The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King

[Redlum]

Lord of the Ring: Return of the King
Soundtrack Review with track samples.
http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1068391654

Just going through these clips now and I damn love them. The roaring theme at the end of the Return of the King trailer is apparently the theme for Minis Tirith.

[Find Your Magali]

From imdb.com

Lord Of The Rings actor Christopher Lee is fuming after discovering all of his scenes have been cut from the third and final fantasy epic. The 81-year-old, who plays Saruman in the first two Lord Of The Rings films, says he was "shocked" and mystified by his exclusion from The Return Of The King -- which hits cinemas worldwide next month -- and has vowed to boycott the star-studded premieres. Lee says, "The only reason I'm able to say this is because it was on the internet and has been for some days. I only heard recently. As far as I'm concerned, I'm only telling you this because it has been revealed on the internet, someone has talked and it certainly wasn't me. Of course I am very shocked, that's all I can say. If you want to know why you would have to ask the company New Line or director Peter Jackson and his associates because I still don't really know why. I can't say any more because I signed a confidentiality agreement and I honored my word." And after being asked if he planned to attend any of the premieres, Lee snapped back, "No, what's the point? What's the point of going? None at all."

----------------

This is unfortunate on a couple of levels. It's been great to see an acting legend like Lee bounce back these past few years in such big fantasy films, and to have him booted from the capper of the LOTR trilogy is too bad. Especially since, from what I understand, he might have been the most devout Tolkien fan in the cast, and had been dreaming of playing Gandalf all his life.

On a narrative level, I think the omission of Gandalf the White's triumph over Saruman will be one of the biggest holes in the adaptation. It will seem odd not to have that closure and I will certainly miss one of the most powerful moments in the book:

He raised his hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice: 'Saruman, your staff is broken.' There was a crack, and the staff split asunder in Saruman's hand, and the head of it fell down at Gandalf's feet. 'Go!' said Gandalf.

[©brad]

what a baby. alright, maybe he does have a right to be pissed, but come on! at least he was in the movie to begin w/, argulably one of the biggest movies ever made.

how could he scenes be cut though? i mean, isn't he a big thing in the return of the king? (i've only read fellowship and two towers)

[modage]

this has all got to be wild internet rumors.  there is absolutely NO freaking WAY that ALL of his scenes were cut.  perhaps some of his scenes were.  but for a character as important as his, to not find a few minutes out of 3 1/2 hours to follow up and finish off, would be ridiculous.  i dont believe this.  he's still in the movie.

[NEON MERCURY]

yes it doesn't make much sense to cut these scenes it ROTK is three and a half hours long anyway..damn, whats with a few more minutes on a darth vader-like character.....???..lee does a great job why cut it..it IS a slap in his face ..and yes he is a LOTR fanatic..........

but still its not ALL that bad...IMO the extended cut of FOTR is way better thsan the theatrical cut ..(it's all about fleshing out the characters ..and exploring the story more).....and thers something comforting about that (which this is unique)..the extenede cut of TTT will be fantastic aslo..along w/ the theatrical and extenede cut of ROTK.....and still with the extended cut of ROTK those scenes involving lee will be in it ..so its not that big of a deal IMO....b/c as soon as ROTK hits on the exetended version all the 2-diskers are sold......


OH YEAH ONE LAST THING......I FINALLY GOT AROUND TO READING ALL THE POSTS IN THIS THREAD..AND EVEN IF THE STORY DOESN'T GRAB YOU IF YOU CALL YOURSELF A 'CINEPHILE' THEN YOU ARE NUTS TO THINK THAT THESE FILMS ARE  NOT MODERN MASTERPIECES..THESE FILMS ARE BEAUTIFUL...ALSO i HAVE NEVER READ THE BOOKS,  AND I AM NOT THE TYPE WHO WATCHES ALL OF THESE BIG EPIC LIKE FILMS AND GET WASHED UP IN THEM.(MY FORTE  IS LYNCH, ARONOFSKY..)..ITS JUST I AM A RATIONAL FAN OF FILM AND REALIZE THE MAGIC OF THESE FILMS...... 8)

[The Perineum Falcon]

From theonering.net:
"I was watching the uk morning show This Morning aware he was going to be on it and he has infact verified that his character will not be featured in ROTK, he seemed sad when he mentioned it but due to a confidentiality agreement he was not able to comment further."
http://www.theonering.net/staticnews/1068655898.html

I guess it's just a repeat of the news stated earlier, but it just shows that it is (more than likely) true. Maybe if Petey catches wind of people's disappointment and outrage of Saruman's exclusion then he'll put the scene back in.

[meatball]

..

