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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Jackson
Screenplay by	Fran Walsh Philippa Boyens Peter Jackson
Based on	The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
Produced by	Barrie M. Osborne Peter Jackson Fran Walsh Tim Sanders
Starring	Elijah Wood Ian McKellen Liv Tyler Viggo Mortensen Sean Astin Cate Blanchett John Rhys-Davies Billy Boyd Dominic Monaghan Orlando Bloom Christopher Lee Hugo Weaving Sean Bean Ian Holm Andy Serkis
Cinematography	Andrew Lesnie
Edited by	John Gilbert
Music by	Howard Shore
Production companies	New Line Cinema[1] WingNut Films[1]
Distributed by	New Line Cinema[1]
Release dates	10 December 2001 (Odeon Leicester Square) 19 December 2001 (United States) 20 December 2001 (New Zealand)
Running time	178 minutes[2]
Countries	New Zealand[1] United States[1]
Language	English
Budget	$93 million[3]
Box office	$897.7 million[4]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson, based on 1954’s The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The film is the first installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, and Andy Serkis.

Set in Middle-earth, the story tells of the Dark Lord Sauron, who seeks the One Ring, which contains part of his might, to return to power. The Ring has found its way to the young hobbit Frodo Baggins. The fate of Middle-earth hangs in the balance as Frodo and eight companions (who form the Fellowship of the Ring) begin their journey to Mount Doom in the land of Mordor, the only place where the Ring can be destroyed. The Fellowship of the Ring was financed and distributed by American studio New Line Cinema, but filmed and edited entirely in Jackson’s native New Zealand, concurrently with the other two parts of the trilogy.

It premiered on 10 December 2001 at the Odeon Leicester Square in London, and was then released on 19 December in the United States and on 20 December in New Zealand. The film was acclaimed by critics and fans alike, who considered it to be a landmark in filmmaking and an achievement in the fantasy film genre. It received praise for its visual effects, performances, Jackson’s direction, screenplay, musical score, and faithfulness to the source material. It grossed over $880 million worldwide in its initial release, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2001 and the fifth highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release.^[5] Following subsequent reissues, it has as of 2021 grossed over $897 million.^[4] Like its successors, The Fellowship of the Ring is widely recognized as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. The film received numerous accolades; at the 74th Academy Awards, it was nominated for thirteen awards, including Best Picture, winning for Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects.

In 2007, the American Film Institute named it one of the 100 greatest American films in history, being both the most recent film and the only film released in the 21st century to make it to the list. In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being «culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant».^[6] Two sequels, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, followed in 2002 and 2003, respectively.

Plot[edit]

In the Second Age of Middle-earth, the lords of Elves, Dwarves, and Men are given Rings of Power. Unbeknownst to them, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring in Mount Doom, instilling into it a great part of his power, to dominate the other Rings to conquer Middle-earth. A final alliance of Men and Elves battles Sauron’s forces in Mordor. Isildur of Gondor severs Sauron’s finger and the Ring with it, thereby vanquishing Sauron and returning him to spirit form. With Sauron’s first defeat, the Third Age of Middle-earth begins. The Ring’s influence corrupts Isildur, who takes it for himself and is later killed by Orcs. The Ring is lost in a river for 2,500 years until it is found by Gollum, who owns it for over four and a half centuries. The ring abandons Gollum and it is subsequently found by a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who is unaware of its history.

Sixty years later, Bilbo celebrates his 111th birthday in the Shire, reuniting with his old friend, the wizard Gandalf the Grey. Bilbo departs the Shire for one last adventure, and he leaves his inheritance, including the Ring, to his nephew Frodo. Gandalf investigates the Ring, discovers its true nature, and learns that Gollum was captured and tortured by Sauron’s Orcs, revealing two words during his interrogation: «Shire» and «Baggins.» Gandalf returns and warns Frodo to leave the Shire. As Frodo departs with his friend, gardener Samwise Gamgee, Gandalf rides to Isengard to meet with the wizard Saruman, but discovers his betrayal and alliance with Sauron, who has dispatched his nine undead Nazgûl servants to find Frodo.

Frodo and Sam are joined by fellow hobbits Merry and Pippin, and they evade the Nazgûl before arriving in Bree, where they are meant to meet Gandalf. However, Gandalf never arrives, having been taken prisoner by Saruman. The hobbits are then aided by a Ranger named Strider, who promises to escort them to Rivendell; however, they are ambushed by the Nazgûl on Weathertop, and their leader, the Witch-King, stabs Frodo with a Morgul blade. Arwen, an Elf and Strider’s beloved, locates Strider and rescues Frodo, summoning flood-waters that sweep the Nazgûl away. She takes him to Rivendell, where he is healed by the Elves. Frodo meets with Gandalf, who escaped Isengard on a Great Eagle. That night, Strider reunites with Arwen, and they affirm their love for each other.

Learning of Saruman’s betrayal from Gandalf and now realizing that they are facing threats from both Sauron and Saruman, Arwen’s father, Lord Elrond, decides against keeping the Ring in Rivendell. He holds a council of Elves, Men, and Dwarves, also attended by Frodo and Gandalf, that decides the Ring must be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, accompanied by Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Elf Legolas, Dwarf Gimli, Boromir of Gondor, and Strider—who is actually Aragorn, Isildur’s heir and the rightful King of Gondor. Bilbo, now living in Rivendell, gives Frodo his sword Sting, and a chainmail shirt made of mithril.

The Fellowship of the Ring makes for the Gap of Rohan, but discover it is being watched by Saruman’s spies. They instead set off over the mountain pass of Caradhras, but Saruman summons a storm that forces them to travel through the Mines of Moria. After finding the Dwarves of Moria dead, the Fellowship is attacked by Orcs and a cave troll. They hold them off but are confronted by Durin’s Bane: a Balrog residing within the mines. While the others escape, Gandalf fends off the Balrog and casts it into a vast chasm, but the Balrog drags Gandalf down into the darkness with him. The devastated Fellowship reaches Lothlórien, ruled by the Elf-queen Galadriel, who privately informs Frodo that only he can complete the quest and that one of the Fellowship will try to take the Ring. She also shows him a vision of the future in which Sauron succeeds in enslaving Middle-earth, including the Shire. Meanwhile, Saruman creates an army of Uruk-hai in Isengard to find and kill the Fellowship.

The Fellowship travels by river to Parth Galen. Frodo wanders off and is confronted by Boromir, who, as Lady Galadriel had warned, tries to take the Ring. Uruk-hai scouts then ambush the Fellowship; their leader, Lurtz, mortally wounds Boromir as he fails to stop them from taking Merry and Pippin as prisoners. Aragorn arrives and kills Lurtz before comforting Boromir as he dies, promising to help the people of Gondor in the coming conflict. Fearing the Ring will corrupt his friends, Frodo decides to travel to Mordor alone, but allows Sam to come along, recalling his promise to Gandalf to look after him. As Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli set out to rescue Merry and Pippin, Frodo and Sam make their way down the mountain pass of Emyn Muil, journeying on to Mordor.

Cast[edit]

Before filming began on 11 October 1999, the principal actors trained for six weeks in sword fighting (with Bob Anderson), riding and boating. Jackson hoped such activities would allow the cast to bond so chemistry would be evident on screen as well as getting them used to life in Wellington.^[7] They were also trained to pronounce Tolkien’s verses properly.^[8] After the shoot, the nine cast members playing the Fellowship got a tattoo, the Elvish symbol for the number nine, with the exception of John Rhys-Davies, whose stunt double got the tattoo instead.^[9] The film is noted for having an ensemble cast,^[10] and some of the cast and their respective characters include:

• Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: A young hobbit who inherits the One Ring from his uncle Bilbo. Wood was the first actor to be cast on 7 July 1999.^[11] Wood was a fan of the book, and he sent in an audition dressed as Frodo, reading lines from the novel.^[12] Wood was selected from 150 actors who auditioned.^[13] Jake Gyllenhaal unsuccessfully auditioned for the role.^[14]
• Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey: An Istari wizard and mentor to Frodo. Sean Connery was approached for the role, but did not understand the plot,^[12] while Patrick Stewart turned it down as he disliked the script.^[15] Patrick McGoohan was also offered the role, but turned it down due to health issues.^[16] Christopher Plummer also turned down the role.^[17] Sam Neill was also offered the role but declined due to his scheduling conflict with Jurassic Park III. Before being cast, McKellen had to sort his schedule with 20th Century Fox as there was a two-month overlap with X-Men.^[13] He enjoyed playing Gandalf the Grey more than his transformed state in the next two films,^[9] and based his accent on Tolkien. Unlike his on-screen character, McKellen did not spend much time with the actors playing the Hobbits; instead he worked with their scale doubles.^[7]
• Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn «Strider» Elessar II: A Dúnedain ranger and heir to Gondor’s throne. Daniel Day-Lewis was offered the part at the beginning of pre-production, but turned it down.^[18] Nicolas Cage also received an offer, declining because of «family obligations»,^[19] while Vin Diesel, a fan of the book, auditioned for Aragorn.^{[citation needed]} Stuart Townsend was cast in the role, before being replaced during filming when Jackson realised he was too young.^[12] Russell Crowe was considered as a replacement, but he turned it down because he does not want to be typecast and believed it to be a similar role in Gladiator.^[12] Day-Lewis was offered the role for a second time, but declined again.^[18] Executive Producer Mark Ordesky saw Mortensen in a play. Mortensen’s son, a fan of the book, convinced him to take the role.^[7] Mortensen read the book on the plane, received a crash course lesson in fencing from Bob Anderson and began filming the scenes on Weathertop.^[20] Mortensen became a hit with the crew by patching up his costume^[21] and carrying his «hero» sword around with him off-camera.^[7]
• Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee: Better known as Sam, a hobbit gardener and Frodo’s best friend. Astin, who had recently become a father, bonded with the 18-year-old Wood in a protective manner, which mirrored Sam’s relationship with Frodo.^[7]
• Sean Bean as Boromir: A son of the Stewards of Gondor who journeys with the Fellowship towards Mordor. Bruce Willis, a fan of the book, expressed interest in the role, while Liam Neeson was sent the script, but passed.^[12]
• Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took: Better known as Pippin, an extremely foolish hobbit who is a distant cousin of Frodo and travels with the Fellowship on their journey to Mordor.
• Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck: Better known as Merry, a distant cousin of Frodo. Monaghan was cast as Merry after auditioning for Frodo.^[12]
• John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: A dwarf warrior who accompanies the Fellowship to Mordor after they set out from Rivendell. Billy Connolly, who was considered for the part of Gimli, would later portray Dáin II Ironfoot in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy.^[12] Rhys-Davies wore heavy prosthetics to play Gimli, which limited his vision, and eventually he developed eczema around his eyes.^[7] Rhys-Davies also played Gimli’s father Glóin during the scene where the fellowship is forged.
• Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf: A prince of the elves’ Woodland Realm and a skilled archer. Bloom initially auditioned for Faramir, who appears in the second film, a role which went to David Wenham.^[12]
• Liv Tyler as Arwen Undómiel: An elf of Rivendell and Aragorn’s lover. The filmmakers approached Tyler after seeing her performance in Plunkett & Macleane, and New Line Cinema leaped at the opportunity of having one Hollywood star in the film. Actress Helena Bonham Carter had expressed interest in the role.^[12] Tyler came to shoot on short occasions, unlike the rest of the actors. She was one of the last actors to be cast, on 25 August 1999.^[22]
• Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: The elven co-ruler of Lothlórien alongside her husband Celeborn. Lucy Lawless was considered for the role.^[23]
• Christopher Lee as Saruman the White: The fallen head of the Istari Order who succumbs to Sauron’s will through his use of the palantír. Lee was a major fan of the book, and read it once a year. He had also met J. R. R. Tolkien.^[20] He originally auditioned for Gandalf, but was judged too old.^[12]
• Hugo Weaving as Elrond: The Elven-Lord of Rivendell who leads the Council of Elrond, which ultimately decides to destroy the Ring. David Bowie expressed interest in the role, but Jackson stated, «To have a famous, beloved character and a famous star colliding is slightly uncomfortable.»^[13]
• Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins: Frodo’s uncle who gives him the Ring after he decides to retire to Rivendell. Holm previously played Frodo in a 1981 radio adaption of The Lord of the Rings, and was cast as Bilbo after Jackson remembered his performance.^[12] Sylvester McCoy, who would later play Radagast the Brown Wizard in The Hobbit, was contacted about playing the role, and was kept in place as a potential Bilbo for six months before Jackson went with Holm.^[24]
• Andy Serkis as Gollum (voice/motion-capture): A wretched hobbit-like creature whose mind was poisoned by the Ring after bearing it for 500 years. This character appears briefly in the prologue. In Mordor, one can only hear his voice shouting and in Moria, only his eyes and his nose appear. Serkis was working on the 1999 six-episode Oliver Twist miniseries when his agent told him that Jackson wanted to approach him to play Gollum. Despite ultimately accepting the role, Serkis was initially doubtful about taking the part as one of his Oliver Twist fellow actors opined that it wasn’t a good idea if his face wasn’t going to appear onscreen, aside that Jackson was unsure if Gollum could be portrayed with motion-capture performance as they wished.^[25]

