UNITED KINGDOM: BRITISH FILM PREMIERE OF THE FIRST PART OF PETER JACKSON'S "LORD OF THE RINGS" TRILOGY " FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING"

Record ID: 392433

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: BRITISH FILM PREMIERE OF THE FIRST PART OF PETER JACKSON'S "LORD OF THE RINGS" TRILOGY " FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING"
  • Date: 11th December 2001
  • Summary: LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 10, 2001) (REUTERS) WIDE OF CROWD AND MEDIA OUTSIDE ODEON LEICESTER SQUARE SCU LORD OF THE RINGS BANNER OVER ODEON LEICESTER SQUARE SLV ACTOR JOHN RHYS-DAVIES ARRIVING SLV CHRISTOPHER LEE ARRIVING VARIOUS, BILLY BOYD (PIPPIN OR PEREGRIN TOOK) ARRIVING AND SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS (3 SHOTS) SLV/ SCU (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) DOMINIC MONAGHAN (MERRY OR MERIADOC BRANDYBUCK) ARRIVING AND SAYING "It's great man, it's a great night. It's the accumulation of all the things we've done for the past two years so we're really excited." SLV ELIJAH WOOD (FRODO BAGGINS) ARRIVING WIDE OF , ELIJAH WOOD, BILLY BOYD, DOMINIC MONAGHAN - TEAM OF HOBBITS - POSING FOR CAMERAS SLV DIRECTOR PETER JACKSON ARRIVING SMV /SLV HUGO WEAVING (ELROND) ARRIVING QUEEN MUSICIAN BRIAN MAY (CURLY HAIR) ARRIVING VARIOUS, LIV TYLER (ARWEN) ARRIVING AND HUGGING AND GREETING IAN MCKELLEN (GANDALF) (3 SHOTS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAN MCKELLEN WAVING STONE ON CHAIN AT CAMERA AND SAYING "Yes, once I met Peter Jackson who's a man of such enormous determination and talent. And he put together such a fabulous team and there's no doubt, it's his dream and it's come true." SLV ORLANDO BLOOM (LEGOLAS) ARRIVING SLV RICHARD E. GRANT ARRIVING WITH DAUGHTER SLV/SCU SEAN BEAN (BOROMIR) ARRIVING AND WALKING OVER TO CAMERAS SCU ENYA ARRIVING (SINGS ON SOUNDTRACK) SLV DOUGRAY SCOTT ARRIVING SLV BOB GELDOF ARRIVING SLV MARIE HELVIN ARRIVING SLV RUBY WAX ARRIVING
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8Z0EL7HIUI1B5FT3XND2M7SO6
  • Story Text: The magic of Middle-Earth came to London's Leicester Square on Monday night as the first installment of Peter Jackson's epic 3-hour adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings received its world premiere.
    The epic "Lord of the Rings" film was launched at a glitzy world premiere on Monday with critics already hailing the mammoth fantasy as a masterpiece.
    The J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy that attracted at least 100 million readers over the last half century has been turned into three movies costing $270 million and taken New Zealand director Peter Jackson 18 grueling months to film with a cast of 2,400.
    "Fellowship of the Ring" is the first of the three films to be released every Christmas for the next three years and showbusiness razzmatazz reigned supreme at the London premiere.
    The film looks set to propel its diminutive hero, American actor Elijah Wood, to international stardom. Hollywood veterans such as Liv Tyler and British horror star Christopher Lee were on hand to watch Wood's turn as Tolkien's Frodo Baggins thrust him into the firmament.
    "I actually didn't know very much about Tolkien at all so I was floored when it happened!" said Liv Tyler of when she landed the part of elf-maiden Arwen Undomiel.
    Elijah Wood, on the other hand, got the part of Frodo Baggins after much research and passion for Tolkien's creation: "I made my own video tape, I just felt like doing my own tape would be something a little special. So I did my own tape, I got a hobbit costume, I went into the woods and filmed those scenes and sent it to Peter."
    Ian McKellen made a special trip back to London from New York where he's currently appearing on Broadway with Helen Mirren in Strindberg's Dance of Death. Cate Blanchett, who plays Galadriel, could not attend the premiere as she has just had a baby.
    The film, a dark tale of the fight between good and evil played out by hobbits, elves, wizards and orcs, could go head to head with another magical mystery tale -- "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" -- when it is released on December
    But both films faced an equally tough time -- convincing readers, movie fans and film moguls that they could pull off the celluloid trick.
    The first "Lord of the Rings" feedback from critics was euphoric.
    "The movie works. It has real passion," Newsweek declared.
    "I really got a sense of awe and grandeur," said the film critic for Entertainment Weekly. "The effects are blended in extremely well with the fabric of the movie," Variety said.
    Jackson said he did feel nervous about how the public would receive the film but was heartened by the early reviews.
    "I'll be relieved to have people finally see the film because it has been the buzz on the Internet, there have been spies (on set), it has been gossip and rumour for three years now," he told Reuters.
    "Three years is too long. People have just got to see it.
    It is just a movie and it needs to have an identity as a film now and not as this Internet buzz. I'll be relieved when it is out there."
    Christopher Lee, who plays the fallen wizard Saruman, said he was seeing the film for the first time at the premiere but was confident it was going to be fantastic.
    The 79-year-old veteran called Jackson one of the greatest film directors of the age. "Someone asked me what my greatest ambition in life is and I replied that it was to live to see the third film," Lee said. Wood said the film was breathtaking and he hoped it would inspire a whole new generation to read the books.
    "I love it, I think it is wonderful. Everyone involved has done such beautiful work."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register