100 Things You Didn't Know About Lord of the Rings Enjoy some obscure fact nuggets about Tolkien's, and Jackson's, classic
We're celebrating 10 years of The Lord Of The Rings in the current issue of Empire magazine, what with reuniting the hobbits, digging up previously unseen concept art and even Aragorn's photo album. But we also thought we'd go back and dig a little deeper into the films to bring you a few tidbits of information that you may not already have chewed up and digested. From obscure cameos to Tolkien extended-world stuff, it's all here... WORDS HELEN O'HARA
27 copies of the book were used up in the process of creating the screenplay, between highlighting and note-making and page-tearing.
Stephen Sinclair, Philippa Boyens' partner, was originally a screenwriter on the project when it was set to be two films. He left due to theatrical duties.
The idea of having a battle scene in the Prologue to Fellowship was inspired by the tradition of a James Bond pre-credits action scene.
Sam Gamgee, professional gardener, is only seen gardening once, in the Extended Edition opening section "Concerning Hobbits".
There's absolutely no CG in the scene where Gandalf and Frodo meet in the forest; just small and tall stand-ins.
Gandalf's original name was "Olórin". He also goes by Tharkun and Mithrandir.
The Special Editions, in total, are 158 minutes longer than the Theatrical releases (718 minutes to 560 minutes).
Other wizards named by Tolkien include Radagast, Alatar, Pallando and of course Saruman.
Henry Mortensen, Viggo's son, was called on to research what happened to Thorin's map in the book of The Hobbit to make sure it could reasonably appear (briefly) in Bag End.
Every single character wears a wig, apart from Billy Jackson (Peter's son) in Fellowship, who had "perfect hobbit hair".
There are only about 100 guests at the Long-Expected Party, not a book-mandated gross (144). Pfft! These films barely deserve to be called "epic" anymore!
Lord Of The Rings is the sixth-highest grossing franchise ever, behind Harry Potter, James Bond, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek.
Peter Jackson "doesn't like magic in fantasy films" and tried to avoid it.
The shot of Proudfoot at the party is a direct homage to the Ralph Bakshi 1978 film.
Posted on Thursday December 15, 2011, 14:15 by kinkykeeks
L: jimmyakey
Not one interesting fact about Hagrid? He's my favourite character in LOTR!
agrid? LOTR? Please tell me you're kidding Read More
6
RE: Interesting!
Posted on Wednesday November 23, 2011, 08:01 by TK_421
#98: I'd say the Third Age of Middle-Age has set in.
Ace list, though ;)
Read More
7
RE: How can you miss him out?
Posted on Tuesday November 15, 2011, 10:58 by Timon
That wasn't the first internet trailer, this was - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-7x5D3v6jE
It had footage from all the films including test shots that weren't included in the final trilogy. Read More
8
RE:
Posted on Tuesday November 15, 2011, 06:47 by Spaldron
I knew virtually all of this list of "things you didn't know". And I had to laugh at Number 22 Silmarilion, /b] has an even scarier, even more powerful boss called Morgoth"ing an image of Saruman. Do your homework Empire. Read More