The cast also includes:^{[citation needed]}

• Sala Baker as Sauron the Deceiver:^[26] The Dark Lord of Mordor and the One Ring’s true master who manifests as an Eye after the destruction of his physical form.
• Marton Csokas as Celeborn the Wise: The Elven-Lord of Lothlórien and Galadriel’s husband.
• Lawrence Makoare as Lurtz: The commander of Saruman’s Uruk-Hai forces.
• Craig Parker as Haldir: The leader of the Galadhrim warriors guarding the border of Lothlórien.
• Mark Ferguson as Ereinion Gil-galad: The last Elven-King of the Noldor.
• Peter McKenzie as Elendil the Tall: The last High King of Arnor and Gondor.
• Harry Sinclair as Isildur: Elendil’s son and Aragorn’s ancestor who originally defeated Sauron.

Comparison with the source material[edit]

Jackson, Walsh and Boyens made numerous changes to the story, for purposes of pacing and character development. Jackson said his main desire was to make a film focused primarily on Frodo and the Ring, the «backbone» of the story.^[27] The prologue condenses Tolkien’s backstory, in which The Last Alliance’s seven-year siege of the Barad-dûr is a single battle, where Sauron is shown to explode, though Tolkien only said his spirit flees.^[28]

Some events from the book are condensed or omitted at the beginning of the film. The time between Gandalf leaving the Ring to Frodo and returning to reveal its inscription, which is 17 years in the book, is compressed for timing reasons. The filmmakers also decided to move the opening scenes of The Two Towers, the Uruk-hai ambush and Boromir’s death, to the film’s linear climax.^[27]

The tone of the Moria sequence was altered. In the book, following the defeat on the Caradhras road, Gandalf advocates the Moria road against the resistance of the rest of the Fellowship (save Gimli), suggesting «there is a hope that Moria is still free…there is even a chance that Dwarves are there,» though no one seems to think this likely. Frodo proposes they take a company vote, but the discovery of Wargs on their trail forces them to accept Gandalf’s proposal. They only realize the Dwarves are all dead once they reach Balin’s tomb. The filmmakers chose instead for Gandalf to resist the Moria plan as a foreshadowing device. Gandalf says to Gimli he would prefer not to enter Moria, and Saruman is shown to be aware of Gandalf’s hesitance, revealing an illustration of the Balrog in one of his books. The corpses of the dwarves are instantly shown as the Fellowship enter Moria.^[30] One detail that many critics commented upon is that, in the novel, Pippin tosses a mere pebble into the well in Moria («They then hear what sounds like a hammer tapping in the distance»), whereas in the film, he knocks an entire skeleton in («Next, the skeleton … falls down the well, also dragging down a chain and bucket. The noise is incredible.»).^{[31][32][33][34][35]}

When Frodo is struck by a Nazgûl at Weathertop, in the book, the elf Glorfindel rides him to Rivendell, whereas in the film, Arwen takes on this role.

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

Director Peter Jackson began working with Christian Rivers to storyboard the series in August 1997, as well as getting Richard Taylor and Weta Workshop to begin creating his interpretation of Middle-earth.^[36] Jackson told them to make Middle-earth as plausible and believable as possible, and to think of it in a historical manner.^[37]

In November,^[37] Alan Lee and John Howe became the film trilogy’s primary conceptual designers, having had previous experience as illustrators for the book and various other tie-ins. Lee worked for the Art Department creating places such as Rivendell, Isengard, Moria, and Lothlórien, giving Art Nouveau and geometry influences to the Elves and Dwarves respectively.^[37][38] Though Howe contributed with Bag End and the Argonath,^[37][38] he focused on the design of the characters’ armour, having studied it his entire life.^[39] Weta and the Art Department continued to design, with Grant Major turning the Art Department’s designs into architecture, and Dan Hennah scouting locations.^[37] On 1 April 1999, Ngila Dickson joined the crew as costume designer. She and 40 seamstresses would create 19,000 costumes, 40 per version for the actor and their doubles, wearing them out for an impression of age.^[21]

Filming locations[edit]

Filming took place in various locations across New Zealand. A list of filming locations, sorted by appearance order in the film:^[40][41]

Fictional location	Specific location in New Zealand	General area in New Zealand
Mordor (Prologue)	Whakapapa skifield	Tongariro National Park
Hobbiton	Matamata	Waikato
Gardens of Isengard	Harcourt Park	Upper Hutt
The Shire woods	Otaki Gorge Road	Kapiti Coast District
Bucklebury Ferry	Keeling Farm, Manakau	Horowhenua
Forest near Bree	Takaka Hill	Nelson
Trollshaws	Waitarere Forest	Horowhenua
Flight to the Ford	Tarras	Central Otago
Ford of Bruinen	Arrow River, Skippers Canyon	Queenstown and Arrowtown
Rivendell	Kaitoke Regional Park	Upper Hutt
Eregion	Mount Olympus	Nelson
Dead Marshes	Kepler Mire	Southland
Dimrill Dale	Lake Alta	The Remarkables
Dimrill Dale	Mount Owen	Nelson
Lothlórien	Paradise	Glenorchy
River Anduin	Upper Waiau River	Fiordland National Park
River Anduin	Rangitikei River	Rangitikei District
River Anduin	Poets’ Corner	Upper Hutt
Parth Galen	Paradise	Glenorchy
Amon Hen	Mavora Lakes, Paradise and Closeburn	Southern Lakes

Special effects[edit]

The Fellowship of the Ring makes extensive use of digital, practical and make-up special effects. One notable illusion used in almost every scene involved setting a proper scale so that the characters all appear to be the correct height. For example, Elijah Wood is 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall in real life, but his character, Frodo Baggins, is barely four feet in height. A variety of techniques were used to depict the hobbits and Gimli the Dwarf as being of diminutive stature. Fortunately, John-Rhys Davies – who played Gimli – happens to be the correct height in proportion to the hobbit actors, so did not need to be filmed separately as a third height variation. Large- and small-scale doubles were used in certain scenes, while entire duplicates of certain sets (including Bag End in Hobbiton) were built at two different scales, so that the characters would appear to be the appropriate size. At one point in the film, Frodo runs along a corridor in Bag End, followed by Gandalf. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen were filmed in separate versions of the same corridor, built at two different scales, and a fast camera pan conceals the edit between the two. Forced perspective was also employed, so that it would look as though the short hobbits were interacting with taller Men and Elves. Even the simple use of kneeling down, to the filmmakers’ surprise, turned out to be an effective method in creating the illusion.

For the battle between the Last Alliance and Sauron’s forces that begins the film, an elaborate CGI animation system, called MASSIVE, was developed by Stephen Regelous; it allowed thousands of individual animated characters, or «agents» in the program, to act independently. This lent the illusion of realism to the battle sequences. The «Making of» Lord of the Rings DVD reports some interesting initial problems: for instance, in the first execution of a battle between groups of characters, the wrong groups attacked each other. In another early demo, some of the warriors at the edge of the field could be seen running away. They were initially moving in the wrong direction, and had been programmed to keep running until they encountered an enemy.

The digital creatures were important due to Jackson’s requirement of biological plausibility. Their surface texture was scanned from large maquettes before numerous digital details of their skeletons and muscles were added. In the case of the Balrog, Gray Horsfield created a system that copied recorded imagery of fire.

Score[edit]

James Horner turned down the offer to compose the score.^[42] The musical score for The Lord of the Rings films was composed by Howard Shore. It was performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Voices, The London Oratory School Schola, and the Maori Samoan Choir, and featured several vocal soloists. Shore wrote almost four hours of finalized music for the film (of which just over three hours are used as underscore), featuring a number of non-orchestral instruments, and a large number (49–62) of leitmotives.

Two original songs, «Aníron» and the end title theme «May It Be», were composed and sung by Enya, who allowed her label, Reprise Records, to release the soundtrack to The Fellowship of the Ring and its two sequels. In addition to these, Shore composed «In Dreams», which was sung by Edward Ross of the London Oratory School Schola.

