November 20, 2001. Copyright, 2001, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
By Mark Samms

LONDON, November 20, Graphic News:  EVEN in the fantastical world of the movies, where hyperbole is a way of life and excess is everything, the Lord of the Rings trilogy has got the experts groping for fresh adjectives to do justice to a quite extraordinary enterprise.

J. R. TolkienÕs  colossal three-part fantasy Ð which is thought to have been read by more than 100 million people worldwide and was voted the ÒBook of the 20th CenturyÓ Ð needed the combination of time, the appropriate technology and a visionary with the talent and dedication to pull it all together. Step forward director Peter Jackson and the most talented special effects experts the industry has to offer.

New Zealander Jackson (Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners) and his team embarked upon an unprecedented plan to produce three motion pictures simultaneously so that the saga of one-manÕs quest to save humanity would have the same seamless quality of TolkienÕs original work.

The result is three movies (the others will be released next year and in 2003) that seem destined to make cinema history. They are confidently expected to be among the biggest grossing of all time, with the cult appeal and unique cliff-hanging element generating ever larger audiences as each successive ÔepisodeÕ rolls out.

Stars (in alphabetical order): Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Sir Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Liv Tyler, Elijah Wood. Director: Peter Jackson, Screenplay: Frances Walsh.

And Another Thing: New Zealand soldiers were cast as extras in the huge battle scenes being filmed on location in their country, but were withdrawn when called upon to serve as peacekeepers in East Timor.
/ENDS

Release dates:
December 10: UK (premiere)
December 19: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK, U.S.
December 20: Czech Republic, Israel, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Singapore
December 21: Bolivia, Finland, Panama
December 26: Australia, Iceland
January 1: Argentina, Brazil
January 4: Lithuania
January 10: Hungary
January 11: Estonia
January 17: Slovenia
January 18: Italy

Sources: www.lordoftherings.net; www.imdb.com; www.moviething.com