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Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

bbc.com

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Re: Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

#31

Post by api »

Drunk_Engineer wrote: post #28
karaterobot wrote: post #9

> "Ultimately, they couldn't get the rights from Tolkien, because he didn't like the idea of a pop group doing his story. So it got nixed by him. They tried to do it. There's no doubt about it. I'm a Beatles fan. Tolkien was right to be skeptical, it would have been terrible. No doubt in my mind: campy, perfunctory, self-mocking. Please recall how "nerd" material was treated before the 2000s, if you'd like some prece…

They wanted Kubrick to direct, so it could have been a serious effort (Kubrick declined).

I’m not 100% sure Tolkien is right for Kubrick. Maybe but I’d be concerned that he’d make it a little too ponderous and symbolic. He’d nail the spooky dark aura around the ring though. But with the Beatles? Nah no way.

Peter Jackson’s adaptation was so authentic it looked at places just like my mental imagery looked as I was reading the book. That’s a tough thing to pull off in and of itself.

Spielberg would have made it campy. Lynch would have made it surreal, might have been cool but like his Dune would be a weird cult film take. (I like Lynch’s Dune but it’s weird.)

For some reason I think Ridley Scott could have done it if he could have gotten his head out of sci fi.

Re: Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

#32

Post by usrusr »

karaterobot wrote: post #9

> "Ultimately, they couldn't get the rights from Tolkien, because he didn't like the idea of a pop group doing his story. So it got nixed by him. They tried to do it. There's no doubt about it. I'm a Beatles fan. Tolkien was right to be skeptical, it would have been terrible. No doubt in my mind: campy, perfunctory, self-mocking. Please recall how "nerd" material was treated before the 2000s, if you'd like some prece…

I really think you are right, but there's a contrarian part of me now imagining something that is almost identical with that Ballad of Bilbo Baggins video that was allegedly forced on Leonard Nimoy by terrible TV producers, magically turned good through the Beatles touch.

Who knows, as unlikely as it certainly is, perhaps knowledge of the Nimoy TV sequence was what made Tolkien protect The Beatles from embarrassing themselves on middle earth.

Re: Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

#33

Post by Animats »

karaterobot wrote: post #9

> "Ultimately, they couldn't get the rights from Tolkien, because he didn't like the idea of a pop group doing his story. So it got nixed by him. They tried to do it. There's no doubt about it. I'm a Beatles fan. Tolkien was right to be skeptical, it would have been terrible. No doubt in my mind: campy, perfunctory, self-mocking. Please recall how "nerd" material was treated before the 2000s, if you'd like some prece…

Yes. The breakthrough was "Batman", 1989, which redefined the fantasy/superhero genre. Before that, fantasy/superhero stuff was silly, unrealistic, or both. "Batman" changed that.

Of course, where that got us was franchises with endless sequels.

Re: Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

#34

Post by ants_everywhere »

karaterobot wrote: post #9

> "Ultimately, they couldn't get the rights from Tolkien, because he didn't like the idea of a pop group doing his story. So it got nixed by him. They tried to do it. There's no doubt about it. I'm a Beatles fan. Tolkien was right to be skeptical, it would have been terrible. No doubt in my mind: campy, perfunctory, self-mocking. Please recall how "nerd" material was treated before the 2000s, if you'd like some prece…

I don't know, the Peter Jackson LOTR seems to owe a great deal to the 1973 Ralph Bakshi animated version. Some shots are nearly identical. And 1973 < 2000.

Re: Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

#35

Post by Keyframe »

api wrote: post #31
Drunk_Engineer wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They wanted Kubrick to direct, so it could have been a serious effort (Kubrick declined).

I’m not 100% sure Tolkien is right for Kubrick. Maybe but I’d be concerned that he’d make it a little too ponderous and symbolic. He’d nail the spooky dark aura around the ring though. But with the Beatles? Nah no way. Peter Jackson’s adaptation was so authentic it looked at places just like my mental imagery looked as I was reading the book. That’s a tough thing to pull off in and of itself. Spielberg would have mad…

Kubrick for sure could've worked in a collab env, like he did with Spartacus (yeah, he distanced himself from it though). If you're interested in how Ridley Scott version might've looked like, look no further than Legend.

Re: Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

#37

Post by drob »

rcstank wrote: post #30
dudinax wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but it's wrong that he was able to stop it. We lost what could have been an interesting piece of art. We should have more adaptations in the world not fewer.

It's his own creation. He had every right to stop it. I don't see how this is wrong at all.

He owns the IP, but we all lose out from this system.

Art has asymmetric upside – bad art doesn't really harm anyone (usually just gets forgotten) but good art enriches millions of people's lives.

It might have been amazing. It might have been bad-but-interesting. We'll never know!

Re: Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

#38

Post by karaterobot »

ants_everywhere wrote: post #34
karaterobot wrote: post #9

> "Ultimately, they couldn't get the rights from Tolkien, because he didn't like the idea of a pop group doing his story. So it got nixed by him. They tried to do it. There's no doubt about it. I'm a Beatles fan. Tolkien was right to be skeptical, it would have been terrible. No doubt in my mind: campy, perfunctory, self-mocking. Please recall how "nerd" material was treated before the 2000s, if you'd like some prece…

I don't know, the Peter Jackson LOTR seems to owe a great deal to the 1973 Ralph Bakshi animated version. Some shots are nearly identical. And 1973 < 2000.

Well, I disagree with you about the non-camp quality of the 1978 Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings, but even if that were true, are you saying that changes the track record of SF and fantasy movies in that period?

Re: Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

#39

Post by Drunk_Engineer »

Keyframe wrote: post #35
api wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not 100% sure Tolkien is right for Kubrick. Maybe but I’d be concerned that he’d make it a little too ponderous and symbolic. He’d nail the spooky dark aura around the ring though. But with the Beatles? Nah no way. Peter Jackson’s adaptation was so authentic it looked at places just like my mental imagery looked as I was reading the book. That’s a tough thing to pull off in and of itself. Spielberg would have mad…

Kubrick for sure could've worked in a collab env, like he did with Spartacus (yeah, he distanced himself from it though). If you're interested in how Ridley Scott version might've looked like, look no further than Legend.

Kubrick did Spartacus (I think you meant to say). Kingdom of Heaven might be a better example from Ridley Scott.

Re: Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film (2021)

#40

Post by bombcar »

api wrote: post #31
Drunk_Engineer wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They wanted Kubrick to direct, so it could have been a serious effort (Kubrick declined).

I’m not 100% sure Tolkien is right for Kubrick. Maybe but I’d be concerned that he’d make it a little too ponderous and symbolic. He’d nail the spooky dark aura around the ring though. But with the Beatles? Nah no way. Peter Jackson’s adaptation was so authentic it looked at places just like my mental imagery looked as I was reading the book. That’s a tough thing to pull off in and of itself. Spielberg would have mad…

One of Jackson’s smartest move was hiring all the various Tolkien illustrators to work on set design mockups. Really made everything feel right for many people.
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