THE star of the original three The Lord of the Rings films, Elijah Wood, has expressed surprise over Warner Bros. developing multiple new films based on the intellectual property.
“I’m fascinated and I’m excited. I hope it’s good,” Wood recently told GQ magazine.
“Obviously at the core of that, is a desire to make a lot of money,” Wood continued.
“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.”
Wood’s comments are in relation to how Peter Jackson’s original The Lord of the Rings’ box office raked in US$2.991 billion worldwide, while Jackson’s prequel The Hobbit trilogy are also sitting on top US$2.938 billion at the global box office.
“[Jackson’s original trilogy] 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,” Wood said.
The actor also hopes there will be a reverence for author J.R.R. Tolkien’s material and the enthusiasm to explore it by whoever are the new films’ screenwriters and filmmakers.
Currently, all that’s confirmed about Warner Bros.’ new Lord of the Rings movies is that there will be “multiple” films made based on Tolkien’s books. No additional information was given by the studio.
In a statement to Variety, Jackson and his main Lord of the Rings collaborators, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens previously said Warner Bros. kept them in the loop every step of the way regarding the new movies.
“We look forward to speaking with [the studio] further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward,” Jackson, Walsh and Boyens added in their statement.