Stuff Digital Edition

Lord of the Ringo? Jackson intrigued by Beatles’ project

It is one of the great what-ifs of cinematic – and musical – history: What would have been the result had the Beatles made a musical film of The Lord of the Rings?

The idea was stamped on by JRR Tolkien, who did not like the idea of a pop group being let loose on his Middle Earth trilogy.

It has also led to a difference of opinion between Sir Paul McCartney and Peter Jackson, whose three films of The Lord of the Rings are among the highestgrossing film series of all time.

McCartney now says he is glad the Beatles never made the film, in which he would have starred as Frodo. Jackson, on the other hand, says it was ‘‘a shame’’, even if it did mean that he got the chance more than 30 years later.

Jackson, whose documentary The Beatles: Get Back is being broadcast on Disney+, told the

BBC that his life would have been very different if the Beatles had got to Tolkien first.

‘‘Paul said, ‘Well I’m glad we didn’t do it, because you got to do yours and I liked your film’. But I said to him, ‘Well, it’s a shame you didn’t do it, because it would have been a musical’.

‘‘What would the Beatles have done with a Lord of the Rings soundtrack album? That would have been 14 or 15 Beatles songs that would have been pretty incredible to listen to,’’ Jackson said.

‘‘So I’ve got two minds about it. I would have loved to hear that album, but I’m also glad I got the chance to do the films. But those songs would have been fascinating.’’

Since embarking on his Beatles film, Jackson has been anxious to get to the truth of their abortive Lord of the Rings project.

‘‘I’ve been scraping together little pieces of information,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ve been interrogating Paul about it. Ringo doesn’t remember much.

‘‘What I understand is that Denis O’Dell, who was their Apple film producer, who produced The Magic Christian film that starred Ringo Starr, had the idea of doing The Lord of the Rings.

‘‘When [the Beatles] went to Rishikesh and stayed in India, it was about three months with the Maharishi at the beginning of 1968, he sent the books to the Beatles.

‘‘I expect because there are three, he sent one book to

each of the Beatles. I don’t think Ringo got one, but John, Paul and George each got one Lord of the Rings book to read in India. And they got excited about it.’’

It has been suggested that alongside McCartney as

the film’s hobbit hero, it would have starred Starr as his sidekick Sam, John Lennon as Gollum, and George Harrison as Gandalf.

Jackson said McCartney was unsure which Beatle would have taken which role.

As the film’s director, Lennon wanted either Stanley Kubrick – fresh from his triumph with 2001: A Space Odyssey – or David Lean, director of Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia.

However, the intervention of the author, who died in 1973, meant it was not to be, Jackson said.

‘‘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. For a moment in time, they were seriously contemplating doing that at the beginning of 1968.’’

World

en-nz

2021-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/282965338371848

Stuff Limited