The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings was released on December 19, 2001, nearly 20 years ago. Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved novel set a new benchmark for fantasy movies that studios are still trying to meet today; just ask Amazon, which is making a new Lord of the Rings TV show to debut next year.
The Lord of the Rings movies also made stars of their cast members, including Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood, who played lead character Frodo Baggins. With such a big anniversary coming up, is there any chance for a reunion?
“We’ve talked a bunch,” Wood told Looper. “There’s a lot of talk about a 20th anniversary gathering, but I don’t know if anything’s quite come together. It’s also difficult because of COVID. I don’t know that we could even get to New Zealand. In fact, I’m almost sure we couldn’t get to New Zealand unless there were some major permits and some sort of way in there, which I suppose is possible, but that country’s shut down.
"I think there will absolutely be a gathering. I know we all want to celebrate together, and I think we want to be able to find a space that works for everybody. There are a lot of people who would love to sit down at a giant table and raise a glass to our experience, collectively, share stories and just hang out."
New Zealand is where Jackson filmed the original films, which Wood has very fond memories of making. “The feeling of shooting Fellowship was always extraordinary because of that group dynamic,” he said on the ReelBlend Podcast. “Specifically, for me, it was getting to spend time with the four Hobbits as a unit, which was so lovely, and we all were so close. Being with Viggo (Mortensen) and Sean Bean and Orlando (Bloom), having that whole unit and working together on some of those sequences was just always thrilling.
"Most of the Fellowship stuff was shot in earlier days, so there was some cohesion to that. But yeah, I, like you, share a specific love for Fellowship of the Ring as well, as a film. There is something about that fellowship, the connection that they share, the cohesion of that journey, the start of that journey that then splinters off and becomes so many different things from The Two Towers on — and I love those movies, too. They’re incredible, and they’re dynamic, and super emotional. But there is something really magical about The Fellowship of the Ring that is so beautiful, and I think, yeah, remains to be my favorite of the three films."
Hard to argue with that.
Elijah Wood “really excited” to watch Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show
Circling back to Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings show, Wood approves of the decision to set it during the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings story most people know. “t’s sort of the logical place to take it, in terms of what other story to mine, and the Second Age is rife with so much.”
Plus, the events of the Second Age aren’t as clearly laid out as the events of the third, when the War of the Ring happens. “It certainly does give them more creative freedom, but with the fact that they shot the first season in New Zealand, there was clearly an intent to keep it in at least the landscapes in accordance with what had previously been established, which is awesome,” Wood continued.
"I’m really excited to see what they’ve done. I mean, J. A. Bayona shot the pilot. He’s an incredible director. I’ve loved all of his work. I’m really curious what the focus of the storytelling is going to be and what it’s going to be like. I get the benefit at this stage to enjoy something with full objectivity as a fan, which is rad. So I’m just excited to see it. I’m deeply curious."
That makes two of us.
Wood’s new movie No Man of God, where he plays an FBI agent who interacts with serial killer Ted Bundy, is out now!
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h/t Just Jared