Peter Jackson
He casts the Beatles for “Lord of the Rings”
– John Lennon als Gollum? © imago/Cinema Publishers Collection / imago images/Everett Collection
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“Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson presents the Beatles documentary “Get Back” – and casts the Fab Four for his fantasy epic.
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The time has finally come: “The Beatles: Get Back” starts on Disney +. Successful director Peter Jackson (60) worked on 60 hours of original Beatles film material from 1969, which was made a few months before the band split up. The documentary takes six hours and is broadcast in three parts on the streaming service. The first episode will air on November 25th.
Jackson immortalized himself with the film adaptations of the fantasy classics “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien. What roles would he have cast in “Lord of the Rings” with the Beatles? The question may sound silly at first, but it’s not that far off. After all, the Beatles wanted to make a film of “The Lord of the Rings” themselves at the end of the 1960s.
As reported by “Metro” among others, Peter Jackson spoke in an interview with BBC Radio 4 about the failed Tolkien film adaptation of the Beatles, which failed due to the resistance of the author, who died in 1973. The two Beatles Paul McCartney (79) and Ringo Starr (81) could not explain to Jackson exactly why the project was canceled. They just didn’t remember it anymore. McCartney said in retrospect to Jackson: “I’m glad we didn’t make it so you could make your film. I like it a lot.”
Jackson casts the Beatles for “Lord of the Rings”
Peter Jackson sees the failure of the Beatles project with one laughing and one crying eye. He would have loved to hear the soundtrack of the film, but at the same time is happy that he got his chance to film “The Lord of the Rings” himself. If there had already been a major real-life film adaptation of the material, it would have actually been difficult for Jackson.
Stephen Colbert (57) asked Jackson on his “Late Show” which Beatle he had cast for which role? His choice apparently overlaps 100 percent with the roles that the band members should supposedly actually take on.
“Paul is clearly Frodo, isn’t he?” Said Jackson. Hobbit Sam, who accompanies Frodo on his trip to Mordor, is clearly Ringo for the director. “John is obviously Gollum,” continued Jackson. Like the Beatles themselves, the director casts the creeping, ambivalent villain Gollum with John Lennon, who died in 1980. For Jackson, George Harrison (1943-2001) is the ideal cast for the magician Gandalf: “Gandalf is George, the mystic, that fits perfectly. You just had to make him a little older”.
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