[Ghostboy]

If you read the interview with Peter Jackson on AICN, he explains it all. He says (SPOILER) that Saruman was supposed to bite it at the end of the last one, just like the giant spider was supposed to be at the end of the last one. They ended up moving both sequences to the beginning of the third. As editing progressed, PJ realized that Saruman's fate worked against the pacing at the beginning of the film, and decided to leave it for the extended edition DVD.

[MacGuffin]

Andy Serkis to be the Face of King Kong?

In a great interview at the Toronto Sun with Andy Serkis about his work as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, an interesting bit is mentioned about director Peter Jackson's upcoming King Kong:

Serkis has an even bigger assignment ahead of him. Rumour has it he'll be the face of King Kong in Peter Jackson's planned 2005 remake of the legendary ape epic.

"Ssssh!" he says, giving another mischievous smile — and a thumbs-up gesture. It's just between us and the cat.

Sounds like Jackson will be using a similar technique for creating King Kong as he did with Gollum, where Serkis would act out the role and then the big ape would be computer generated in afterwards!

Rest of the Serkis interview here.

[Find Your Magali]

I think Serkis should go do a PTA film instead. ... I'm ready to see that dude as a flesh-and-blood character.

(Not that I don't love Gollum, my precious...)

[Kal]

I was also hoping to see some action between Gandalff and Saruman... he needed to have his ass kicked at some point... The movie will be so good that we wont even notice I guess...

I cant wait to see this... less than a month to go!

[Ghostboy]

I think Serkis should go do a PTA film instead. ... I'm ready to see that dude as a flesh-and-blood character.

Check out 24 Hour Party People. He's great in that.

[Just Withnail]

I think Serkis should go do a PTA film instead. ... I'm ready to see that dude as a flesh-and-blood character.

Check out 24 Hour Party People. He's great in that.

And watch his screentest on the Extended Two Towers DVD, that's some intense stuff.

[Find Your Magali]

Some tidbits from an upcoming issue of Newsweek:

--- With the last installment in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy about to be released, Newsweek has learned that New Line studios, which made $650 million in the U.S. alone with the first two films, offered some cast members an initial round of "The Two Towers" bonuses that left many cast members out in the cold.  Though the movie had been an even bigger hit than "Fellowship of the Ring," the bonuses were smaller.  The actors wanted assurances that there would be a more equitable offering in the future.  When the studio declined to make promises, 18 actors banded together and composed a letter to Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons pleading their case. The group was ultimately convinced that going over New Line's head to Parsons would only initiate mutually assured destruction between the cast and the studio.  They did not send the letter. Instead, they made what New Line executive vice president Mark Ordesky diplomatically calls "a vigorous appeal" to the studio's leadership, telling them that it was difficult to imagine spending the final quarter of 2003 attending press junkets and premihres when some of them, particularly those with smaller roles, really did need to get jobs to make a living. New Line agreed to create a new bonus pool. Crunching numbers with one of the actors everyone trusted-without any agents at all, and with a lawyer only to type up the agreement-the studio struck an egalitarian deal for both "The Two Towers" and "Return of the King," paying cast members above and beyond their profit-participation deals, and even awarding the many actors with no deal in place at all.  The bonuses restored good will.  But sources also tell Newsweek that the cast is now auditing the studio.  And director Peter Jackson and Miramax, who initiated "The Lord of the Rings" years ago, have teamed up for an audit of their own.  New Line's Ordesky, an old friend of Jackson's insists that the studio does not consider the audits confrontational.

---- With the journey over, Orlando Bloom, who plays the elf Legolas, tells Newsweek about the emotional end of filming.  "I was definitely welled up, man," he says. "I was choked.  I was suddenly reminded of how lucky I was to be a part of this process and how much it changed me -- Viggo being a real mentor to me, and Peter being this incredibly amazing, visionary director. They cut together a little gag reel.  It was, like, four minutes of all these different Leggy moments from the whole shoot and outtakes and stuff.  It was hilarious! It had all this '80s music.  You know that song 'Hungry Eyes'? 'One look at you and I touch the sky?' They had this homoerotic thing where they had a shot of Viggo pulling out his sword and looking at me, and me looking at him and drawing my bow.  It was brilliant, man." ((** NOTE FROM ME: I hope we get this on the ROTK:EE**))

FINALLY, A BIT OF A SPOILER. Sweep the text to read...



--- Peter Jackson's "The Return of the King" begins with a flashback to what seems like the beginning of time -- young Deagol is fishing with his creepy brother Smeagol when suddenly a fish on his line pulls him out of the boat and underwater, where he spots a gold ring half-submerged in the riverbed.

Of course, as we saw in the documentary on TTT:EE, that's Serkis himself playing Smeagol.[/size]

[©brad]

trailer's already making me fucking cry.

http://www.lordoftherings.net/trailer_rotk/trailer_medium.html