Release[edit]

Theatrical[edit]

The world premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring was held at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 10 December 2001. It was released on Wednesday, 19 December 2001 internationally in most major territories on 10,000 screens.^[43] It opened in New Zealand on 20 December.

Marketing[edit]

A special featurette trailer was released in 2000. The trilogy sizzle reel was shown before Thirteen Days and the teaser trailer before Pearl Harbor. The theatrical trailer was attached with the television premiere of Angel and before Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Both trailers appeared as easter eggs on the Rush Hour 2 and Little Nicky DVD and VHS.

Home media[edit]

The Fellowship of the Ring was released on VHS and DVD on 6 August 2002.^[44] It was the best-selling DVD release at the time with 14.5 million copies being sold. This record was dethroned by Finding Nemo the following year.^[45]

Theatrical and extended release[edit]

On 12 November 2002, an extended edition was released on VHS and DVD, with 30 minutes of new material, added special effects and music, plus 19 minutes of fan-club credits, totaling to 228 minutes.^[46][47][48] The DVD set included four commentaries and over three hours of supplementary material.

On 29 August 2006, a limited edition of The Fellowship of the Ring was released on DVD. The set included both the film’s theatrical and extended editions on a double-sided disc along with all-new bonus material.

Blu-ray edition[edit]

The theatrical Blu-ray version of The Lord of the Rings was released in the United States on 6 April 2010. There were two separate sets: one with digital copies and one without.^[49] The individual Blu-ray disc of The Fellowship of the Ring was released on 14 September 2010 with the same special features as the complete trilogy release, except there was no digital copy.^[50]

The extended Blu-ray editions were released in the US on 28 June 2011.^[51] This version has a runtime of 238 minutes^[47][52] (the extended editions include the names of all fan club members at the time of their release; the additional 9 minutes in the Blu-ray version are because of expanded member rolls, not any additional story material).

The Fellowship of the Ring was released in Ultra HD Blu-ray on 30 November 2020 in the United Kingdom and on 1 December 2020 in the United States, along with the other films of the trilogy, including both the theatrical and the extended editions of the films.^[53]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

On its opening day, it grossed $18.2 million in the United States and Canada from 3,359 cinemas and $11.5 million in 13 countries, including $3 million from 466 screens in the United Kingdom.^[3][54] It grossed $75.1 million in its first five days in the United States and Canada, including $47.2 million on its opening weekend, placing it at number one at the US box office, setting a December opening record, beating Ocean’s Eleven.^[55][3]

The film also opened at number one in 29 international markets and remained there for a second week in all but the Netherlands. It set a record opening day gross in Australia with $2.09 million from 405 screens, beating the record $1.3 million set by Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. It had a record opening weekend in Germany with 1.5 million admissions and in Spain with a gross of $5.3 million from 395 screens. It also grossed a record $2.5 million in 15 days in New Zealand.^[56] This record would last for less than a decade before being surpassed by Avatar.^[57] In its first 15 days, it had grossed $183.5 million internationally and $178.7 million in the United States and Canada for a worldwide total of $362.2 million.^[56][3]

In its initial release, it went on to gross $313.4 million in the United States and Canada and $547.2 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $860.5 million.^[5] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 54 million tickets in the US and Canada in its initial theatrical run.^[58] Following subsequent reissues, the film has grossed $315.7 million in the United States and Canada and $581.9 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $897.7 million.^[3]

Critical response[edit]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 234 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website’s critics consensus reads, «Full of eye-popping special effects, and featuring a pitch-perfect cast, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring brings J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic to vivid life.»^[59] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 92 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating «universal acclaim».^[60] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of «A−» on an A+ to F scale.^[61]

The Fellowship of the Ring was released to universal critical acclaim. Colin Kennedy for Empire gave the film five stars out of five, writing «Brooking no argument, history should quickly regard Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring as the first instalment of the best fantasy epic in motion picture history… Putting formula blockbusters to shame, Fellowship is impeccably cast and constructed with both care and passion: this is a labour of love that never feels laboured. Emotional range and character depth ultimately take us beyond genre limitations…»^[62] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars and stating that while it is not «a true visualization of Tolkien’s Middle-earth», it is «a work for, and of, our times. It will be embraced, I suspect, by many Tolkien fans and take on aspects of a cult. It is a candidate for many Oscars. It is an awesome production in its daring and breadth, and there are small touches that are just right».^[63] USA Today also gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, «this movie version of a beloved book should please devotees as well as the uninitiated».^[64] In his review for The New York Times, Elvis Mitchell wrote, «The playful spookiness of Mr. Jackson’s direction provides a lively, light touch, a gesture that doesn’t normally come to mind when Tolkien’s name is mentioned».^[65] Lisa Schwarzbaum for Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A grade and wrote «The cast take to their roles with becoming modesty, certainly, but Jackson also makes it easy for them: His Fellowship flows, never lingering for the sake of admiring its own beauty … Every detail of which engrossed me. I may have never turned a page of Tolkien, but I know enchantment when I see it».^[66] In his review for the BBC, Nev Pierce gave the film four stars out of five, describing it as «Funny, scary, and totally involving», and wrote that Jackson turned «the book’s least screen-worthy volume into a gripping and powerful adventure movie».^[67] In his review for The Guardian, Xan Brooks wrote «Rather than a stand-alone holiday blockbuster, The Fellowship of the Ring offers an epic act one», and commented that the ending was «closer in spirit to an art-house film than a popcorn holiday romp».^[68]

In his review for the New York Post, Lou Lumenick gave the film four stars out of four, praising Jackson’s direction, the casting, the sets, and the score, and describing the film as «the three most exciting hours we’ve seen on a movie screen in years» and «easily one of the year’s best movies».^[69] In her review for The Washington Post, Rita Kempley gave the film five stars out of five, and praised the cast, in particular, «Mortensen, as Strider, is a revelation, not to mention downright gorgeous. And McKellen, carrying the burden of thousands of years’ worth of the fight against evil, is positively Merlinesque».^[70] Time magazine’s Richard Corliss praised Jackson’s work: «His movie achieves what the best fairy tales do: the creation of an alternate world, plausible and persuasive, where the young — and not only the young — can lose themselves. And perhaps, in identifying with the little Hobbit that could, find their better selves».^[71] In his review for The Village Voice, J. Hoberman wrote, «Peter Jackson’s adaptation is certainly successful on its own terms».^[72] Rolling Stone magazine’s Peter Travers wrote, «It’s emotion that makes Fellowship stick hard in the memory… Jackson deserves to revel in his success. He’s made a three-hour film that leaves you wanting more».^[73] A mixed review was written by Peter Bradshaw. Writing for The Guardian, he lauded the art direction and the visual look of the film, but he also commented «there is a strange paucity of plot complication, an absence of anything unfolding, all the more disconcerting because of the clotted and indigestible mythic back story that we have to wade through before anything happens at all». Overall, Bradshaw found the tone of the film too serious and self-important, and wrote «signing up to the movie’s whole hobbity-elvish universe requires a leap of faith… It’s a leap I didn’t feel much like making – and, with two more movie episodes like this on the way, the credibility gap looks wider than ever.»^[74] Jonathan Rosenbaum was also less positive about The Fellowship of the Ring: in his review for the Chicago Reader, he granted that the film was «full of scenic splendors with a fine sense of scale», but he commented that its narrative thrust seemed «relatively pro forma», and that he found the battle scenes boring.^[75]

Accolades[edit]

In 2002, the film won four Academy Awards from thirteen nominations.^[76] The winning categories were for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score. It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ian McKellen), Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song (Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan for «May It Be»), Best Picture, Best Sound (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Gethin Creagh and Hammond Peek), Best Costume Design and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The film won the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It also won Empire readers’ Best Film award, as well as five BAFTAs, including Best Film, the David Lean Award for Best Direction, the Audience Award (voted for by the public), Best Special Effects, and Best Make-up. The film was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight between Gandalf and Saruman.

In June 2008, AFI revealed its «10 Top 10″—the ten best films in ten «classic» American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. The Fellowship of the Ring was acknowledged as the second best film in the fantasy genre.^[77][78] The film was also listed as the 50th best film in the 2007 list AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition).

References[edit]

External links[edit]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Jackson
Screenplay by	Fran Walsh Philippa Boyens Peter Jackson
Based on	The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
Produced by	Barrie M. Osborne Peter Jackson Fran Walsh Tim Sanders
Starring	Elijah Wood Ian McKellen Liv Tyler Viggo Mortensen Sean Astin Cate Blanchett John Rhys-Davies Billy Boyd Dominic Monaghan Orlando Bloom Christopher Lee Hugo Weaving Sean Bean Ian Holm Andy Serkis
Cinematography	Andrew Lesnie
Edited by	John Gilbert
Music by	Howard Shore
Production companies	New Line Cinema[1] WingNut Films[1]
Distributed by	New Line Cinema[1]
Release dates	10 December 2001 (Odeon Leicester Square) 19 December 2001 (United States) 20 December 2001 (New Zealand)
Running time	178 minutes[2]
Countries	New Zealand[1] United States[1]
Language	English
Budget	$93 million[3]
Box office	$897.7 million[4]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson, based on 1954’s The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The film is the first installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, and Andy Serkis.

Set in Middle-earth, the story tells of the Dark Lord Sauron, who seeks the One Ring, which contains part of his might, to return to power. The Ring has found its way to the young hobbit Frodo Baggins. The fate of Middle-earth hangs in the balance as Frodo and eight companions (who form the Fellowship of the Ring) begin their journey to Mount Doom in the land of Mordor, the only place where the Ring can be destroyed. The Fellowship of the Ring was financed and distributed by American studio New Line Cinema, but filmed and edited entirely in Jackson’s native New Zealand, concurrently with the other two parts of the trilogy.

It premiered on 10 December 2001 at the Odeon Leicester Square in London, and was then released on 19 December in the United States and on 20 December in New Zealand. The film was acclaimed by critics and fans alike, who considered it to be a landmark in filmmaking and an achievement in the fantasy film genre. It received praise for its visual effects, performances, Jackson’s direction, screenplay, musical score, and faithfulness to the source material. It grossed over $880 million worldwide in its initial release, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2001 and the fifth highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release.^[5] Following subsequent reissues, it has as of 2021 grossed over $897 million.^[4] Like its successors, The Fellowship of the Ring is widely recognized as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. The film received numerous accolades; at the 74th Academy Awards, it was nominated for thirteen awards, including Best Picture, winning for Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects.

