15 Secrets Behind The Making Of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy – TheThings

Unlike other franchises, the Lord of the Rings franchise took us into uncharted territory. Here, the common man lived alongside the likes of elves, hobbits, dwarves and even orcs. And across the franchises three films, we were made to think that the future of humanity depended on a hobbits determination to destroy an evil ring.

Just like all good stories, the storyline behind the Lord of the Rings films stems from a novel written by the great English scholar J.R.R. Tolkien. In Tolkiens creation, men resided on Middle Earth, along with other more powerful beings. And when its story was brought to the big screen, the films earned critical praise and awards.

Today, it remains one of the most celebrated film franchises in entertainment history. And as it continues to mesmerize us, we thought it might be fun to reveal some of its behind-the-scenes secrets:

With the rising cost of production on the films, Harvey Weinstein put down an ultimatum and revealed some alternative plans. While speaking with Variety, Jackson recalled, We had to either agree to do it or walk away. He already had John Madden lined up to direct, and Hossein Amini to write the script.

At a roundtable, Gyllenhaal recalled, I remember auditioning for 'The Lord of the Rings' and going in and not being told that I needed a British accent. I really do remember Peter Jackson saying to me, 'You know that you have to do this in a British accent? We heard back it was literally one of the worst auditions.

Lee told Cinefantastique, I sent him a picture of myself all made-up in the wizards role, but it was more in the nature of a joke, really. 'This is what I look like as a wizard, dont forget this when you cast the movie.' The late actor learned that Jackson wanted him to play Saruman all along.

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Fortunately, New Lines Bob Shaye ran into McKellen at a restaurant. Shaye recalled, I decided to go back and ask, Just for the record, what is the scheduling conflict? He said, 'Well, youre starting Lord of the Rings three days before I finish X-Men. We did fix it of course, and thats how he got in the movie.

Townsend told Entertainment Weekly, I was there rehearsing and training for two months, then was fired the day before filming began. He added, I have no good feelings for those people in charge, I really don't. The director wanted me and then apparently thought better of it because he really wanted someone 20 years older than me and completely different.

The late veteran stunt double Bob Anderson once referred to Mortensen as the best swordsman I've ever trained. Anderson had also worked with a lot of the other Lord of the Rings actors on the set. Over the years, hes also trained the likes of Sean Connery and Antonio Banderas, according to The Guardian.

When interviewed by co-star Billy Boyd, Mortensen revealed, Id like to have seen what Peter Jackson would have done with the character Ghn-buri-Ghn, the chief of the Dredain, wild men of the Dradan Forest. Seeing him lead King Thoden and his army of Rohirrim through the forest to join the fight to save Minas Tirith would have been thrilling.

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Bean told UGO, In The Lord of the Rings, we had to go up in helicopters and I had to walk the whole way, really [laughs]. I was two hours behind everybody else on top of this mountain because I just didn't want to get in any helicopters. I was terrified of them.

Astin, who played Frodos best friend, revealed, I remember being presented with my costume, including Sams backpack (pots, pans, sausages, elven rope, lembas bread, box of salt) and sword. But the most moving trophy was the wee dress [my daughter] Ali wore as she portrayed Eleanor in the last moments of ROTK.

The veteran actor revealed to co-star Elijah Wood, I keep Glamdring in my hatstand and the pointy hat in the basement, often worn by visiting youngsters. Gandalfs staff is behind the bar in my Thames-side pub The Grapes, in East London. Dont tell Peter, but the keys to Bag End are hanging up at home.

Jackson said Bob Weinstein thought not all hobbits should survive. Jackson recalled, He said, weve got to kill a Hobbit! I dont care which one; you can pickIm not telling you who it should be: you pick out who you want to kill, but weve really got to kill one of those Hobbits!

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For The Two Towers and The Return of the King, there was a huge requirement for impressive horse riders. And as Mortensen pointed out in a video, There are some very good women riders in New Zealand, and itd be silly not to take advantage of them. And so, women got on the makeup chair to receive fake beards.

Jackson explained, When we originally shot the scene, Gollum bit off Frodos finger and Frodo pushed Gollum off the ledge into the fires below. It was straight-out murder, but at the time we were okay with it because [sic] we felt everyone wanted Frodo to kill Gollum. The scene was eventually re-shot.

New Line executive vice president Christina Kounelias told Vanity Fair, [It] was basically two years of Theyre not going to get it, theyre not going to get it, they have to get it on Return of the King. New Line hired an army of veteran publicists and awards consultants to get a massive campaign going for the franchises last film.

From the very beginning, production on the Lord of the Rings films took time, effort and labor. In fact, the production team numbered to more than 2,400. Meanwhile, 26,000 extras were also hired for the film. In addition, the crew also had to build 64 miniature sets. Jackson remarked, I had to create the most believable world I could.

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15 Secrets Behind The Making Of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy - TheThings