Elijah Wood gives verdict on plans for new ‘Lord Of The Rings’ movies
Elijah Wood has shared his thoughts on the recent news that there are more Lord Of The Rings films in the works.
Back in February, it was announced that Warner Bros and New Line had signed a deal to make “multiple” new movies based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s books.
- READ MORE: The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power – epic fantasy franchise returns to rule them all
The films will be developed through New Line Cinema, which produced the original Peter Jackson-directed trilogy between 2001 and 2003.
Wood – who portrayed Frodo Baggins in those three titles – gave his verdict on the plans to bring LOTR back to the big screen during a recent interview with GQ (via Entertainment Weekly).
“I’m fascinated and I’m excited. I hope it’s good,” the actor told the publication. “I’m surprised — I don’t know why I’m surprised because of course there would be more movies.”
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav previously talked about his desire to create new content based on popular franchises owned by the studio, including Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings.
Wood later added: “Obviously at the core of that is a desire to make a lot of money. It’s not that a bunch of executives are like, ‘Let’s make really awesome art’. And, again, not begrudging anybody because, of course, it is commerce. But great art can come from commerce. So those two things are not mutually exclusive.”
He continued: “But [Jackson’s] Lord Of The Rings didn’t come out of that place. It came out of a passion for these books and wanting to see them realised. And I hope that that is ultimately what will drive everything forward with whatever these subsequent movies are.
“I just hope that it’s the same motivating factor at its core, whenever they hire a screenwriter and a filmmaker — that it is with reverence for Tolkien’s material and enthusiasm to explore it.”
Following the announcement of the new LOTR movies, the screenwriters and filmmakers behind the original trilogy – Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens – said in a statement that Warner Bros and Embracer had “kept us in the loop every step of the way”.
“We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward,” they added.
Earlier this month, a fire broke out on the set of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, which is currently filming for its second season.
Originally, season two of the show was set for release later this year. However, back in December, the company’s head of television Vernon Sanders confirmed that this had been delayed.
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Tom Skinner
NME
