Movie Monday Presents: The Lord of The Rings, an Eternal Movie Journey
The Lord of the Rings Saga took the world by surprise and, with the help of Peter Jackson, made a total hit on the cinema and with the critics. Years later came the Hobbit, a single book converted in a trilogy. Will this ever end? or better… should they continue?
When Hollywood finds the recipe for a Blockbuster, they bake it and make it until there is none left. Sometimes they take risks and other times they go straight to a proven formula, let me be clear; Every Batman movie will be a success, no matter how bad it is (Right, George Clooney?), you will speak of it for years. But there are other formulas that may be risky.
That happened when Warner Bros. (WB) decided to go with The Lord of the Rings(LOTR); they took a classic book, an epic one. LOTR has been adapted for the big screen many times but none of this adaptations was as big, loud and prolific as the vision created by Peter Jackson, even the Beatles considered on creating a version:
The Beatles planned to do a live-action version with Paul McCartney as Frodo Baggins, Ringo Starr as Sam Gamgee,George Harrison as Gandalf, and John Lennon as Gollum. The group approached Stanley Kubrick to direct the film. Soon the plans for the film came to nothing because Tolkien didn't like the Beatles in the film -Vía Wikipedia
2001, 2002 and 2003 were suckerpunched with the adaptation of the 3 books from the visionary mind of J.R.R Tolkien; The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and the Return of the King. The Saga received, 36 Academy Award nominations and made more than $2,917'506,956 USD, just in the cinemas, for that we must add the profits from the DVD’s, the extended versions, the Blu-Rays, Digital Downloads, merchandises, book sales and all that you may think is involved…
When the saga came to an end, WB washed its hands and said it was over. They have never been so wrong in their life. A crisis in the sales of tickets, a reduction of profits and the ascending menace of piracy and movie streaming made WB reconsider their game. And they decided to explode the franchises that took them to the top of the box office. So they decided to make Harry Potter’s franchise even bigger, they gave all the money and talent to Chris Nolan for a decent Batman movie and… they revived the universe of Tolkien teaming it again with Peter Jackson and heading to a new project: The Hobbit.
The return of the Middle earth meant just one thing; a new saga. The Problem is that the Hobbit was a book created for children, not as dark as the LOTR saga and… it is only a book. Not three. And not a big book.
It haven’t stopped the mind of the creators and creating a new universe they have made long, big and awesome movies that now center on the story of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the grey, and the company of dwarves, with an objective; take Smaug off the Misty Mountain and return the kingdom, and the enormous treasure, to the true and legit king Thorin Oakenshield.
For obvious reasons, Peter Jackson brought back some actors in secondary roles, even when they weren't in the original story(Orlando Bloom as Legolas), they also casted big names for iconic roles (Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug/Necromancer, Sylvester McCoy as Radagast, Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, Martin Freeman as Bilbo) and returned Sir Ian McKellen for the role of Gandalf.
With this formula they have created a new successful saga with three new releases; An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and the highly anticipated The Battle of the Five Armies. Each for one year, starting on 2012 and ending on december 2014. The first two movies have made better numbers that the first 2 LOTR movies but, they haven’t had the same reception with the critics.
I am a huge fan of both sagas and I have seen each Movie twice on the cinema, so it is no surprise that for me, The Battle of the Five Armies is the movie I have been waiting the most for 2014. Once I said that, I can give an opinion; There will be more movies from the universe of Tolkien. The formula has proved to be successful and the fan base is huge and loyal, so WB will continue giving until there is no more to offer and in that moment… it will be time for reboot.
As long as they continue making High-Quality, entertaining, spectacular and great movies I, and New Zealand, will agree that the adaptations should continue. I can’t guarantee the quality will remain, but I can guarantee the formula still has a lot to offer.
-W
