Archive for the 'LOTR' Category

You first saw them in the Shire two years ago. Now, Pippin and Merry complete their journey in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. During the first two films, the Hobbit friends have been side by side, but moviegoers will finally see how their stories divert as the two are separated for most of the movie in The Return of the King.

Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) were in New York City recently to give their thoughts about the ending of the trilogy.

Q: Can you guys talk about the sentiments going through your head, now that the trilogy has come to an end?

BILLY: Mmm, yeah, it’s sad that we won’t be working on this. It was such a special thing. We’ve all become good friends. If Tolkien had written 50 books, we could have just had a career doing this!
DOMINIC: That would’ve been great!
BILLY: Except in the fourth one, it says that the Hobbits’ feet got a lot smaller. (Laughs) It’s good that there were three books, and that there were three films, and that the story makes sense. In the future, people can watch it as one story. It’s not [like] we made one movie and it was a success, and we said, “Oh, let’s make another one.” It’s just one story.
… read more »

Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) are the Abbott and Costello of The Lord of the Rings cast. They’re writing a comedy for themselves to star in, and if it captures even half the humour of their interview, they’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

National Post: Billy, you starred in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. What was it like?

D: Last night I was congratulated on Master and Commander. They said, “I very much enjoyed Master and Commander.” I said, “So did I.” I’ve been asked to sign pictures of Billy. I was asked by a Japanese journalist, what is the melody of your character.
B: What do you say to that?
D: G sharp.
B: The happiest of all keys.
… read more »

How was the process of doing your scenes?

Billy: The height thing. Lots of different ways. Sometimes really simply, like the scenes on the balcony in Minas Tirith, I was just on my knees. And you saw Gandalf in the background; they had the really tall guy called Paul. And he would dress –

Dom: Tall Paul

Billy: Yeah, tall Paul. He would dress like Gandalf or Aragorn or, they had costumes for all the characters, including Arwen. Sometimes he’d be dressed as Arwen, really scary, but slightly arousing.
… read more »

With a running time of 700 minutes (give or take) and a budget of approximately $9 zillion, The Return of the King, the final installment in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, is the biggest movie of the year in every possible sense. And if there’s anything we’ve learned from the epic Tolkien adaptation, it’s that little people are capable of very great things. So as the Rings cycle comes to a close, who’s more deserving of our respect than the littlest people of them all — the hobbits? Standing considerably taller in real life, actors Sean Astin (center, who plays the loyal Samwise), Billy Boyd (right, the musically inclined Pippin), and Dominic Monaghan (left, the battle-bound Merry) reunited for a King-size conversation.

Spin: Hobbits may be noble and brave, but they’re not particularly sexy — especially compared to the movie’s elf and the human characters.
… read more »

BILLY: Hello, Dominic.

DOM: Hello, Bill.

BILLY: Welcome at Premiere’s…

DOM: I meant to ask you…

BILLY: What?

DOM: …when was your biggest drinking session during filming?

BILLY: I’m a very shy drunk.

DOM: I understand. Can I tell the answer for you, then?

BILLY: Nah, that’ll do, thank you.
… read more »

While they may not have guns or tanks, there are a couple of hobbits who promise the next and final “Lord of the Rings” film could give “Saving Private Ryan” a run for its money.

“It’s a full-on war movie,” Elijah Wood proclaimed recently, when asked about this year’s “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.”

“As Elijah said, lots of war,” his hobbit partner Dominic Monaghan added for emphasis.

The two pals ? who played Frodo Baggins and Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck, respectively, in “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Two Towers” ? will soon return to New Zealand for pickup shots and re-shoots under director Peter Jackson for the final installment of the fantasy tale, which hits theaters December 17.
… read more »

Comic-Con hosted a number of The Lord of the Rings notables this year. Andy Serkis, the actor behind Gollum, was generous enough to be on hand for much of the conference, greeting fans and signing autographs. Saturday saw a remarkable flux of Hollywood talent on the exhibition floor when Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry Brandybuck) graced the EA GAMES booth to play The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. A crowd instantly converged to catch a glimpse of the actors teaming up in co-op mode.

(A four-shot composite of the crowd gathered to see Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan)

Wood chose to play as Sam while Monaghan stepped into Aragorn’s virtual boots. Monaghan jokingly asked, “Can I kill Elijah?” (the answer being no, of course, since the Fellowship is fighting cooperatively to save Middle-earth).
… read more »