The Beatles and The Lord of the Rings

[MrMustard]

Did you know that the Beatles were going to do their own version of The Lord of the Rings? Paul was going to play Frodo, the main hobbit and John was going to play Gollum, this weird creature thing. (I'm not too sure who Ringo and George were going to play). But JRR Tolkien (author of The Lord of the Rings) wouldn't let them! Damn, it would have been really funny!

[Forum Manager]

that would have been hilarious!
i say george should be aragorn, and ringo should be gandalf!

[ivory]

lol, that would have been really funny.

[MrMustard]

I know, I'm pretty sure they did Magical Mystery Tour instead

[Imgonnaopenmymind]

Actually, George was intending on playing Gandalf. Ringo was to have played Sam. Twiggy was also involved. Stanley Kubrick was approached to direct, but he turned them down. Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni accepted the job, but soon pulled off the proposed project.

This movie was actually shot back in July 1966 by Dick Lester and featured the boys. A script had been completed that was faithful to the LOTR series (including "The Hobbit"). The books had been condensed into one screenplay and it was going to be filmed. Paul wrote the score with John, George and George Martin. Ringo contributed a song or two, as well. Dick Lester was pulled off the shooting during filming and a new unknown director named Ken Russell, using Lester's notes, the screenplay and his own imagination, filmed the rest. A rough cut was assembled, the score was applied to the film, and all was set for release.

Unfortunately, they hadn't bought the film rights from J.R.R. Tolkien, so they decided to do what they should have done first last. John Lennon approached Mr. Tolkien with Brian Epstein to discuss the purchase of the film rights. At first, Mr. Tolkien didn't want to have his books turned into a vehicle for the Beatles, but he eventually relented and set a later date for negotiations. When the Beatles and Brian arrived at a meeting with his agent, they were told that the film rights had been snapped up already a few days previously and that Mr. Tolkien had forgotten to inform them.

So this film is in the vaults, although it was recently shown at a private Hollywood gathering attended by Faul and Ringo, with a new score by John Williams replacing the Beatles' songs. Noticeably, according to sources, Paul's face looked more sunken and he had a pointier chin and obvious green eyes, indicating this film might have been doctored for public seeing. It was to have been released again, but it fell through.

Another reason it could have been scrapped was Paul's sudden death. A recent movie featuring a lot of closeups of the real thing and the sudden closeups in December of the new Paul with a different face being noticed and indicating the two are different people would not do well for the cover-up.

[MrMustard]

Well, you definitely put it much better than I did!
Bravo!

[Imgonnaopenmymind]

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