In 1969, with the full rights now in their disposal, UA commissioned John Boorman to write a new script, but by the time he completed his rough draft in 1970, it was deemed too costly. With Lean busy on Ryan's Daughter, it passed to Stanley Kubrick (who deemed it "unfilmable") and Michaelangelo Antonioni, to no avail. He had considered Richard Lester to direct, but instead tipped David Lean. At this time, Denis O'Dell, a producer working for the Beatles, expressed interest in making a "musical multimedia extraveganza" starring the band members.
Peter Shaffer was commissioned to write a script for a three-hour film, which was deemed "elegant" but was never made. He eventually leased the rights to The Hobbit to Rembrandt films to make an animated film, but by 1967 they had only made a short which was viewed by twelve people.īy now, Tolkien was in conversations with Bernie-Katzka Productions and United Artists for the rights to The Lord of the Rings and "an option on The Hobbit". Tolkien and his publishers rejected several amateur suggestions to have the books adapted to film, and in one instance Tolkien criticized a screen treatment prepared by Morton Grady Zimmerman. In 1939, Walt Disney considered incorporating it into Fantasia, and he and his company continued to have an interest in the books until the 1970s.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie poster (2001) Previous attemptsĮver since the publication of The Hobbit in 1937, there was an interest in turning Tolkien's fantasy novels into film.
Tolkien and follows its general storyline, despite some deviations. The trilogy is based on the book The Lord of the Rings by J. The movies were directed by Peter Jackson and released by New Line Cinema.
Meanwhile the Wizard Gandalf and Aragorn, heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, unite and rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in several battles culminating in the War of the Ring. But the Fellowship breaks, and Frodo continues the quest together with his loyal companion Sam and the treacherous Gollum.
Set in Middle-earth, the three films follow the young Hobbit Frodo Baggins as he and the Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, to ensure the destruction of the Dark Lord Sauron. For simplicity, the titles are sometimes abbreviated to 'LOTR', with 'FotR', 'TTT', and 'RotK' for each of the respective films. The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is comprised of three live action fantasy epic films The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). " The trilogy will not soon, if ever, find its equal." - Kenneth Turan