USA: AMERICAN FANS WAIT FOR RELEASE OF MOVIE TRAILER FOR CULT BOOK "LORD OF THE RINGS"

Record ID: 390664

  • Title: USA: AMERICAN FANS WAIT FOR RELEASE OF MOVIE TRAILER FOR CULT BOOK "LORD OF THE RINGS"
  • Date: 12th January 2001
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 12, 2001) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) MCSWEENY SAYING "I think New Line's smart to make the trailers available on the Internet. When "Star Wars" did that it was a news story just because of how many downloads there were in an evening. Same thing has happened with "Lord of the Rings." There's that much attention that p
  • Embargoed: 27th January 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA732J72HIU8PM1CDKH03M7YIKM
  • Story Text: A small group of rabid fans spent a night in the rain to be the first to see New Line Cinema's "Lord of the Rings"
    theatrical trailer at a Los Angeles movie theater Friday (January 12).
    While uncharacteristically cold and wet weather kept many fans at bay, those who made it are looking forward to the movie event of their lives when "Lord of the Rings" hits theaters this Christmas.
    New Line Cinema unveiled the first theatrical teaser trailer for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy on January 12, 2001. The trailer will be attached exclusively to prints of New Line's political thriller, ``Thirteen Days.'' More than a dozen "Ring" fans, like 23-year-old Jon Cline and 28-year-old Marcus Watson, camped outside an AMC theater overnight to see the less-than 2 minute trailer.
    "Just the idea of bringing this vivid imagery that's been so engrained in people who've read these books 5,6,7,8 times and feel like they identify with certain characters, seeing this imagery on film is very exciting," said Cline.
    "The following for "Lord of the Rings" is probably as big, at least almost as big I think, as "Star Wars." But, the fans don't get as much publicity," said Watson.
    "But, now it's going to be different with the movies coming out."
    In addition, New Line also formally re-launched its ``The Lord of the Rings'' website at www.lordoftherings.net. With worldwide appeal for the project at a fevered pitch, the newly re-launched site will be available internationally and translated into no less than 10 languages, including German, French, Italian, Flemmish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Japanese, Spanish, and Finnish. Also in the coming weeks, New Line will post ``The Lord of the Rings'' theatrical poster online and distribute the one-sheet via e-mail to millions of users along with an audio file announcing the release of the new theatrical trailer.
    Generations of more than 50 million people around the globe have read the epic novel. The legend has been translated into dozens of different languages and inspired an entire genre of movies and fiction. Just last year, "The Lord of the Rings" was named the number one most popular book of the century, but it has never been told in its entirety on the screen.
    According to Drew McWeeny, known as Moriarty on Ain't-It-Cool-News.com where he's the West Coast editor, the combination of fan fervor and Internet marketing is the right move for New Line.
    "I think New Line's smart to make the trailers available on the Internet," said McWeeny. "When "Star Wars" did that it was a news story just because of how many downloads there were in an evening. Same thing has happened with "Lord of the Rings." There's that much attention that people are paying to it. When you get 3 or 4 million people coming to a site in an evening to download a trailer, that indicates that definitely there's a rabid fan base and they want it and they want to see the images now."
    Beginning on December 19, 2001, New Line will present the trilogy in live-action feature films -- ``The Fellowship of the Ring" (December 2001), ``The Two Towers'' (December 2002) and ``The Return of the King'' (December 2003).
    ``The Lord of the Rings'' will collectively retell the story of Frodo Baggins, who battles against the Dark Lord, Sauron to save Middle-earth from the grip of evil. In the films, Frodo and The Fellowship embarks on a desperate journey to rid the earth of the source of Sauron's greatest strength, the One Ring -- a ring of such power that it cannot be destroyed. His extraordinary adventures across the treacherous landscape of Middle-earth reveal how the power of friendship and courage can hold the forces of darkness at bay.
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