[Movies] The Beatles Nearly Made The Lord of the Rings Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 11.08.2010
Peter Jackson interview recalls the story…
Blastr.com has uncovered an interview by Peter Jackson where he talks about a live-action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings that nearly happened decades before his own. That adaptation was being worked on by, of all people, the Beatles, with John Lennon pushing hardest for it.
The plan was to have Lennon play Gollum, Paul McCartney play Frodo, Ringo Starr play Sam and George Harrison play Gandalf. The foursome even approached Stanley Kubrick to direct before Tolkien himself killed the idea.
"It was something John was driving and J.R.R. Tolkien still had the film rights at that stage, but he didn't like the idea of the Beatles doing it. So he killed it," Jackson said. "There probably would've been some good songs coming off the album."
