema logo

Black screen, quiet music, Cate Blanchet voice over: “Three rings for
the Elven kings […] where the shadows lie” (those eight lines have to
be somewhere in the films)

Title on black screen: “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”

Black screen

A small, fiery red dot appears in the middle of the picture, it stars to
grow, we recognize it’s something coming closer, faster and faster, now
we can hear it SCREAM, it’s the BALROG falling through darkness!

Lit by the BALROG we begin to see that the camera is moving backwards,
falling down the abyss of MORIA

The BALROG falls past the camera, closely followed by something small, a
human shape, barely recognizable.

The camera turns around, gaining speed, chasing the human shape which is
catching up withthe falling BALROG, it’s GANDALF THE GREY and in his
hands he holds his sword GLAMDRING, ready to engage the fiery beast.

AK explained why he thought a Gandalf vs. Balrog opening would work:

“Would it be a good opening? It’s certainly right into the action, and would certainly grab the audiences attention right away.
It will be a visually stunning sight to behold, so perhaps it is best placed at the very beginning.
FOTR was void of an ending, so to speak, so to open The Two Towers with a bang seems like the good thing to do. In my opinion, flashbacks can sometimes be sloppy, and often are a lazy way of telling an untold story, so having it at the beginning instead of recalling it to Aragorn and co. would be a change in convention. A refreshing change.

“It also balances out the action. There really isn’t that much action in the first half of Tolkien’s Two Towers, and from the clues leaked onto the net of the structure of the film, it looks as though there’ll be a mass of action toward the middle and end. Perhaps including Gandalf’s flashback to Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas would cause an imbalance. (That said, I’m wondering whether Gandalf’s meeting would seem a little redundant without a tale of his fall).”

Max: “Since so many people are throwing their own two cents in, I thought I would as well. I must say, I have no idea of how The Two Towers will begin, but I will use my oh so educated guess.

“One person pointed out that we DO have a small hint…it is “pure Peter Jackson”. From what I gather from that, it isn’t pure Tolkien….SO! When looking at the whole idea of The Two Towers and how, in a very general statement, the “bad guys win”, I think it will have a bit of a beginning much like Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back (which in turn gathered ideas from Tolkien…heehee), AND something Peter has decided to add himself. In Empire Strikes Back we see Darth Vader and all of his evil very early….if I remember right. I haven’t watched it in a while. Since this second installment of LOTR is based on the invasion of Saruman and Sauron’s forces (basically evil getting even more powerful) I think, in the style of Peter Jackson, we will see our first shot of the Nazgul. Or at least something of the sort…maybe the Witch King. All in all, I think we are all going to open up in Mordor and in utter darkness and evil. It would be a great way for Peter Jackson to show and tell us, “LOOK OUT! You have no idea how evil all of this really is…this is your FIRST taste”.

“I could very easily be incredibly wrong and I’m sure some people are going to disagree with me. However, I remember very distinctly before seeing Fellowship for the first time, I heard Peter Jackson say something along the lines of, “This is a Tolkien movie made by a Tolkien fan.” This is Peter Jackson’s movie and he has a lot to say with this second film. Here comes Peter!!”

Stephen: “If it is pure Peter Jackson, think back to the camera plunge at Orthanc, where we drop from Gandalf at the top of the tower down through the depths of the furnaces. What about an opening from in high flight, with us seeing a wide landscape view of Rohan or the Emyn Muil (depending on where Jackson is starting TTT), then a plunge down to the action of the orcs running with Merry and Pippen being followed by Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. And maybe we are shocked to discover that we are seeing it from the point of view of a Nazgul in flight.”