The Lord of the Rings film series has several interesting facts and behind-the-scenes stories. Here are some of them:
* The Beatles were considered to star in the first film, but the project didn't push through.
* Stanley Kubrick was offered to direct the film, but he declined, saying that the technology at the time was not advanced enough to produce a Lord of the Rings film.
* There are several continuity errors in the films, including a scene where an actor's hand disappears, and another where a character's scar changes position and size.
* The film's costume designer, Ngila Dickson, won an Academy Award for her work on the trilogy.
* The films feature a record number of extras, with over 836 people playing the role of dead bodies in one scene.
* The actor who played Gollum, Andy Serkis, based his performance on a heroin addict he observed, and used motion capture technology to bring the character to life.
* The actor who played Gimli, John Rhys-Davies, is 6'5" tall and had to duck to avoid hitting his head on the low ceilings of the sets.
* The original book was not supposed to be a fantasy epic, but was instead going to be called "The Lord of Cats" and feature a dark lord who was a kitten.
These are just a few of the many interesting facts and anecdotes about the Lord of the Rings film series.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The Lord of the Rings film rights were sold to United Artists in 1960.
2. The Beatles were considered to star in the first film of the Lord of the Rings saga.
3. Stanley Kubrick was approached to direct the Lord of the Rings film, but he refused.
4. Kubrick refused the offer because he believed the resources available at the time made it impossible to produce a Lord of the Rings film.
5. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has several continuity errors, including a scene where an actor's hand disappears and reappears.
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has the largest number of deaths in the history of cinema, with around 836 dead bodies.
7. The film won 11 Oscars, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film.
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the first fiction and fantasy film to win the Oscar for Best Film.
9. Sean Bean, the actor who played Boromir, broke two of his toes while filming a scene.
10. The actor who played Gollum, Andy Serkis, studied the movements and behavior of a heroin addict to create his character's performance.
11. Sean Astin, the actor who played Sam, is 1.85m tall, making him one of the tallest actors in the cast.
12. John Rhys-Davies, the actor who played Gimli, hit his head on a roof during filming, which was not part of the script but was left in the final cut.
13. The original title of The Lord of the Rings was supposed to be "The Lord of Cats" and later changed to "The Necromancer" and "The Lord of Wolves" before finally being changed to "Sauron".
14. Gandalf was never supposed to wear a watch in the original book, and a photo of him wearing one is fake.