Interesting info from AICN

[Talimon]

aintitcoolnews.com has a little tibit about Return of King, including a few of the pics we've all probably seen by now:

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=14138


The pics weren't what interested me, though I love the Frodo & Sam pic. And Aragorn? Wow.... He looks like some god from ancient Rome riding to the end of the world. Did you notice the white tree not only on his breast plate, but on his horse as well?

But anyway, what caught me was this:

From what I'm hearing there are 3 initial edits for Peter to begin looking at. A 3 hour cut, a 3 and a half hour cut and a 4 and a half hour cut. The version that was screened to Elijah, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan was the 3 hour cut. Word has it that tears flowed beginning 40 minutes in and that this is THE film of the trilogy. For those that know the material that is left to cover, I bet you can imagine what the scene is...

Am I the only one that would sell my soul to see the 4 1/2 hour cuts of these films? As unlikely as it sounds, I'm hoping against hope that PJ makes a 4-hour cut of these films eventually. Anyway, Harry from AICN has as good a connection with the LotR folks as anyone, so his word is basically fact. I also think it is a good sign that the hobbits enjoyed the 3 hour cut, to the point of tears. Anyway, I'm hoping the 3 1/2 hour one is the one that hits theatres. Unlikely, but it just might happen.

[Nóm]

People cry at the drop of a hat when it comes to movies so weeping Wood doesn't impress me, and that is without considering how much work they put into this movie and how much it means to them. Throw that into the mix and you have a given.

I'd like to see the 4.5 hour version, but I am less anxious to see this movie than I can ever remember being... surely it is due to the amount of invented/extent of the twisting of TTT's storyline.



*********edit*********

Okay, I've calmed down... but I am concerned about RotK. I hope for a longer movie, and maybe if TTT continues to do well in theatre we can have a longer TC and then a 4.5 hour EE... but I honestly don't care what the actors think about RotK, unless it is to compare what they say about it with what they said of the first two movies in regards to it's faithfulness to the storyline of the book. I'd like to know what people are saying about how closely it sticks to the story in the book. What is the word on that? Have any of you people who always scoop up the latest news heard anything on that?
The field of Cormallon?
I don't expect it to be exactly as the book so if some film defender jumps on me about this they'll get it back twice as hard.
It's just that as the story has progressed it has become more deviated from the book and I have conerns about this trend... will it continue? Or will PJ blend it back into something that is closer to the true storyline?

[Phee]

They'll probably save the 4.5 hour cut for the collector's edition box set with all three movies. ;) And you can bet that if they do, I'll be first in line to buy it. LOL

Oh, and that Kingly Aragorn pic makes me swoon like you wouldn't believe. :p

Haven't heard any reports on how true it's gonna be to the book, but I'm sure that kind of info will be leaking out sooner or later.

[Celebthôl]

nope the devil has mine already :D , so all he has to do is hold up his part of the bargain and we all have 4 1/2 hours HOO YAH!!!

Thôl

[Wynston]

With all that I'd like to see included, I don't see how they can do it in less than 3 1/2 hours. Now they may not include everything I like! But who knows. I enjoyed FoTR, and TTT, but TTT just a tad less, probably becasue I liked FoTR as a book better, and FoTR had that initial "wow" factor for me. I just hope that the essential elements from RoTK (and what was left over from TTT that they didn't put in the movie) are in the movie. I really want two huge battles, Pelannor and the Morannon, but I'm not holding my breath for that.

I just thought of this. It may seem like twisted logic, but weirder things have happened. The money that FoTR has made and TTT will made is phenomenal. What if New Line isn't too obsessed with profits from the third movie and does let PJ put out a 3 1/2 hour, or even 4 hour film? Its probably a huge stretch to say that any movie studio like New Line won't be concerned about profits, as I'm sure they will, but who knows. No matter what the length, I'm sure it will rake in good money, so they may just let it be longer than the first two.

[Talimon]

A 4 hour film is completely out of the question, but a 3 1/2 hour film could deffinitely be a reality. Remember, the highest grossing movie of all time is Titanic, and that movie was approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes long. Lawrence of Arabia is 3 hours and 40 minutes long. Godfather II did very well in the box-office, and that was was 3 hours and 20 minutes. So movies over 3 hours have been made, and they've had much less pre-release hype then RotK is going to have. I think PJ could get away with it. Risky, but admirable, and ultimately a better movie.