October (Web-only) 2003

ARTICLE TOOLS

Find similar articles E-mail this page

Are you counting the days until The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King? With just over a month left before the December 18 unveiling, the Internet is buzzing with trailers, news, photographs, interviews, and hype. What are your concerns about the final episode in Peter Jackson's filmic trilogy? Or have his previous interpretations of J.R.R. Tolkien's stories turned you off to the whole project? Let me know.

An update at TheOneRing.net announced this week that the film's official running time will test the endurance of even the series' most devoted fans: 210 minutes!

And yet, the films' fanatical audience is showing unprecedented enthusiasm for the series. On Wednesday October 8, New Line Cinema made tickets available for a special one-day-only event in 99 locations across the U.S., a marathon run through all three Lord of the Rings films. It's been nicknamed "Trilogy Tuesday."

"Rarely, if ever, in the history of movie making has a studio gone so far for its fan base," TheOneRing.net reported. "And yet, the small number of theaters tapped for the event guaranteed fierce competition for tickets. Fan anticipation was great, and demand extremely high. Tickets went on sale in 99 locations across the United States and with a few exceptions, they were gone a few hours later."

Those who snatched up tickets for the event, scheduled for December 16, will have the privilege of sitting through The Fellowship of the Ring's extended edition, previously only viewable on DVD. That's a 210-minute production. After an intermission, they will sit through the extended edition of The Two Towers (due on DVD on November 18). That's another 208 minutes. Following that, they will stretch and reload their bags of popcorn for the screenings of ...