In an interview he recently held with the English newspaper The Guardian Christopher Lee (Saruman) briefly mentions Lord of the Rings…
“..Lee is not at liberty to say much about The Lord of the Rings, a three-film adaptation of the Tolkein trilogy; but since he has read the books every year since they were published (1954-55), playing the character of Saruman is the realisation of a long-held ambition. “The book is such a work of brilliance and majesty – Tolkein wrote an epic on the scale of The Iliad or The Odyssey. He even created a language, Elfish, which you can read, write and speak. Despite having seen absolutely nothing of the film, I still think it’s going to create cinema history. Peter Jackson’s instincts are extraordinary, as is his stamina. My God, it would have to be, to film solidly for 15 months.”
The full story can be found at Guardian Unlimited.
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The March-April 2001 edition of Cinescape Magazine has this summary of the LotR project:
Plot: In ancient Middle Earth, Frodo Baggins and his hobbit pals embark on a peril filled quest to keep a powerful magic ring from falling into the hands of the forces of darkness.
Players: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Sean Bean, John Rhys-Daves.
Director: Peter Jackson
Status: Post Production
Release date: December 19, 2001 (for the first film of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring).
Latest Rumors: After principal photography wrapped in January, Jackson segued into the ambitious project’s long post-production phase while the cast finally move on to other projects. “The Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a video game for me,” says Blanchett, who played Galadriel, queen of the elves. “It was another world completely. I basically did it so I could have the [elf] ears. They were so sweet.”
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As promised entertainmentsite EmpireOnline has updated with some short interviews they held during the Empire Awards with John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) and Billy Boyd (Pippin). Nothing there we didn’t already know, but it’s still interesting to read about their enthousiasm for this project…
John Rhys-Davies/Gimli
Q. So tell us about Lord of The Rings.
A. It’s going to be the biggest film series of all time. It’s also going to be one of the series of films that are going to be in [Empire’s] Favourite Films. It doesn’t remind me of anything when I look at it… [more]
Billy Boyd/Pippin
Q. So how did you enjoy doing Lord of the Rings?
A. It was an amazing experience. To be in New Zealand for a year and a half is incredible. And to be filming in places that not only had never been filmed in, but where you would think nobody’s been for hundreds of years… [more]
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Because the Net is so huge and the Tolkien community so large, it’s easy to think it’s all anonymous. People underestimate how fast news travels among the small number of big Tolkien sites who by this time know each other pretty well. Sometimes this leads to farcical situations that are as funny as watching somebody tread on a rake and knock themselves out.
When we started getting emails about film footage of the LOTR end-of-filming ‘Wrap Party available on this site I got curious because although I couldn’t SEE the clips myself on the computer du jour, (Ol’ IMacDonald bought the farm, recently) it sure sounded like they were talking about clips from the ‘Searching for the Hobbit’ documentary that Assassinfilms are making. I mean, come on guys, I was there, I know them, I’ve worked with them, and sending me an email announcing that their work is on someone else’s site is as funny as ringing up a musician and trying to sell them a bootleg recording of their own band.
But IS is it their work? The answer’s more complicated than the usual straight pilfering that goes on between websites and other media.
I called up Assassinfilms and they had a look at the Wrap party video clips….and these aren’t THEIR clips of the wrap party. “While we were filming there was this French girl there who said she was a freelance video journalist…..she sort of followed us around all night filming over our shoulders… we talked to her and were really nice to her, and gave her our number in case she wanted to get in contact later.”
But she didn’t call, and this appears to be her footage on the Aussie website.
I asked producer Mark Morgan (whose voice it is you can hear asking the celebrities ‘who is the Hobbit?’) what he thought of those clips.
“Well, that’s pretty rich, isn’t it? If she wanted to get interviews with them then she should have asked her own bloody questions and not just filmed us doing our work!”
So there you are, Marie. Do your own homework next time.
The actual ‘Searching for the Hobbit’ clips of the Wrap party are at Searching For The Hobbit in the cinema or archives section, where you can download them for free and see them at a lot better quality.
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Nazgurl and Huan picked up something rather interesting from the Toy Biz Toy list posted at About.com. (Full Article)
If you will, Assortament #1 of the 6″ charcters includes:
“Newborn Lurtz Urak-Hai“
Now reference that with the following reports:
Galadriel’s Report on Orc Birth (4/5/00):
“…They are also filming the Caves of Orthanc scenes at the moment. With Jo Pearse, 1st Unit AD at the helm. The Caves scenes are very interesting, it will consist of an Uruk Hai assembly line, with the Uruks which have been bred with Wildmen ond Orcs..Uruks are born from cocoons and are usually ordered around by Orcs. The Uruks rebel against the Orcs and kill them. This is the Uruk army that Saruman uses. “
Galadriel’s creative description of the baby Uruk-hai:
“…The Rohirrim, frightened by the current war situation that Saruman is forcing upon the people of the Land, decide as a last effort in keeping the helpless safe to send them to the abandoned keep of Helms Deep. Unfortunately Wormtounge informs Saruman of this and the duplicitous wizard takes this as an opportunity to feed his newly born and hungry specialised army of Uruk Hai, thinking, “What better than a bunch of Rohan refugees made up of women and children!…“
Page 1, 3rd image on the Internet Preview Frame by Frame
The white hand of Saruman on the face/bodies of the Uruk-Hai models.
We can then theorize that Lurtz will be seen at some point being born and pledging his allegiance to Saruman.
Cool stuff for movie goers, but will hardcore Tolkienites go for it?
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Check out the full list of LotR related toys coming to stores near you!
Playmates Toys – All of these items from Playmates will be released in the Fall of 2001. At this time (February 2001), I have no information on price points for these toys. [More]
Sideshow Toys – Sideshow Toy has partnered with Weta Workshop of New Zealand to create collectibles based on the LotR trilogy. Weta is the special effects company responsible for the effects and makeup on the films. [More]
Toybiz Toys – Toy Biz has the license to produce action figures and role play toys based on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Here’s a peek at what to expect in 2001 (these items are based on the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring) [More]
Thanks to Leo for the links.
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