1/04/2014

Factoids I Didn't Know-From The Lord Of The Trivia

Some of these may already be well known to you from the extra material on the LOTR EEs. However, if they are to be found there, I wouldn't know, since the commentaries do not have subtitles enabled. These are notes I found in a brand-new book my parents gave me for Christmas called Middle-Earth Envisioned:The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings on Screen, on Stage, And Beyond. It is a complete history of all adaptations of Middle-Earth from the very beginning up to Jackson's Unexpected Journey.
  • Orlando Bloom tried out for Faramir. (Legolas was a consolation prize.)
  • Russel Crowe was on the short list for Aragorn
  • The reason for three films (for LOTR) was money. A studio exectutive is quoted as saying "Why make people pay $18 when you could make $27?" After having been shown a rough cut from Jackson's footage.
  • At the height of Beatlemania, John Lennon wanted a film made which would have had the Beatles starring as Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, and Gollum.
  • Ian Holm was given the part of Bilbo after having portrayed Frodo in an earlier BBC radio version.
  • Even with the EEs, not all the workable film was used. Jackson does too want to sell a "super-edition" in which the films would be even longer. Perhaps in 2017 fans will be urged to get the super-edition boxed set,which would of course contain two days worth of materiel and retail for about $175...
The book I got these factoids from is worth checking out just to see the artwork inside. It's riddled with awesome artwork by at least eight different people, including John Howe and Allan Lee, the head artists on Jackson's version.


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4 comments:

  1. VellvinJanuary 5, 2014 at 2:59 PM

    I knew four and five. :) I love movie trivia! It's always so interesting. :D

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    Replies
    1. JTJanuary 7, 2014 at 6:00 PM

      It seemed like a particularly appropriate post, since i sign every post "lord of the Trivia"...:)

      Delete
  2. James the ReviewerJanuary 7, 2014 at 4:18 PM

    I have heard that Russel Crowe tried out for Aragorn before, and it would have made for an.... interesting portrayal to say the least. He would have basically been Maximus from Gladiator in Middle Earth.

    I also heard about the Beatles LOTR movie, that would have probably been horrible! Although, it would have made for something different, that is for sure.

    All of those are great factoids! That is a particularly great quote about why make three LOTR movies. I am sure that is why PJ thought when he turned the Hobbit into a trilogy.

    More workable footage? "Shut up and take my money!" :P

    -James

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    Replies
    1. JTJanuary 7, 2014 at 6:04 PM

      Oh...The book didn't say he auditioned, just that they would have offered him the part.

      I think they wouldn't have been able to resist turning it into a musical...

      Yeah, that became especially obvious after sitting through the end of Desolation of Smaug...

      I, however, will reserve judgement until this actually appears. There's already a version of LOTR for every possible device, and a marathon already takes an entire day...

      Delete

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