The Frodo Franchise by Kristin Thompson
 
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April 16 : 2009

Blu-ray ins and outs

Thanks to TheOneRing.net for alerting us to the fact that Amazon is now taking preorders for the Blu-ray set of LOTR.

A couple of things to note. First, there’s no release date given. It could be many months before the discs actually get delivered. “The Digital Bits,” which seems to have inside information, estimates that it might be the end of the year.

Second, these are the theatrical versions. There’s no indication of any extras, which makes sense. Again, “The Digital Bits” says that Peter Jackson is saving the Blu-ray box of the extended editions for later, timed to the release of The Hobbit. That will apparently be the “ultimate box set.” Maybe it’ll have all those fabled extras that we’ve all been hoping for. I would love to see the Cannes preview included, as well as the 37-minute pitch video that Peter concocted and and used to sell the project to New Line. Peter has also spoken of including deleted scenes-not edited into the films-in a possible future set.

Not a few people will recognize the release date, presumably late 2011, as the tenth anniversary of FOTR, so there’s another reason to make an “ultimate” set then.

So, as I never tire of pointing out, the franchise lives on, and will continue to do so.

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    The Frodo Franchise
    by Kristin Thompson

    US flagbuy at best price

    Canadian flagbuy at best price

    UK flagbuy at best price

    Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
    hardcover 978-0-520-24774-1
    421 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 12 color illustrations; 36 b/w illustrations; 1 map; 1 table

    “Once in a lifetime.”
    The phrase comes up over and over from the people who worked on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. The film’s 17 Oscars, record-setting earnings, huge fan base, and hundreds of ancillary products attest to its importance and to the fact that Rings is far more than a film. Its makers seized a crucial moment in Hollywood—the special effects digital revolution plus the rise of “infotainment” and the Internet—to satisfy the trilogy’s fans while fostering a huge new international audience. The resulting franchise of franchises has earned billions of dollars to date with no end in sight.

    Kristin Thompson interviewed 76 people to examine the movie’s scripting and design and the new technologies deployed to produce the films, video games, and DVDs. She demonstrates the impact Rings had on the companies that made it, on the fantasy genre, on New Zealand, and on independent cinema. In fast-paced, compulsively readable prose, she affirms Jackson’s Rings as one the most important films ever made.

    The Frodo Franchise

    cover of Penguin Books’ (NZ) edition of The Frodo Franchise, published September 2007. The tiny subtitle reads: “How ‘The Lord of the Rings’ became a Hollywood blockbuster and put New Zealand on the map.”