The Beatles wanted to adapt The Lord Of The Rings for the screen in the Sixties, with John Lennon as the grasping Gollum and Paul McCartney as hero Frodo, film director Peter Jackson has revealed.
Peter, who scooped four Oscars this week for his own version of the first part of the fantasy trilogy, told the Wellington Evening Post that the Beatles’ adaptation fell flat when author JRR Tolkien said no. Paul McCartney told the director about the idea at the Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday, where Paul made his debut Oscar performance.
“It was something John was driving, and JRR 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,” said the 40-year-old New Zealand director.
George Harrison was lined up to play the wise Wizard Gandalf – a role for which British actor Sir Ian McKellen won an Oscar nomination this year – while Ringo Starr was to play Frodo’s faithful sidekick Sam.
Peter is currently working on the second instalment of his Lord Of The Rings trilogy, which is due out in December.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
