World Premiere: December 1st, 2003 (Embassy Theatre, Wellington, NZ)
Confirmed Cast to date:
Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins)
Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee)
Sala Baker (Sauron)
Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)
Orlando Bloom (Legolas)
Billy Boyd (Pippin)
Martin Csokas (Celeborn)
Brad Dourif (Grima Wormtongue)
Bernard Hill (Theoden)
Christopher Lee (Saruman)
Lawrence Makoare (Witch King of Angmar)
Dominic Monaghan (Merry)
Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)
John Noble (Denethor)
Miranda Otto (Eowyn)
John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)
Andy Serkis (Gollum)
Liv Tyler (Arwen)
Karl Urban (Eomer)
Hugo Weaving Elrond)
David Wenham (Faramir)
Behind the camera:
Director: Peter Jackson
Screenwriters:
Peter Jackson, Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair
Saruman's forces at Rohan are defeated. Saruman's fortress is under siege. Frodo and Sam are free from Faramir's capture. Now is the time for the fate of Middle Earth to be decided. And, for once, the outlook is promising for the good guys. Sauron's attention is now turned towards Gondor. The last stronghold of man. The very fortress whose throne Aragorn is the heir to. It is now his decision whether or not to embrace his destiny and reclaim the Throne of Gondor. For, soon, Sauron's forces will mass toward Gondor in the siege that will determine the fate of mankind. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam continue their journey into the heart of Mordor with the help of Smeagol. Going into unchartered and new lands, their future is unclear. And, will Smeagol's alter ego betray them to their death? Middle Earth hangs by a thread.
UPDATE:
SPOILERS!!!
From Cinescape
Interview with Andy Serkis
His character Gollum was originally 'a creature very much like a hobbit', 'one of the riverfolk,' but was warped by the evil nature of the One Ring into the creature seen in the film.
Serkis says, "If I didn't know it was going to be in the third [film] I would be upset. You actually see me onscreen, which was going to be in this film, transforming into Gollum once he kills Deagol. You see this whole kind of descent into madness. You see him physically becoming more and more decrepit. [The] last stage is becoming the CG Gollum. Peter and Fran told me that wasn't going to be in this film. They thought it would play much better into the next one."
UPDATE:
SPOILERS!!!
(From an article in the Boston Herald)
From the Boston Herald come these Return of the King spoilers from Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Billy Boyd.
Philippa Boyens, the trilogy's Oscar-nominated screenwriter and producer, also was willing to offer the films' devotees a tease. "In film three, a huge part is the conflict between fathers and sons," she said. "Just as Gollum's schizophrenia is buried in the story and you have to dig it out, you have this story of fathers and sons."
Other events to anticipate in "The Return of the King" include the transformation of Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) into warrior hobbits. "Merry learns how to ride a horse and wield a sword, and we make big differences in Middle-earth," Boyd said.
Writer-director-producer Peter Jackson says his favorite character in the trilogy is Bilbo Baggins (played by Ian Holm), the humble hobbit whose discovery of the Ring is told in Tolkien's first book, the "Lord of the Rings" prequel "The Hobbit."
"We saw Bilbo in the first film," he said. "He's a very affectionate character, but we will see him again in 'Return of the King,' when the journey ends as the hobbits return to the Shire.
Also, Liv Tyler looks to be following in her fathers footsteps and is taking up singing. In New York to promote the second "Rings" film, "The Two Towers," Tyler told United Press International she recorded "Arwen's Song" a while ago and even previewed it for her dad. The actress, who plays an elfish princess in the spectacular fantasy trilogy, says director Peter Jackson hadn't told her in which of the three simultaneously filmed movies her song would appear.
Also, David Wenham who plays Faramir has stated that he will indeed play a part in Return of the King.
It turns out that size really does matter. Three hours of Middle Earth in "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" is nothing compared to the length of the last film in the trilogy due out next Christmas.
"It might be much longer," says Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo Baggins, indicating that the last journey, "The Return of the King," will be inching toward the 3-1/2-hour mark. "It will be as long as it needs to be," says director Peter Jackson, who is busy editing the film right now. "The third is my favorite one in the trilogy. It's almost biblical and makes me cry. It's about incredible courage and the last part of it is just mind-boggling."
Wood adds, "The third movie has always been my favorite. I've seen moments from it and they just break my heart," he says. "You've grown to care about these characters and they lose quite a lot in the process of the third movie. Frodo, Sam, Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn will never be the same."
UPDATE:
From Yahoo Movies: 3/03/03 - Movie fan (and close personal friend of Peter Jackson) Harry Knowles has quoted the director on AICN.com site as saying that the first trailer for this movie is expected to be done in time to be in theaters in May or June. My guess would be that New Line will probably either aim to attach this to the June 13th release of their comedy, Dumb and Dumberer, or release it in conjunction with another studio's big potential blockbusters, like maybe X2 (5/2), The Matrix: Reloaded (5/15) or The Hulk (6/20).
UPDATE:
(6/15/03) Peter Jackson has been filming some additional scenes (and/or reshoots?) in New Zealand this year.
UPDATE:
You might watch for a teaser to appear before "Secondhand Lions" which opens September 26th. This isn't confirmed, only a rumor so far.
UPDATE:
A full 12-minute sneak peek will be featured on the August 26 release of "The Two Towers" DVD.'
UPDATE:
Singer Annie Lennox revealed on Australia's Enough Rope with Andrew Denton show that she will be perform the title song for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
UPDATE:
The official "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy website has updated with a new interview with Karl Urban, who plays Eomer in both "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King".
Click Here For
Interview
UPDATE:
New Line Cinema, which has limited fans to a brief teaser trailer in theaters, has put 10 minutes of new and tantalizing footage on the DVD for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers". Included is a glimpse of the upcoming film's awe-inspiring centerpiece, the climactic battle between the dark forces of Lord Sauron and the beleaguered coalition of races from Middle Earth at Pennelor Fields. Computer-generated images were used to augment hundreds of real-life actors and animals, so that the battle involves an eye-popping 200,000 people and thousands of horses in what's said to be the biggest battle sequence in movie history, dwarfing the fight for Helm's Deep in "The Two Towers."
UPDATE:
The list of theaters participating in the trilogy marathon on December 16th is now online over at LordoftheRings.net. Tickets go on sale Thursday, October 9th... contact your local theater for more information!