In 2007, the American Film Institute named it one of the 100 greatest American films in history, being both the most recent film and the only film released in the 21st century to make it to the list. In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being «culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant».^[6] Two sequels, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, followed in 2002 and 2003, respectively.

Plot[edit]

In the Second Age of Middle-earth, the lords of Elves, Dwarves, and Men are given Rings of Power. Unbeknownst to them, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring in Mount Doom, instilling into it a great part of his power, to dominate the other Rings to conquer Middle-earth. A final alliance of Men and Elves battles Sauron’s forces in Mordor. Isildur of Gondor severs Sauron’s finger and the Ring with it, thereby vanquishing Sauron and returning him to spirit form. With Sauron’s first defeat, the Third Age of Middle-earth begins. The Ring’s influence corrupts Isildur, who takes it for himself and is later killed by Orcs. The Ring is lost in a river for 2,500 years until it is found by Gollum, who owns it for over four and a half centuries. The ring abandons Gollum and it is subsequently found by a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who is unaware of its history.

Sixty years later, Bilbo celebrates his 111th birthday in the Shire, reuniting with his old friend, the wizard Gandalf the Grey. Bilbo departs the Shire for one last adventure, and he leaves his inheritance, including the Ring, to his nephew Frodo. Gandalf investigates the Ring, discovers its true nature, and learns that Gollum was captured and tortured by Sauron’s Orcs, revealing two words during his interrogation: «Shire» and «Baggins.» Gandalf returns and warns Frodo to leave the Shire. As Frodo departs with his friend, gardener Samwise Gamgee, Gandalf rides to Isengard to meet with the wizard Saruman, but discovers his betrayal and alliance with Sauron, who has dispatched his nine undead Nazgûl servants to find Frodo.

Frodo and Sam are joined by fellow hobbits Merry and Pippin, and they evade the Nazgûl before arriving in Bree, where they are meant to meet Gandalf. However, Gandalf never arrives, having been taken prisoner by Saruman. The hobbits are then aided by a Ranger named Strider, who promises to escort them to Rivendell; however, they are ambushed by the Nazgûl on Weathertop, and their leader, the Witch-King, stabs Frodo with a Morgul blade. Arwen, an Elf and Strider’s beloved, locates Strider and rescues Frodo, summoning flood-waters that sweep the Nazgûl away. She takes him to Rivendell, where he is healed by the Elves. Frodo meets with Gandalf, who escaped Isengard on a Great Eagle. That night, Strider reunites with Arwen, and they affirm their love for each other.

Learning of Saruman’s betrayal from Gandalf and now realizing that they are facing threats from both Sauron and Saruman, Arwen’s father, Lord Elrond, decides against keeping the Ring in Rivendell. He holds a council of Elves, Men, and Dwarves, also attended by Frodo and Gandalf, that decides the Ring must be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, accompanied by Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Elf Legolas, Dwarf Gimli, Boromir of Gondor, and Strider—who is actually Aragorn, Isildur’s heir and the rightful King of Gondor. Bilbo, now living in Rivendell, gives Frodo his sword Sting, and a chainmail shirt made of mithril.

The Fellowship of the Ring makes for the Gap of Rohan, but discover it is being watched by Saruman’s spies. They instead set off over the mountain pass of Caradhras, but Saruman summons a storm that forces them to travel through the Mines of Moria. After finding the Dwarves of Moria dead, the Fellowship is attacked by Orcs and a cave troll. They hold them off but are confronted by Durin’s Bane: a Balrog residing within the mines. While the others escape, Gandalf fends off the Balrog and casts it into a vast chasm, but the Balrog drags Gandalf down into the darkness with him. The devastated Fellowship reaches Lothlórien, ruled by the Elf-queen Galadriel, who privately informs Frodo that only he can complete the quest and that one of the Fellowship will try to take the Ring. She also shows him a vision of the future in which Sauron succeeds in enslaving Middle-earth, including the Shire. Meanwhile, Saruman creates an army of Uruk-hai in Isengard to find and kill the Fellowship.

The Fellowship travels by river to Parth Galen. Frodo wanders off and is confronted by Boromir, who, as Lady Galadriel had warned, tries to take the Ring. Uruk-hai scouts then ambush the Fellowship; their leader, Lurtz, mortally wounds Boromir as he fails to stop them from taking Merry and Pippin as prisoners. Aragorn arrives and kills Lurtz before comforting Boromir as he dies, promising to help the people of Gondor in the coming conflict. Fearing the Ring will corrupt his friends, Frodo decides to travel to Mordor alone, but allows Sam to come along, recalling his promise to Gandalf to look after him. As Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli set out to rescue Merry and Pippin, Frodo and Sam make their way down the mountain pass of Emyn Muil, journeying on to Mordor.

Cast[edit]

Before filming began on 11 October 1999, the principal actors trained for six weeks in sword fighting (with Bob Anderson), riding and boating. Jackson hoped such activities would allow the cast to bond so chemistry would be evident on screen as well as getting them used to life in Wellington.^[7] They were also trained to pronounce Tolkien’s verses properly.^[8] After the shoot, the nine cast members playing the Fellowship got a tattoo, the Elvish symbol for the number nine, with the exception of John Rhys-Davies, whose stunt double got the tattoo instead.^[9] The film is noted for having an ensemble cast,^[10] and some of the cast and their respective characters include:

• Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: A young hobbit who inherits the One Ring from his uncle Bilbo. Wood was the first actor to be cast on 7 July 1999.^[11] Wood was a fan of the book, and he sent in an audition dressed as Frodo, reading lines from the novel.^[12] Wood was selected from 150 actors who auditioned.^[13] Jake Gyllenhaal unsuccessfully auditioned for the role.^[14]
• Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey: An Istari wizard and mentor to Frodo. Sean Connery was approached for the role, but did not understand the plot,^[12] while Patrick Stewart turned it down as he disliked the script.^[15] Patrick McGoohan was also offered the role, but turned it down due to health issues.^[16] Christopher Plummer also turned down the role.^[17] Sam Neill was also offered the role but declined due to his scheduling conflict with Jurassic Park III. Before being cast, McKellen had to sort his schedule with 20th Century Fox as there was a two-month overlap with X-Men.^[13] He enjoyed playing Gandalf the Grey more than his transformed state in the next two films,^[9] and based his accent on Tolkien. Unlike his on-screen character, McKellen did not spend much time with the actors playing the Hobbits; instead he worked with their scale doubles.^[7]
• Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn «Strider» Elessar II: A Dúnedain ranger and heir to Gondor’s throne. Daniel Day-Lewis was offered the part at the beginning of pre-production, but turned it down.^[18] Nicolas Cage also received an offer, declining because of «family obligations»,^[19] while Vin Diesel, a fan of the book, auditioned for Aragorn.^{[citation needed]} Stuart Townsend was cast in the role, before being replaced during filming when Jackson realised he was too young.^[12] Russell Crowe was considered as a replacement, but he turned it down because he does not want to be typecast and believed it to be a similar role in Gladiator.^[12] Day-Lewis was offered the role for a second time, but declined again.^[18] Executive Producer Mark Ordesky saw Mortensen in a play. Mortensen’s son, a fan of the book, convinced him to take the role.^[7] Mortensen read the book on the plane, received a crash course lesson in fencing from Bob Anderson and began filming the scenes on Weathertop.^[20] Mortensen became a hit with the crew by patching up his costume^[21] and carrying his «hero» sword around with him off-camera.^[7]
• Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee: Better known as Sam, a hobbit gardener and Frodo’s best friend. Astin, who had recently become a father, bonded with the 18-year-old Wood in a protective manner, which mirrored Sam’s relationship with Frodo.^[7]
• Sean Bean as Boromir: A son of the Stewards of Gondor who journeys with the Fellowship towards Mordor. Bruce Willis, a fan of the book, expressed interest in the role, while Liam Neeson was sent the script, but passed.^[12]
• Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took: Better known as Pippin, an extremely foolish hobbit who is a distant cousin of Frodo and travels with the Fellowship on their journey to Mordor.
• Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck: Better known as Merry, a distant cousin of Frodo. Monaghan was cast as Merry after auditioning for Frodo.^[12]
• John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: A dwarf warrior who accompanies the Fellowship to Mordor after they set out from Rivendell. Billy Connolly, who was considered for the part of Gimli, would later portray Dáin II Ironfoot in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy.^[12] Rhys-Davies wore heavy prosthetics to play Gimli, which limited his vision, and eventually he developed eczema around his eyes.^[7] Rhys-Davies also played Gimli’s father Glóin during the scene where the fellowship is forged.
• Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf: A prince of the elves’ Woodland Realm and a skilled archer. Bloom initially auditioned for Faramir, who appears in the second film, a role which went to David Wenham.^[12]
• Liv Tyler as Arwen Undómiel: An elf of Rivendell and Aragorn’s lover. The filmmakers approached Tyler after seeing her performance in Plunkett & Macleane, and New Line Cinema leaped at the opportunity of having one Hollywood star in the film. Actress Helena Bonham Carter had expressed interest in the role.^[12] Tyler came to shoot on short occasions, unlike the rest of the actors. She was one of the last actors to be cast, on 25 August 1999.^[22]
• Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: The elven co-ruler of Lothlórien alongside her husband Celeborn. Lucy Lawless was considered for the role.^[23]
• Christopher Lee as Saruman the White: The fallen head of the Istari Order who succumbs to Sauron’s will through his use of the palantír. Lee was a major fan of the book, and read it once a year. He had also met J. R. R. Tolkien.^[20] He originally auditioned for Gandalf, but was judged too old.^[12]
• Hugo Weaving as Elrond: The Elven-Lord of Rivendell who leads the Council of Elrond, which ultimately decides to destroy the Ring. David Bowie expressed interest in the role, but Jackson stated, «To have a famous, beloved character and a famous star colliding is slightly uncomfortable.»^[13]
• Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins: Frodo’s uncle who gives him the Ring after he decides to retire to Rivendell. Holm previously played Frodo in a 1981 radio adaption of The Lord of the Rings, and was cast as Bilbo after Jackson remembered his performance.^[12] Sylvester McCoy, who would later play Radagast the Brown Wizard in The Hobbit, was contacted about playing the role, and was kept in place as a potential Bilbo for six months before Jackson went with Holm.^[24]
• Andy Serkis as Gollum (voice/motion-capture): A wretched hobbit-like creature whose mind was poisoned by the Ring after bearing it for 500 years. This character appears briefly in the prologue. In Mordor, one can only hear his voice shouting and in Moria, only his eyes and his nose appear. Serkis was working on the 1999 six-episode Oliver Twist miniseries when his agent told him that Jackson wanted to approach him to play Gollum. Despite ultimately accepting the role, Serkis was initially doubtful about taking the part as one of his Oliver Twist fellow actors opined that it wasn’t a good idea if his face wasn’t going to appear onscreen, aside that Jackson was unsure if Gollum could be portrayed with motion-capture performance as they wished.^[25]

The cast also includes:^{[citation needed]}

• Sala Baker as Sauron the Deceiver:^[26] The Dark Lord of Mordor and the One Ring’s true master who manifests as an Eye after the destruction of his physical form.
• Marton Csokas as Celeborn the Wise: The Elven-Lord of Lothlórien and Galadriel’s husband.
• Lawrence Makoare as Lurtz: The commander of Saruman’s Uruk-Hai forces.
• Craig Parker as Haldir: The leader of the Galadhrim warriors guarding the border of Lothlórien.
• Mark Ferguson as Ereinion Gil-galad: The last Elven-King of the Noldor.
• Peter McKenzie as Elendil the Tall: The last High King of Arnor and Gondor.
• Harry Sinclair as Isildur: Elendil’s son and Aragorn’s ancestor who originally defeated Sauron.

