While once considered to be a pipe dream due to intense technicalities for a long time, the iconic The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring celebrated its 20th anniversary two years ago in 2021.
The Independent published a report that brought some facts to light concerning how the filming was stalled leading to former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein losing big money.
The film, after suffering multiple setbacks during the initial stages and the director being kept in the dark by Weinstein’s producing company, New Line Cinema opened up J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy chapter.
Harvey Weinstein’s Unrealistic Demands From The Director
The film treatment of The Lord of the Rings books from Tolkien had to be done intricately. But, not only did Harvey Weinstein ask the director to shorten the span of the story but also gave him an ultimatum if he couldn’t do what he asked, as per the publication.
Ken Kamins, who managed the heavyweight Peter Jackson (director), said in the interview that Harvey Weinstein gave three weeks to impress the studios and The Walt Disney Company which owned Weinstein’s Miramax back then.
“Disney didn’t want [the adaptation] and the relationship between Peter and Miramax soured. Harvey would go from acting empathetically to turning on a dime into Mr. Hyde and would threaten Peter,” said Kamins.
He further added that he [Weinstein] threatened Jackson to replace him with his long-time collaborator to spearhead the project.
Harvey Weinstein Wanted Quentin Tarantino Onboard
The Independent also reported that Disney pushed Weinstein after learning that the budget was considerable for a trilogy. The trilogy was shot simultaneously and it cost Warner Bros’ New Line Cinema a massive $281 million.
“When Disney realized the budget and that we were going to shoot the films back-to-back, and the director was not exactly an A-list name, they made it very clear they were not on board. He’d threaten to get Quentin Tarantino to direct if Peter couldn’t do it in one film that was two-and-a-half hours.”
Kamins also highlighted that apart from wanting to sack Peter Jackson and bring Quentin Tarantino on board, he also pushed Jackson & Co. to name him executive producer and demanded a hefty $12 million advance money to take care of the expenses.
Amazon Prime Video picked up the stories from Tolkien to give the audience a look back into the world of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022) which is set almost a thousand years prior to the events of the trilogy.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy can be streamed on HBO’s Max platform.
Source: The Independent
