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PRESS RELEASE SOURCE: VARIETY (ZACK SHARF)
Cover Photo: ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
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Elijah Wood is “fascinated” and “surprised” over Warner Bros. developing multiple new “Lord of the Rings” movies. The studio announced the plan in February. Wood, of course, played the hobbit Frodo in Peter Jackson’s original “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which grossed $2.9 billion worldwide and remains one of cinema’s greatest fantasy achievements.
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“I’m fascinated and I’m excited. I hope it’s good,” Wood recently told GQ magazine about the new films. “I’m surprised—I don’t know why I’m surprised because, of course there would be more movies.”
“Obviously at the core of that, is a desire to make a lot of money,” Wood continued. “It’s not that a bunch of executives are like, ‘Let’s make really awesome art.’ And, again, not begrudging anybody because, of course, it is commerce. But great art can come from commerce. So those two things are not mutually exclusive.”
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Wood stressed that Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy “didn’t come out of that place,” referring to commerce.
“It came out of a passion for these books and wanting to see them realized,” Wood said. “And I hope that that is ultimately what will drive everything forward with whatever these subsequent movies are. I just hope that it’s the same motivating factor at its core, whenever they hire a screenwriter and a filmmaker—that it is with reverence for Tolkien’s material and enthusiasm to explore it.”
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All that’s confirmed about Warner Bros.’ new “Lord of the Rings” movies is that there will be “multiple” films made based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s books. No additional information was given by the studio, meaning it’s anyone’s guess whether the story will pick up before, after or during Jackson’s original trilogy
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In a statement to Variety, Jackson and his main “Lord of the Rings” collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens previously said Warner Bros. “kept us in the loop every step of the way” regarding the new “Lord of the Rings” movies. Jackson was behind all three “Rings” movies and all three “The Hobbit” movies, winning the Oscar for best director with “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”
“We look forward to speaking with [the studio] further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward,” Jackson, Walsh and Boyens added in their statement.
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Wood’s “Lord of the Rings” co-star Andy Serkis recently said he’d be interested in coming back to the world of Middle-earth on the big screen.
“Peter Jackson, Fran and Philippa are sort of a second family that I have become part of and have gone on to make so many films with,” Serkis told BroBible’s Post-Credit Podcast. “And — let me tell you — they are the best and most incredible people to work with. I think that there are so many other potential Middle-earth projects which could come about, and if they’re doing them, I would, of course, jump at the chance to have that relationship rekindled.”
Serkis added, “Middle-earth has never left me.”
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Wood briefly reprised Frodo in Jackson’s “The Hobbit” trilogy. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is currently back in theaters in celebration of its 20th anniversary.
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