Comparison with the source material[edit]

Jackson, Walsh and Boyens made numerous changes to the story, for purposes of pacing and character development. Jackson said his main desire was to make a film focused primarily on Frodo and the Ring, the «backbone» of the story.^[27] The prologue condenses Tolkien’s backstory, in which The Last Alliance’s seven-year siege of the Barad-dûr is a single battle, where Sauron is shown to explode, though Tolkien only said his spirit flees.^[28]

Some events from the book are condensed or omitted at the beginning of the film. The time between Gandalf leaving the Ring to Frodo and returning to reveal its inscription, which is 17 years in the book, is compressed for timing reasons. The filmmakers also decided to move the opening scenes of The Two Towers, the Uruk-hai ambush and Boromir’s death, to the film’s linear climax.^[27]

The tone of the Moria sequence was altered. In the book, following the defeat on the Caradhras road, Gandalf advocates the Moria road against the resistance of the rest of the Fellowship (save Gimli), suggesting «there is a hope that Moria is still free…there is even a chance that Dwarves are there,» though no one seems to think this likely. Frodo proposes they take a company vote, but the discovery of Wargs on their trail forces them to accept Gandalf’s proposal. They only realize the Dwarves are all dead once they reach Balin’s tomb. The filmmakers chose instead for Gandalf to resist the Moria plan as a foreshadowing device. Gandalf says to Gimli he would prefer not to enter Moria, and Saruman is shown to be aware of Gandalf’s hesitance, revealing an illustration of the Balrog in one of his books. The corpses of the dwarves are instantly shown as the Fellowship enter Moria.^[30] One detail that many critics commented upon is that, in the novel, Pippin tosses a mere pebble into the well in Moria («They then hear what sounds like a hammer tapping in the distance»), whereas in the film, he knocks an entire skeleton in («Next, the skeleton … falls down the well, also dragging down a chain and bucket. The noise is incredible.»).^{[31][32][33][34][35]}

When Frodo is struck by a Nazgûl at Weathertop, in the book, the elf Glorfindel rides him to Rivendell, whereas in the film, Arwen takes on this role.

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

Director Peter Jackson began working with Christian Rivers to storyboard the series in August 1997, as well as getting Richard Taylor and Weta Workshop to begin creating his interpretation of Middle-earth.^[36] Jackson told them to make Middle-earth as plausible and believable as possible, and to think of it in a historical manner.^[37]

In November,^[37] Alan Lee and John Howe became the film trilogy’s primary conceptual designers, having had previous experience as illustrators for the book and various other tie-ins. Lee worked for the Art Department creating places such as Rivendell, Isengard, Moria, and Lothlórien, giving Art Nouveau and geometry influences to the Elves and Dwarves respectively.^[37][38] Though Howe contributed with Bag End and the Argonath,^[37][38] he focused on the design of the characters’ armour, having studied it his entire life.^[39] Weta and the Art Department continued to design, with Grant Major turning the Art Department’s designs into architecture, and Dan Hennah scouting locations.^[37] On 1 April 1999, Ngila Dickson joined the crew as costume designer. She and 40 seamstresses would create 19,000 costumes, 40 per version for the actor and their doubles, wearing them out for an impression of age.^[21]

Filming locations[edit]

Filming took place in various locations across New Zealand. A list of filming locations, sorted by appearance order in the film:^[40][41]

Fictional location	Specific location in New Zealand	General area in New Zealand
Mordor (Prologue)	Whakapapa skifield	Tongariro National Park
Hobbiton	Matamata	Waikato
Gardens of Isengard	Harcourt Park	Upper Hutt
The Shire woods	Otaki Gorge Road	Kapiti Coast District
Bucklebury Ferry	Keeling Farm, Manakau	Horowhenua
Forest near Bree	Takaka Hill	Nelson
Trollshaws	Waitarere Forest	Horowhenua
Flight to the Ford	Tarras	Central Otago
Ford of Bruinen	Arrow River, Skippers Canyon	Queenstown and Arrowtown
Rivendell	Kaitoke Regional Park	Upper Hutt
Eregion	Mount Olympus	Nelson
Dead Marshes	Kepler Mire	Southland
Dimrill Dale	Lake Alta	The Remarkables
Dimrill Dale	Mount Owen	Nelson
Lothlórien	Paradise	Glenorchy
River Anduin	Upper Waiau River	Fiordland National Park
River Anduin	Rangitikei River	Rangitikei District
River Anduin	Poets’ Corner	Upper Hutt
Parth Galen	Paradise	Glenorchy
Amon Hen	Mavora Lakes, Paradise and Closeburn	Southern Lakes

Special effects[edit]

The Fellowship of the Ring makes extensive use of digital, practical and make-up special effects. One notable illusion used in almost every scene involved setting a proper scale so that the characters all appear to be the correct height. For example, Elijah Wood is 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall in real life, but his character, Frodo Baggins, is barely four feet in height. A variety of techniques were used to depict the hobbits and Gimli the Dwarf as being of diminutive stature. Fortunately, John-Rhys Davies – who played Gimli – happens to be the correct height in proportion to the hobbit actors, so did not need to be filmed separately as a third height variation. Large- and small-scale doubles were used in certain scenes, while entire duplicates of certain sets (including Bag End in Hobbiton) were built at two different scales, so that the characters would appear to be the appropriate size. At one point in the film, Frodo runs along a corridor in Bag End, followed by Gandalf. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen were filmed in separate versions of the same corridor, built at two different scales, and a fast camera pan conceals the edit between the two. Forced perspective was also employed, so that it would look as though the short hobbits were interacting with taller Men and Elves. Even the simple use of kneeling down, to the filmmakers’ surprise, turned out to be an effective method in creating the illusion.

For the battle between the Last Alliance and Sauron’s forces that begins the film, an elaborate CGI animation system, called MASSIVE, was developed by Stephen Regelous; it allowed thousands of individual animated characters, or «agents» in the program, to act independently. This lent the illusion of realism to the battle sequences. The «Making of» Lord of the Rings DVD reports some interesting initial problems: for instance, in the first execution of a battle between groups of characters, the wrong groups attacked each other. In another early demo, some of the warriors at the edge of the field could be seen running away. They were initially moving in the wrong direction, and had been programmed to keep running until they encountered an enemy.

The digital creatures were important due to Jackson’s requirement of biological plausibility. Their surface texture was scanned from large maquettes before numerous digital details of their skeletons and muscles were added. In the case of the Balrog, Gray Horsfield created a system that copied recorded imagery of fire.

Score[edit]

James Horner turned down the offer to compose the score.^[42] The musical score for The Lord of the Rings films was composed by Howard Shore. It was performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Voices, The London Oratory School Schola, and the Maori Samoan Choir, and featured several vocal soloists. Shore wrote almost four hours of finalized music for the film (of which just over three hours are used as underscore), featuring a number of non-orchestral instruments, and a large number (49–62) of leitmotives.

Two original songs, «Aníron» and the end title theme «May It Be», were composed and sung by Enya, who allowed her label, Reprise Records, to release the soundtrack to The Fellowship of the Ring and its two sequels. In addition to these, Shore composed «In Dreams», which was sung by Edward Ross of the London Oratory School Schola.

Release[edit]

Theatrical[edit]

The world premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring was held at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 10 December 2001. It was released on Wednesday, 19 December 2001 internationally in most major territories on 10,000 screens.^[43] It opened in New Zealand on 20 December.

Marketing[edit]

A special featurette trailer was released in 2000. The trilogy sizzle reel was shown before Thirteen Days and the teaser trailer before Pearl Harbor. The theatrical trailer was attached with the television premiere of Angel and before Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Both trailers appeared as easter eggs on the Rush Hour 2 and Little Nicky DVD and VHS.

Home media[edit]

The Fellowship of the Ring was released on VHS and DVD on 6 August 2002.^[44] It was the best-selling DVD release at the time with 14.5 million copies being sold. This record was dethroned by Finding Nemo the following year.^[45]

Theatrical and extended release[edit]

On 12 November 2002, an extended edition was released on VHS and DVD, with 30 minutes of new material, added special effects and music, plus 19 minutes of fan-club credits, totaling to 228 minutes.^[46][47][48] The DVD set included four commentaries and over three hours of supplementary material.

On 29 August 2006, a limited edition of The Fellowship of the Ring was released on DVD. The set included both the film’s theatrical and extended editions on a double-sided disc along with all-new bonus material.

Blu-ray edition[edit]

The theatrical Blu-ray version of The Lord of the Rings was released in the United States on 6 April 2010. There were two separate sets: one with digital copies and one without.^[49] The individual Blu-ray disc of The Fellowship of the Ring was released on 14 September 2010 with the same special features as the complete trilogy release, except there was no digital copy.^[50]

The extended Blu-ray editions were released in the US on 28 June 2011.^[51] This version has a runtime of 238 minutes^[47][52] (the extended editions include the names of all fan club members at the time of their release; the additional 9 minutes in the Blu-ray version are because of expanded member rolls, not any additional story material).

