Beatles plan for Rings film

Wednesday, January 5th, 2005

I’m having trouble believing this. It looks like the Beatles wanted to do a Lord of the Rings movie back in the 1960′s, but Tolkien, who was still alive and still held the film rights, nixed the idea. From Beatles plan for Rings film:

Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, who was to play the hero Frodo in the movie, told Jackson about the plans at the Academy Awards in Hollywood, the Post reported.

‘It was something John was driving and J.R.R. 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,’ Jackson told the newspaper.

George Harrison was to play the wise wizard Gandalf who advises the hobbit Frodo in his quest to destroy the evil golden ring at the center of the epic tale of good versus evil, one of the most popular books of the 20th century.

Ringo Starr was to play Frodo’s devoted sidekick Sam, while Lennon would take the part of the hobbit-like creature that tracks the heroes throughout the story, trying to get his hands on the powerful ring.

“There probably would’ve been some good songs coming off the album,” Jackson said of the Beatles’ plan.

Leave a Reply