Director Stanley Kubrick is known for his legendary work in Hollywood and has directed such wonderful films as Space Odyssey And Shine. However, there were always projects that the director proposed to do, but were never implemented. One of these films also includes J.R.R. Tolkien. Lord of the Rings adaptations that Peter Jackson later developed.
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The Beatles wanted to star in a Stanley Kubrick film Lord of the Rings
Peter Jackson started working on Lord of the Rings in the late 90s, and the first film of the trilogy was released in 2001. However, decades before Jackson began working on the film, the English rock group The Beatles attempted to acquire Lord of the Rings adaptation on the spot.
After playing themselves in musical comedies A Hard Day’s Night And Help!, rock band members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison wanted to pursue an acting career and were looking for something that would give them the opportunity.
It is alleged that band member John Lennon was interested in Lord of the Rings and offered himself as Gollum, Paul McCartney as Frodo, George Harrison as Gandalf and Ringo Starr as Samwise. And they wanted director Stanley Kubrick to direct their potential adaptation.
The rock band wanted to add their own music to the film, allegedly hoping to make it a musical. However, things did not go further, because not only Shine the director declined the offer, calling the film “non-removable”, but the author of the book series also refused them.
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Stanley Kubrick refused to adapt J. R. R. Tolkien’s novels
The Beatles reportedly approached Stanley Kubrick about adapting Lord of the Rings books. Reports claim that the music team wanted to make it a musical as their two previous films were also musicals.
Based on the book by Ian Nathan Everything You Can Imagine: Peter Jackson and the Creation of Middle-earth (via Collider), the rock band visited the director in the middle of the night to pitch their idea. Although he listened to what they had in mind, he ultimately abandoned the concept.
The late director reportedly called the novels “non-removable” After Kubrick, they also turned to Richard Lester, David Lean and Michelangelo Antonioni. However, the author of the series of novels, J. R. R. Tolkien, himself took over and put an end to the plans of The Beatles. He was reportedly skeptical about adapting the books and did not want a pop group to work on the adaptation.
Years later, Peter Jackson did what The Beatles dreamed of, and their franchise has been growing ever since. After Lord of the Rings And Hobbit trilogy, studio released The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power and recently announced that they are planning for the further expansion of the Universe.
Lord of the Rings The franchise is available on Max.
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Source: IMDB