The Fellowship of the Ring was released in Ultra HD Blu-ray on 30 November 2020 in the United Kingdom and on 1 December 2020 in the United States, along with the other films of the trilogy, including both the theatrical and the extended editions of the films.^[53]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

On its opening day, it grossed $18.2 million in the United States and Canada from 3,359 cinemas and $11.5 million in 13 countries, including $3 million from 466 screens in the United Kingdom.^[3][54] It grossed $75.1 million in its first five days in the United States and Canada, including $47.2 million on its opening weekend, placing it at number one at the US box office, setting a December opening record, beating Ocean’s Eleven.^[55][3]

The film also opened at number one in 29 international markets and remained there for a second week in all but the Netherlands. It set a record opening day gross in Australia with $2.09 million from 405 screens, beating the record $1.3 million set by Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. It had a record opening weekend in Germany with 1.5 million admissions and in Spain with a gross of $5.3 million from 395 screens. It also grossed a record $2.5 million in 15 days in New Zealand.^[56] This record would last for less than a decade before being surpassed by Avatar.^[57] In its first 15 days, it had grossed $183.5 million internationally and $178.7 million in the United States and Canada for a worldwide total of $362.2 million.^[56][3]

In its initial release, it went on to gross $313.4 million in the United States and Canada and $547.2 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $860.5 million.^[5] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 54 million tickets in the US and Canada in its initial theatrical run.^[58] Following subsequent reissues, the film has grossed $315.7 million in the United States and Canada and $581.9 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $897.7 million.^[3]

Critical response[edit]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 234 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website’s critics consensus reads, «Full of eye-popping special effects, and featuring a pitch-perfect cast, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring brings J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic to vivid life.»^[59] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 92 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating «universal acclaim».^[60] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of «A−» on an A+ to F scale.^[61]

The Fellowship of the Ring was released to universal critical acclaim. Colin Kennedy for Empire gave the film five stars out of five, writing «Brooking no argument, history should quickly regard Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring as the first instalment of the best fantasy epic in motion picture history… Putting formula blockbusters to shame, Fellowship is impeccably cast and constructed with both care and passion: this is a labour of love that never feels laboured. Emotional range and character depth ultimately take us beyond genre limitations…»^[62] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars and stating that while it is not «a true visualization of Tolkien’s Middle-earth», it is «a work for, and of, our times. It will be embraced, I suspect, by many Tolkien fans and take on aspects of a cult. It is a candidate for many Oscars. It is an awesome production in its daring and breadth, and there are small touches that are just right».^[63] USA Today also gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, «this movie version of a beloved book should please devotees as well as the uninitiated».^[64] In his review for The New York Times, Elvis Mitchell wrote, «The playful spookiness of Mr. Jackson’s direction provides a lively, light touch, a gesture that doesn’t normally come to mind when Tolkien’s name is mentioned».^[65] Lisa Schwarzbaum for Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A grade and wrote «The cast take to their roles with becoming modesty, certainly, but Jackson also makes it easy for them: His Fellowship flows, never lingering for the sake of admiring its own beauty … Every detail of which engrossed me. I may have never turned a page of Tolkien, but I know enchantment when I see it».^[66] In his review for the BBC, Nev Pierce gave the film four stars out of five, describing it as «Funny, scary, and totally involving», and wrote that Jackson turned «the book’s least screen-worthy volume into a gripping and powerful adventure movie».^[67] In his review for The Guardian, Xan Brooks wrote «Rather than a stand-alone holiday blockbuster, The Fellowship of the Ring offers an epic act one», and commented that the ending was «closer in spirit to an art-house film than a popcorn holiday romp».^[68]

In his review for the New York Post, Lou Lumenick gave the film four stars out of four, praising Jackson’s direction, the casting, the sets, and the score, and describing the film as «the three most exciting hours we’ve seen on a movie screen in years» and «easily one of the year’s best movies».^[69] In her review for The Washington Post, Rita Kempley gave the film five stars out of five, and praised the cast, in particular, «Mortensen, as Strider, is a revelation, not to mention downright gorgeous. And McKellen, carrying the burden of thousands of years’ worth of the fight against evil, is positively Merlinesque».^[70] Time magazine’s Richard Corliss praised Jackson’s work: «His movie achieves what the best fairy tales do: the creation of an alternate world, plausible and persuasive, where the young — and not only the young — can lose themselves. And perhaps, in identifying with the little Hobbit that could, find their better selves».^[71] In his review for The Village Voice, J. Hoberman wrote, «Peter Jackson’s adaptation is certainly successful on its own terms».^[72] Rolling Stone magazine’s Peter Travers wrote, «It’s emotion that makes Fellowship stick hard in the memory… Jackson deserves to revel in his success. He’s made a three-hour film that leaves you wanting more».^[73] A mixed review was written by Peter Bradshaw. Writing for The Guardian, he lauded the art direction and the visual look of the film, but he also commented «there is a strange paucity of plot complication, an absence of anything unfolding, all the more disconcerting because of the clotted and indigestible mythic back story that we have to wade through before anything happens at all». Overall, Bradshaw found the tone of the film too serious and self-important, and wrote «signing up to the movie’s whole hobbity-elvish universe requires a leap of faith… It’s a leap I didn’t feel much like making – and, with two more movie episodes like this on the way, the credibility gap looks wider than ever.»^[74] Jonathan Rosenbaum was also less positive about The Fellowship of the Ring: in his review for the Chicago Reader, he granted that the film was «full of scenic splendors with a fine sense of scale», but he commented that its narrative thrust seemed «relatively pro forma», and that he found the battle scenes boring.^[75]

Accolades[edit]

In 2002, the film won four Academy Awards from thirteen nominations.^[76] The winning categories were for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score. It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ian McKellen), Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song (Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan for «May It Be»), Best Picture, Best Sound (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Gethin Creagh and Hammond Peek), Best Costume Design and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The film won the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It also won Empire readers’ Best Film award, as well as five BAFTAs, including Best Film, the David Lean Award for Best Direction, the Audience Award (voted for by the public), Best Special Effects, and Best Make-up. The film was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight between Gandalf and Saruman.

In June 2008, AFI revealed its «10 Top 10″—the ten best films in ten «classic» American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. The Fellowship of the Ring was acknowledged as the second best film in the fantasy genre.^[77][78] The film was also listed as the 50th best film in the 2007 list AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition).

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Вспоминаем историю создания культовой трилогии.

1 декабря в продажу поступили первые переиздания трилогий «Хоббит» и «Властелин колец» в разрешении 4K на UHD Blu-ray. В комплект вошли как театральные, так и режиссёрские версии фильмов. В честь этого события мы решили вспомнить, как «Властелин колец» вообще превратился из почти неэкранизируемой книги в одну из культовых трилогий XXI века.

Толкин продал права на экранизацию «Властелина колец» за смешные деньги

В 1967 году Толкин продал права на экранизацию «Хоббита» и «Властелина колец» компании United Artists за скромную сумму в 104 тысячи фунтов. Профессору было уже 75, его тяготила свалившаяся на него популярность, и он надеялся, что выход кино избавит его от излишнего внимания. Ну а полученные деньги он планировал вложить в образование внуков.

Условия контракта были необычайно щедрыми: кинематографисты получили право расширять и урезать первоисточник, снимать сиквелы, новые версии и адаптации, использовать отдельные сюжетные линии, персонажей, сцены и эпизоды.

Первая версия «Властелина колец» едва не стала сексуальным гимном движению хиппи

Боссы United Artists не собирались откладывать своё новое приобретение в дальний ящик и предложили работу режиссёру Джону Бурмену. В конце шестидесятых Бурмен был на коне: он только-только поставил модернистский триллер «В упор» и военную драму «Ад в Тихом океане» и собирался снимать новое прочтение «Артурианы».

Тем не менее его заинтриговало предложение поработать над «Властелином колец», и за полгода он написал сценарий одиночного трехчасового фильма, при виде которого у Толкина бы удар случился.

Боссов UA написанный Бурменом сценарий привёл в ужас, и проект закрыли. Обиженный режиссёр буркнул, что «никто кроме него не смог дочитать книгу до конца» и отправился снимать «Зардоз» — психоделическую антиутопию, в которой Шон Коннери расхаживает по экрану в красных стрингах и кожаных сапогах.

Спустя десять лет он вернулся к своей идее современного прочтения «Артурианы» и поставил «Эскалибур», красивую и взрослую картину, которая вошла в число любимых фильмов молодого новозеландца по имени Питер Джексон.

Мультипликационная версия

Следом за Бурменом на экранизацию «Властелина колец» положил глаз известный мультипликатор Ральф Бакши. Он хотел снять три полнометражных анимационных фильма с минимумом расхождений с первоисточником.

После того, как в UA равнодушно отвергли его предложение, Бакши обратился за помощью на студию MGM, которой тогда руководил Дэн Мельник. Он предложил UA совместное производство картины, однако всего через несколько месяцев у MGM сменились владельцы, Мельник оказался на улице, а новые хозяева решили не тратить деньги на какое-то фэнтези.

Тогда Бакши обратился за помощью к своему другу, кинопродюсеру Солу Зэнцу. UA тогда переживала тяжёлые времена — студия едва не обанкротилась из-за феерического провала «Врат рая», так что распродажа не самых денежных активов показалась боссам UA не самым плохим вариантом по сравнению с альтернативой. В 1981 году Зэнц выкупил права на кинематографическую, сценическую и игровую адаптацию «Властелина колец» за 3 миллиона долларов.

Бакши принялся за работу. Однако сжатые сроки и ограниченный бюджет вынудили его отказаться от первоначальных амбициозных планов. Вместо трёх фильмов он теперь рассчитывал снять всего два, и в сценарий первой части кое-как утрамбовали события первой половины трилогии.

Фильм обрывался сразу после битвы при Хельмовой Пади, а продолжения зритель так и не увидел. Зенц и UA (у них всё ещё была небольшая доля) остались недовольны сборами и зарубили любые надежды на сиквел на корню.

Картина Бакши произвела смешанное впечатление на зрителей, но как минимум одного человека она вдохновила на знакомство с первоисточником. Семнадцатилетний студент Питер Джексон специально поехал после занятий в Веллингтон, чтобы попасть на сеанс. Он впечатлился рядом художественных находок Бакши, не понял концовку и решил при случае прочитать книгу.

Случай подвернулся довольно быстро. Несколько недель спустя Питеру предстояло двенадцатичасовое путешествие на поезде. Юноша решил скоротать поездку за интересной историей и заскочил в книжный магазин на вокзале. Там-то он и наткнулся на специальное кино-издание «Властелина колец» с нарисованными Бакши назгулами на обложке. Джексон не стал ярым фанатом трилогии, но изрядно потрёпанный томик хранит до сих пор.

