We were working at New Line when the LOTR trilogy was greenlit. Many who weren't around then might not realize what an absolutely insane risk it was. My own agent bet me 100 dollars it would be a disaster and bankrupt the studio. - ThreadSky

shannonandswift.bsky.social • 46 days ago

We were working at New Line when the LOTR trilogy was greenlit. Many who weren't around then might not realize what an absolutely insane risk it was. My own agent bet me 100 dollars it would be a disaster and bankrupt the studio.

Reposted from Sean T. Collins

What an absolutely wild swing the Lord of the Rings trilogy was. If they'd been bad or unpopular movies it would have been a world-historical cinematic catastrophe. Instead it's a 12-hour parade of the most bitchin' shit you've ever seen in your life.

Comments

iamdwalt.bsky.social•46 days ago

It seems insane to call a multi-million dollar trilogy a “labour of love,” but that’s exactly how it feels like. There’s something intangible on screen that comes from everyone involved taking pride in creating it.

careermilk.bsky.social•46 days ago

Did you get the 100 dollars?

shannonandswift.bsky.social•46 days ago

No, and we changed agents.

c-furman.bsky.social•46 days ago

Wait, are you saying you didn't take the bet or are you saying the agent welched?

shannonandswift.bsky.social•46 days ago

Welched!

c-furman.bsky.social•46 days ago

That rat bastard. Good for you for dumping their ass!

nikt00nz.bsky.social•46 days ago

It’s funny, I was around when these movies came out(I especially have fond memories of seeing The Two Towers as a kid at a drive in Santa Cruz with my parents), but it was only later as an adult did I realize just how important and massive this series was to be adapted like this.

alecyler.bsky.social•46 days ago

the greatest cinematic achievement up until that point and forever a high mark in the history of cinema.

hijvak792.bsky.social•46 days ago

Trump's likely to see the bigger picture—Russia's not the long-term adversary that China is. He'll act accordingly to protect US interests.

guanolad.bsky.social•46 days ago

It's one of those right place, right time, right people miracles.

untitleduser.bsky.social•46 days ago

Robert Shaye was a genius but his legacy rests on the sentence “if it’s three books, make three movies.” Cinema as an art form owes much to that

shannonandswift.bsky.social•46 days ago

We spent a lot of time with Bob. We have a tremendous amount of respect for him. He was a riverboat gambler who loved movies and trusted his own taste. And he assembled a great team around him.

untitleduser.bsky.social•46 days ago

You said the key words. He loved movies. No wonder he made the films he made. He knew what would rock. And I noticed his team. I mean one of them wrote In the Mouth of Madness! That’s a cool team.

c-furman.bsky.social•46 days ago

I absolutely dread the possibility that it was Bob in the meeting of the producers that said "I don't get it; what's so special about this guy?" about Kane Hodder when they screened JASON X in response to the fans getting a campaign together to get him back as Jason in FvsJ.

untitleduser.bsky.social•46 days ago

I hope not

bullcityfats.bsky.social•46 days ago

Imagine how nervous Fox and Paramount were in 1997 before Titanic debuted.

shannonandswift.bsky.social•46 days ago

I was an assistant at Universal when TITANIC was in production! Every day in Variety it seemed like there was a story about that "troubled" production. Over budget, hungry cold and wet crew. It was also expected to flop.

akjakalope.bsky.social•46 days ago

By all accounts it should have. Herculean cinematic achievement(s)

stevenmelching.bsky.social•46 days ago

I interned for Mark Ordesky in 1990, when he was still a “Story Editor.” Great guy, and so proud of him and the success of the films. Just sad he has to share a title card with the Weinsteins. But those offices on Robertson were a fun place to hang out!

shannonandswift.bsky.social•46 days ago

The best. And I didn't know you worked for Mark!

stevenmelching.bsky.social•46 days ago

Just for a summer, but we’re still in touch. I have a memory of a mini poster for one of Peter Jackson’s early horror films on his (tiny) office wall. I heard PJ would crash on Mark’s couch (a couple blocks from the office) when he came to LA back then!

stevenmelching.bsky.social•46 days ago

I remember finding coverage in their files for a couple screenplays my former USC Film School professors wrote. They passed, lol.

malcolmspellman.bsky.social•45 days ago

I believe it did bankrupt them despite being successful which is how they ended up at WB. I could be wrong but I’m not.

shannonandswift.bsky.social•45 days ago

You are wrong 😀

malcolmspellman.bsky.social•45 days ago

I don’t think so. I believe heard it from Deluca explaining how money works in holllywood. Money in vs money out.

ravensfilm.bsky.social•46 days ago

Someone really should do a documentary about New Line, from their days as just a distributor of low budget films to making their own with Elm Street and other genre flicks to building themselves out in the 90's to a significant player to the crescendo of the LOTR trilogy. It's really astonishing.

shannonandswift.bsky.social•46 days ago

I saw that DeLuca and Brener were just on a podcast about New Line in the 90s. A doc about the entire saga would be great.

majorarschloch.bsky.social•46 days ago

An Oral History of the Making of The Lord Of The Rings would be an instant best seller

shannonandswift.bsky.social•46 days ago

We would sneak looks at dailies. Early on it just looked like a bunch of people on horses going around in circles on a hill. Everyone was terrified. The fact that Peter and Fran Walsh could keep it all straight in their heads is nothing short of miraculous.

cybogoblin.bsky.social•46 days ago

Imagine being a Kiwi at the time. "The guy who made that zombie lawnmower movie and the f*ing puppets movie is making what?"

Okay, not entirely true. He'd also made Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners by that point, but still.

shannonandswift.bsky.social•46 days ago

You could clearly see the talent... but it would be a colossal leap for any filmmaker. It's one of the most ambitious projects in the history of Hollywood.

cybogoblin.bsky.social•46 days ago

We always figured it was why they had him make The Frighteners first. It was a bit of a testing ground for the technology that went in to making LotR a success.

haileypiperfights.bsky.social•45 days ago

I feel this was more common knowledge back when people watched DVD extras more often; I remember knowing it from the appendices. Now they're such classics, it's wild to think they were such an enormous risk.

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