Lord of the Rings Fans Rediscover ‘Horrible’ Adaptation Pitched to The Shining Director

Over twenty years ago, Peter Jackson introduced fantasy fans who hadn’t read the books to the world of The Lord of the Rings, a live-action adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s massive trilogy. The iconic movies would go on to change the face of how fantasy movies were viewed, winning countless awards for their incredible narratives, powerful music scores and cinematic delight.

In the opinion of many fans, The Lord of the Rings is cited as being one of the best movies ever made, making it to the top of countless film-goers’ lists. Even though it’s certainly up for debate, it goes without saying that Peter Jackson’s epic tale produced widespread acclaim for its stunning landscapes, large-scale battles, and rich lore. However, before fans got their eyes on the adaptation that took them on a journey of hobbits, elves, dwarves, and wizards to destroy the One Ring, a world-famous 1960s music band group almost starred in a LoTR movie that had The Shining director, Stanley Kubrick, at the helm. The name of the band? Oh, just a small group of guys from Liverpool called The Beatles.

The Beatles Almost Starred in a Lord of the Rings Adaptation (And Thankfully, They Didn’t)

Over on Reddit, one Lord of the Rings fan has posted a reminder that, for those who might not have known, The Beatles were once set to play characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece and create their very own film adaptation. Almost forty years before Peter Jackson got his hands on the film, Paul McCartney was going to play Frodo, Ringo Starr as Samwise, John Lennon as Gollum, and George Harrison as the great wizard himself, Gandalf. Seeing as The Fab Four were at the height of their career at the time, having The Beatles‘ name attached to anything was almost a guaranteed success. However, this wasn’t exactly the right move for such an iconic piece of literature.

Instead of haunting scores by the likes of composer Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings would have been a musical featuring the band’s own songs, which, of course, would be highly unsettling and pretty ridiculous for the eerie setting of Middle Earth. The adaptation was pitched to legendary director Stanley Kubrick, who is behind movies like Full Metal Jacket, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut, and The Shining, and thankfully, Kubrick thought it was just as ridiculous as it sounded, deeming it “unfilmable”.

In the comment section of the thread, fans expressed their gratitude at the concept never materializing, saving them from a truly “horrible” viewing experience. One commenter stated, “Agreed. That would’ve been horrible,” another said “I feel like we all dodged a bullet,” while a third comment replied, “They took it from us and threw it in the garbage as it should have been.” It’s known that J.R.R. Tolkien himself despised rock music and turned down The Beatles‘ offer to make a film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, thankfully, later leaving it in the capable hands of Jackson.

To experience the world of Middle Earth in amazing 4K, the six-film collection of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit is available for preorder now with a release date of March 18.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum

Director

Andy Serkis

Writers

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Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Phoebe Gittins, Art Papageorgiou

Cast

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Source: Reddit