Экранизации «Властелина колец» не было бы без Харви Вайнштейна

Питер Джексон заинтересовался экранизацией Толкина в 1996 году. Вместе со своей партнёршей Фрэн Уолш он как раз заканчивал работу над «Страшилами», комедийным ужастиком о привидениях, и подумывал о том, что следом неплохо было бы снять фэнтези.

Но на все идеи Джексона Уолш неизменно отвечала, что всё это уже было во «Властелине колец». В какой-то момент Джексон решил, что с него хватит, и раз уж все его идеи всё равно уже встречались во «Властелине колец», почему бы ему его и не снять?

Поначалу Джексон хотел рассказать всю историю в хронологическом порядке и уложиться в три фильма: один на «Хоббита» и два на «Властелина колец». Однако после провала версии Бакши Сол Зэнц ревностно оберегал права и отказывал всем, кто пытался на них покуситься.

Чтобы справиться с Зэнцем Джексону требовался кто-то весомый и авторитетный, и как раз такой союзник у него был. Незадолго до этого режиссёр подписал эксклюзивный контракт с компанией Miramax, по условиям которого он был обязан предлагать все свои новые идеи братьям Вайнштейнам. Харви Вайнштейн заинтересовался и вызвался помочь в переговорах.

Но даже всемогущему (на тот момент) Вайнштейну потребовалось восемь месяцев, чтобы сломить сопротивление Сола Зэнца. Постепенно Джексон начал подумывать, что за время простоя он бы успел снять ещё один фильм. Благо, недостатка в предложениях новозеландец не испытывал.

Конг мёртв

В 1996 году Питер Джексон был одним из самых востребованных режиссёров на рынке — успех его предыдущего фильма «Небесные создания» открыл перед ним все двери.

Барбара Брокколи соблазняла его очередной частью приключений агента 007, Fox пыталась привлечь Джексона к возрождению «Планеты обезьян», но самое заманчивое предложение сделала студия Universal — её президент Ленни Корнберг спросил у Питера, не хочет ли он снять ремейк «Кинг-Конга».

Оригинальный «Кинг-Конг» 1933 года всегда был любимым фильмом Питера Джексона. Будущий режиссёр увидел картину ещё в девятилетнем возрасте и впечатлился красивой картинкой, трагической историей и технологическими возможностями автора. Ремейк 1976 года Джексона скорее разочаровал, так что возможность снять собственную версию любимой истории оказалась неодолимой.

Джексона не остановил даже подписанный контракт с Miramax. Он уговорил Universal пустить Вайнштейна в долю, а Харви в нагрузку ещё и выторговал лежащий мёртвым грузом сценарий комедии под названием «Влюблённый Шекспир».

Джексон и Уолш приступили к написанию сценария, а созданная ими компания Weta Workshop занялась подготовкой спецэффектов. А затем проект развалился в один миг. Universal занималась прокатом «Страшил», и как только комедийный ужастик провалился, на студии мгновенно разуверились в возможностях Джексона снимать кассовое кино.

Сейчас режиссёр рад, что снял «Кинг-Конга» на десять лет позже — он считает, что на тот момент он не был готов к такой задаче, а первоначальная версия сценария была слишком глупой и легкомысленной. Но тогда отмена проекта, вкупе с провалом «Страшил», стала тяжёлым ударом для всех, кто был в нём задействован.

От глубокой депрессии Джексона спас Вайнштейн. Юристы Miramax сообщили, что переговоры с Зэнцем завершились успешно, хотя без жертв не обошлось — права на «Хоббита» по-прежнему частично принадлежали UA, и боссы студии не захотели делиться ценным активом.

Харви Вайнштейн едва не погубил «Властелин колец»

Питер Джексон приступил к написанию сценария «Властелина колец» только после успешного завершения переговоров с Зэнцем. Первая версия занимала 92 страницы, поделённые на 266 сцен. Работать над ней Джексону и Уолш помогала сценарист Филиппа Бойенс, досконально знавшая сюжет трилогии.

Джексон понимал, что единственным рабочим вариантом экранизации станет беспрерывное производство обеих частей — он по-прежнему верил, что сможет запихнуть трилогию в два фильма. Иного выбора у режиссёра не было — все его робкие намёки на возможность создания трёх фильмов на корню задушил Харви Вайнштейн.

После того, как сценарий обрёл форму, начали возникать конфликты с Miramax. Из обоих Вайнштейнов только один читал книгу, да и то явно невнимательно. Поэтому братья окончательно поняли, во что ввязались, только когда получили на руки черновой вариант сценария и предварительную смету — 135 миллионов долларов.

В середине девяностых Вайнштейны продали Miramax компании Disney. По условиям сделки братья не имели права утверждать производства фильмов стоимостью выше 75 миллионов долларов без согласования с президентом Disney Майклом Айзнером. Однако Харви не хотел ни с кем делиться и предпочёл найти способ сократить издержки, например, порезать сценарий и запихнуть всю трилогию в один двухчасовой фильм с бюджетом в 75 миллионов долларов.

Джексон задумался о том, чтобы уйти, не дожидаясь увольнения.

Спасение в последний момент

Ситуацию спас агент Джексона Кен Каминс. Он уговорил Вайнштейна дать Питеру возможность снять «Властелина колец» на другой студии. Харви согласился, но на практически невыполнимых условиях: он хотел сразу же получить обратно потраченные на приобретение прав деньги, а также 5 процентов от общих сборов. Чтобы ещё больше усложнить ситуацию, он поставил крайний срок: у Каминса было всего 4 недели, чтобы найти покупателя.

Тот открыл свою телефонную книжку, но с каждым новым звонком встречал отказ за отказом. В Universal всё ещё не хотели иметь дел с Джексоном, а в Fox — с Солом Зэнцем, Майкл Айзнер по-прежнему был обижен на Харви, Paramount была занята экранизаций «Хроник Нарнии», а Эми Паскаль из Sony не заинтересовали сценарии. Каминсу удалось привлечь внимание лишь двух студий: PolyGram и New Line.

Первая встреча также закончилась неудачей. Представители PolyGram сразу уловили весь потенциал проекта, но были вынуждены отказаться: у студии попросту не было нужных средств. Оставалась лишь New Line.

Параллельно агент уже начинал подыскивать для своего клиента запасные варианты. Несмотря на провал «Страшил», Джексон все ещё был желанной фигурой в Голливуде за пределами студии Universal. Ему предлагали экранизировать «Бойцовский клуб», «Загадочную историю Бенджамина Баттона» и «Большого и доброго великана», звали в режиссёрское кресло военного фильма об асе Первой мировой войны «Двадцать один» и пытались заинтересовать адаптацией серии комиксов о приключениях межпланетного охотника за головами Лобо.

На встречу с New Line Джексон пришёл не с пустыми руками. Пока Каминс ходил по студиям, режиссёр успел снять своего рода презентацию —получасовой фильм, который выражал его видение проекта. По сути, Питер набросал детальный план предстоящих активностей.

Авторы картины объяснили, как они планируют снимать хоббитов с помощью изменённой перспективы, дублёров и цифровой замены лиц, показали макеты орлов, назгулов и Балрога, продемонстрировали, как создавалась цифровая модель пещерного тролля, в общем, сделали все, чтобы показать все возможности технологий и блеснуть своим знанием материала.

Перед началом презентации сопредседатель New Line Боб Шайе был настроен скептически. Он даже предупредил Джексона, что согласие на встречу ещё не гарантирует согласие на финансирование.

Сценарий дался Джексону тяжелее всего

Съёмки «Властелина колец» растянулись на полтора года и заняли под три сотни съёмочных дней. Однако для Питера Джексона самым тяжёлой частью работы над трилогией стало написание сценария.

«Сценарий был настоящим кошмаром», — говорил он уже после того, как всё закончилось. «Я до конца жизни буду утверждать, — вторит ему Кен Каминс, — что создание трёх этих сценариев стало одной из самых недооценённых сценарных работ в истории».

По сути, Джексону и его соавторам пришлось сначала разобрать трилогию на части, вычленить из неё основную суть, затем разделить получившееся на две части, а потом расширить написанный материал таким образом, чтобы из двух частей получилось три.

Когда Шайе окончательно утвердил трилогию, Джексон, Уолш и Бойенс должны были написать сценарий к десятичасовому фильму, который требовалось разбить на три самостоятельные части. Причём в первой требовалось заложить основы третьей и обьяснить новичкам устройство мира.

Верный принципам Роберта Макки, Питер Джексон хотел в первую очередь рассказать убедительную, непротиворечивую и цельную историю, поэтому под нож пошло всё, что выбивалось из структуры повествование, в первую очередь Том Бомбадил и прогулки по Вековечному лесу.

Джексон не горел желанием дописывать историю за Толкина, но сетовал, что трилогии не хватает запоминающихся женских персонажей. Именно поэтому он расширил роли Арвен и Эовин. Кроме того, режиссёр считал, что в соответствии с принципами Макки хорошие парни должны были проиграть битву на Пеленнорских полях, а столкновений с силами Саурона у Чёрных врат должно было быть два.

В итоге Джексон, Уолш и Бойенс так никогда и не закончили писать сценарий. Они доделывали, переделывали, сокращали и расширяли текст даже на съёмочной площадке. Актёры нередко получали странички с изменёнными сценами утром перед съёмками и не всегда успевали выучить свои реплики. Это можно заметить, например, в сцене совета у Элронда, когда Боромир говорит о Мордоре и периодически, не в силах справиться с обуревающими его эмоциями, опускает взгляд вниз. На самом деле Шон Бин просто подглядывал в лежащий у него на колене сценарий.

Два Фродо и Сэм

Элайджа Вуд в детстве читал «Хоббита» и в целом представлял, о чём говорится во «Властелине колец», но понятия не имел, кто такой Фродо Бэггинс. Однако когда друзья наперебой начали говорить Вуду, что он буквально создан для этой роли, актёр загорелся желанием доказать это Питеру Джексону.

Первым делом он заглянул в книжный и купил несколько иллюстрированных изданий «Властелина колец». Составив представление о том, как должен выглядеть уважающий себя хоббит, Вуд взял напрокат штаны до колен, жилет и подтяжки, после чего отправился снимать свои пробы на лесистые склоны ближайшего парка. Выбранные им сцены отражали разные этапы пути Фродо и позволяли передать весь диапазон испытываемых персонажем эмоций. Вуд записал дубли и отправил кассету курьерской почтой Питеру Джексону.

Американец Шон Эстин вообще никогда не читал «Властелина колец» и не думал становиться хоббитом, когда получил звонок от своего агента. Не терпящим возражения тоном агент сообщила Эстину, что через два дня он проходит пробы к «Властелину колец» и за это время ему нужно обзавестись приличным знанием материала и достоверным британским акцентом.

