Frodo actor Elijah Wood spoke in an interview about the planned “Lord of the Rings” films and is cautiously optimistic.
After “Lord of the Rings” fans were already allowed to return to Middle-earth in the series “The Rings of Power”, they can expect some new films soon. There is the anime film “War of the Rohirrim”, which will start next year, but also new film projects from Warner Bros. Discovery, which are being created in cooperation with the Swedish Embracer Group, which owns the rights to “The Lord of the Rings ‘ by J.R.R. have Tolkien.
With Frodo actor Elijah Wood, a star from Peter Jackson’s films has now commented on the new films. In an interview with GQ, Wood says he’s cautiously optimistic about the projects:
“I’m fascinated and excited. I hope it will be fine. I’m surprised – I don’t know why I’m surprised because of course there will be new films. At its core, of course, it is about the desire to earn a lot of money. It’s not like there’s a bunch of executives saying, ‘Let’s make great art.’ And again, it’s not about beating someone up, because of course it’s commercial. But great art can come from commerce. The two things are not mutually exclusive.”
Elijah Wood is hoping for serious interest in Tolkien’s works
While Wood fully acknowledges that expanding the Lord of the Rings franchise for profit doesn’t necessarily mean that good films can’t be made, Théoden actor Bernard Hill was a lot on The Rings of Power more critical. Although he has not seen the series himself, he only accused the creators of greed for money.
Elijah Wood continues in the interview that he hopes the new films will be made with the same respect for Tolkien’s works as Peter Jackson’s films:
“But the Lord of the Rings movies didn’t come out of that. They were born out of a passion for books and a desire to implement them. And I hope that ultimately drives everything as far as the films to come go. I just hope that, at its core, that’s the same motivating factor when you hire a screenwriter and a filmmaker – that it’s done with respect for Tolkien’s work and an enthusiasm to explore it.”
Jackson himself said in a statement that he was contacted by those responsible for the new film projects. However, to what extent he is involved in the new films is not known.