Актёр честно заехал в ближайший книжный магазин и купил экземпляр «Властелина колец». Разумеется, с иллюстрациями Аллана Ли. Примечательно, что Эстин всегда был довольно упитанным человеком, но как раз незадолго до «Властелина колец» ему удалось сбросить вес и набрать неплохую форму. Так что для роли Сэма ему, наоборот, пришлось набирать вес.

В роли Бильбо Бэггинса Джексон с самого начала видел только одного актёра — сэра Иэна Холма, подарившего свой голос Фродо в замечательной радиопостановке «Властелина колец» на BBC Radio 4 в 1981 году. По счастью, Холм был более чем готов снова вернуться в Средиземье, на этот раз во плоти.

Два волшебника

В роли Гэндальфа студия видела только Шона Коннери. Джексон отправил актёру копии сценария и довольно щедрое предложение, но тот не удостоил кинематографиста даже ответом.

Иэна Маккеллена порекомендовала Филиппа Бойенс. Джексона и Уолш впечатлила игра актёра в «Троиле и Крессиде» и «Богах и монстрах». Сам Маккеллен, принципиально не читавший Толкина, воодушевился «энтузиазмом Питера и Фрэн» и перспективой надолго уехать в Новую Зеландию, однако был вынужден отказаться от заманчивого предложения из-за конфликта в расписании съёмок.

Джексон был готов отложить съёмки сцен с Гэндальфом до января 2000 года, однако Маккеллен как минимум до февраля был занят на съёмочной площадке «Людей Икс».

Съёмки фильма о мутантах задерживались, потому что исполнитель роли Росомахи Дугрей Скотт никак не мог вырваться со съёмок боевика Джона Ву «Миссия невыполнима 2».

Съёмки сиквела «Миссии» затянулись, потому что Том Круз задержался на съёмочной площадке «Магнолии».

Съёмки «Магнолии» отстали от графика, потому что Том Круз никак не мог освободиться со съёмочной площадки картины Стэнли Кубрика «С широко закрытыми глазами».

Съёмки картины «С широко закрытыми глазами» затянулись… потому что Стэнли Кубрику было наплевать, что Тома Круза ждут где-то в другом месте, и он был намерен снимать его столько дублей, сколько потребуется для достижения совершенства. Для этого в итоге потребовалось более полутора лет.

Ситуацию спас Дугрей Скотт. Он был вынужден отказаться от роли Росомахи, ему на замену в спешном порядке был найден малоизвестный австралийский театральный актёр Хью Джекман, а режиссёр «Людей Икс» Брайан Сингер лично позвонил Джексону и клятвенно пообещал отпустить Маккеллена к Рождеству. 1 января 2000 года Гэндальф постучал в дверь Фродо Бэггинса.

Кристофер Ли был единственным членом актёрского состава и съёмочной группы «Властелина колец», который лично встречался с Толкином. Актёр просто боготворил Профессора, каждый год перечитывал «Властелина колец» и долгое время мечтал сыграть Гэндальфа. Однако, когда Питер Джексон всё-таки взялся за экранизацию трилогии, Ли был уже слишком стар и пришёл пробоваться на роль Денетора.

После прослушивания Джексон и Уолш целый час показывали Ли наброски персонажей и фотографии возможных мест для съёмок. Актёр был в восторге. «Всё словно бы сошло со страниц книг Толкина, — признавался он, — я мечтал об этом всю свою жизнь». Спустя несколько недель актёр пришёл ещё в больший восторг — Джексон предложил ему роль Сарумана.

Гном и эльф

Валлиец Джон Рис-Дэвис, которому за карьеру довелось играть всех, от русских до египтян, не очень-то хотел перевоплощаться в гнома. Деньги предлагали не слишком большие, а Толкин ему никогда не нравился. Актёр пытался прочесть «Властелина колец» во время учебы в университете, но быстро сдался.

В итоге Джона уговорил старший сын, который оказался заядлым толкинистом. Рис-Дэвис сдался, приехал в Новую Зеландию… и быстро пожалел о своём решении: у актёра обнаружилась тяжелейшая аллергия на пластический грим.

Чтобы хоть как-то пощадить его, Джексону приходилось прибегать к постоянным заменам: на всех общих планах роль Гимли играл дублёр Бретт Битти. Когда в конце съёмок все актёры Братства направились набивать себе памятные татуировки в память о съёмках, Рис-Дэвис был единственным, кто отказался. Остальные, недолго думая, позвали с собой Битти.

Орландо Блум пришёл на пробы ещё не успев даже выпуститься из Гилдхолской школы музыки и театра. Он успел засветиться на телевидении и сыграть пару ролей, но в целом был малоизвестен. Изначально он пробовался на роль Фарамира, однако Фрэн Уолш разглядела в кареглазом брюнете со вьющимися волосами черты голубоглазого эльфа-блондина. Блуму выдали парик, линзы, пару накладных ушей и посадили на самолёт до Новой Зеландии.

Не тот Арагорн, сын Араторна

На роль Арагорна изначально был приглашён молодой ирландец Стюарт Таунсенд, причём Джексону пришлось буквально отстаивать его кандидатуру перед Шайе. Таунсенд обожал Толкина, обрадовался получению роли, первым прилетел в Новую Зеландию, сдружился с остальными актёрами… и захандрил. Засомневался в своём решении.

Актёр замкнулся в себе, начал пропускать тренировки и репетиции и с каждым днём выглядел всё более и более несчастным. В итоге Джексон был вынужден уволить его. До съёмок первой сцены с участием Арагорна оставалась неделя.

Режиссёр подумал о Расселе Кроу, но агент австралийца вежливо отказался. «Рассел только что снялся в одном фильме с мечами под названием «Гладиатор» и не собирается снова возвращаться к этой теме», — заявил он.

Тем временем Уолш, Бойенс и продюсер Марк Ордески лоббировали кандидатуру Вигго Мортенсена. Джексон выслал актёру копии сценария и приготовился к долгому ожиданию — агент Мортенсена предупредила его, что обычно актёр выбирает проекты долго и придирчиво.

Однако тот откликнулся быстро — он позвонил в офис Джексона уже через несколько часов. «Сколько мне было лет, когда меня приютили эльфы?» — спросил он. Позже выяснилось, что, как и в случае с Рис-Дэвисом, на согласии Мортенсена настоял его сын Генри. Спустя пару дней актёр уже вовсю размахивал мечом на съёмках сцены у Заверти и вёл себя так, словно был рождён для этой роли.

Дорога длиною в год

Съёмки «Властелина колец» заняли 274 дня, растянувшихся на 18 месяцев. За это время актёры ломали рёбра, терялись в глуши, съёмочные площадки смывало наводнением, а Джексон был вынужден несколько раз переписывать сценарий, поскольку погодные условия не позволяли снять сцену так, как он изначально задумывал.

Как-то раз Блум и Бин арендовали машину и направились на съёмочную площадку в Южных Альпах (там снимали сплав по Андуину и подъём через Мглистые горы). Пока они были в пути, разыгрался шторм — и дорогу с обеих сторон перегородил оползень.

Актёры смогли укрыться в затерявшемся среди болот домике, в котором жила одинокая старушка. Хозяйка коттеджа понятия не имела, кто попросился к ней на ночлег. Возможно, она что-то заподозрила на утро, когда за её гостями прилетел вертолёт.

Вертолёты! Ненавижу вертолёты!

Должно быть, Джексон считал, что сложнее всего будет вытащить застрявших посреди болота актёров. Он ошибся. Сложнее всего было запихнуть в вертолёт ненавидящего летать Шона Бина.

Шон Бин настолько терпеть не мог летать на вертолетах, что, когда они снимали сцену с искушением Боромира в Мглистых горах, актёр предпочёл добраться до площадки своим ходом. Ранним утром он облачился в свой костюм, прихватил щит и меч и полез вверх по почти отвесному склону. Самое интересное, что на площадку он прибыл вовремя.

Он был создан для этой роли

Вигго Мортенсен настолько вжился в роль Арагорна, что за ней нелегко было разглядеть самого актёра. Он практически не вылезал из своего костюма. Ни разу за время съёмок не прикоснулся ни к одной из копий Кольца Всевластья. Если съёмки предстояли на рассвете, он с вечера отправлялся на площадку и ложился спать уже в костюме под открытым небом. Случайно сломав себе зуб во время съёмок одной из сцен, он залепил осколок жвачкой и закончил сцену. Случайно сбив по дороге кролика, он подобрал, зажарил и съел его. Даже в расположенное неподалёку от съёмочной площадки кафе Мортенсен ходил подкрепиться не выходя из образа, с мечом на плече.

А ещё Мортенсен постоянно покупал каскадёрам пиво. «Так он извинялся за то, что входил в образ… и слишком сильно их бил», — с усмешкой пояснял Орландо Блум.

Многие жаловались, что Мортенсен вообще не шутил, но чувство юмора у него было, просто немного специфическое. Как-то раз Билли Бойд давал интервью репортёру из журнала Empire. В разгар беседы в дверь ворвался облачённый в костюм Арагорна Мортенсен с огромным зелёным молотом из губки в руках. Не говоря ни слова, он врезал молотом по Бойду и убежал обратно. «Чёртов Вигго», — только и оставалось выдохнуть актёру.

Другие актёры вспоминают, что Вигго на площадке был лидером, вечно подающим остальным пример преданности роли. Остальные старались не отставать.

Чтобы прочувствовать изоляцию Голлума, Энди Серкис прихватил с собой потрёпанный томик «Властелина колец» и отправился в одиночный сплав на байдарке по далёкой реке Уонгануи. Спустя несколько дней голодного и промокшего до нитки Сёркиса повстречали у реки несколько крайне удивлённых туристов.

Критики пророчили «Властелину колец» эпический провал почище «Врат рая». Однако картина продемонстрировала, что упорный труд сотен людей, видение нескольких влюбленных в своё дело кинематографистов, которые знают, что хотят получить, и доверие студии, рискнувшей вложиться в сложный проект, способны окупиться. Трилогия быстро превратилась в одну из культовых франшиз начала столетия, а выхода каждой новой части ждали не меньше, если не больше, чем новый эпизод «Звёздных войн».

Когда «Братство кольца» произвело фурор, у Кена Каминса зазвонил телефон. На проводе была новый производственный директор Universal Мэри Пэрент: «Может, Питер захочет снова взяться за Кинг-Конга?»