Viggo Mortensen Believes The Lord Of The Rings Sequels Narrowly Avoided Being The Most Expensive Flops Of All Time
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In the years since the Lord of the Rings movies were released more than two decades ago, Viggo Mortensen has remained very busy. Still, Mortensen continues to be asked about the Lord of the Rings movies since it is widely considered one of the best film franchises of all time.
Thanks to that, Mortensen revealed something about the making of the Lord of the Rings movies that surprised many fans of the films. According to Mortensen, the two Lord of the Rings sequels could have been extremely expensive disasters.
Why The Lord Of The Rings Sequels Could Have Sucked
Throughout Hollywood history, there have been times when a movie and its sequel were produced at the same time. However, that definitely has been a rarity which is why sequels typically come out years after a hit movie was released
After the first Lord of the Rings movie was released in 2001, its two sequels came out in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Ever since it has been said that the main reason why that was possible is that the team behind the franchise decided to film all three movies at the same time.
During the production of the Lord of the Rings movies, many fans questioned how it was possible to film three major movies simultaneously. However, when all three films were released and became huge hits, everyone assumed that the master plan for the series was brilliant idea right from the start.
According to what Mortensen told The Telegraph in 2014, however, the Lord of the Rings movies easily could have been a complete disaster. Before talking about how bad The Two Towers and The Return of the King could have been, Mortensen revealed that nobody was sure The Fellowship of the Ring was going to succeed either.
Related: Viggo Mortensen Turned Down The Role Of Wolverine Because The Script Was “Wrong”
“Anybody who says they knew it was going to be the success it was, I don’t think it’s really true. They didn’t have an inkling until they showed 20 minutes in Cannes, in May of 2001. They were in a lot of trouble, and Peter had spent a lot.”
Mortensen then went on to say that the commonly believed story that all three Lord of the Rings movies were filmed at the same time only partially reveals the truth.
“Officially, he could say that he was finished in December 2000 – he’d shot all three films in the trilogy – but really the second and third ones were a mess. It was very sloppy – it just wasn’t done at all. It needed massive reshoots, which we did, year after year.”
Mortensen next remarked that the second and third Lord of the Rings movies could have been terrible if the first film didn’t turn out to be the huge hit it became.
“But he would have never been given the extra money to do those if the first one hadn’t been a huge success. The second and third ones would have been straight to video.”
Finally, Jackson talked about how chaotic it was filming the Lord of the Rings movies and why he thinks The Fellowship of the Ring is the best film in the franchise.
Related: The Lord Of The Rings Franchise Is Getting New Movies, But Fans Are Worried
“It was very confusing, we were going at such a pace, and they had so many units shooting, it was really insane. But it’s true that the first script was better organized.”
Mortensen continued, “Also, Peter was always a geek in terms of technology but, once he had the means to do it, and the evolution of the technology really took off, he never looked back. In the first movie, yes, there’s Rivendell, and Mordor, but there’s sort of an organic quality to it, actors acting with each other, and real landscapes; it’s grittier.”
“The second movie already started ballooning, for my taste, and then by the third one, there were a lot of special effects.” Mortensen continued, “It was grandiose, and all that, but whatever was subtle, in the first movie, gradually got lost in the second and third.”
The Lord Of The Rings Injuries
When people learn what Viggo Mortensen thought about the making of the Lord of the Rings movies, it is important to remember the amazing work that went into making the trilogy. Still, making the movies was hard on everyone including Mortensen who infamously suffered a painful injury and could have lost his life.
First off, during the filming of one much talked about scene, Mortensen broke two toes when he kicked a helmet that was on the ground not realizing how heavy it was.
More importantly, Mortensen could have been blown up or drowned in a pair of potentially deadly incidents. During a scene where Mortensen’s character floats down a river, his armor made it impossible to swim, and the water was flowing faster than expected which made rescuing the actor hard.
During the filming of another scene, production took place beside a field where there were unexploded artillery shells. When Mortensen’s horse went outside the safety zone, the director Peter Jackson was terrified for the actor’s life.
Related: The Lord Of The Rings: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Cast
Unfortunately, Mortensen wasn’t the only one who suffered for their Lord of the Rings performance.
One notable example of that is Sean Astin got cut on the bottom of his foot when he stepped on a shard of glass that couldn’t be seen in the water, and it went right through his prosthetic foot. After the glass was removed and how bad the cut was became clear, Astin was flown directly to a hospital in a helicopter.
At another point during the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Orlando Bloom fell off a horse he was riding on. That fall resulted in Bloom breaking some of his ribs. Since then, Bloom’s co-stars have mocked the actor for how much he complained about how painful the broken ribs were.
Gimli’s actor John Rhys-Davies didn’t suffer an injury, but he had allergic reactions due to his facial prosthetics. This wasn’t a one-time thing either as he reportedly had daily skin rashes during filming which is why he has ruled out portraying Gimli again.
“I’ve already been asked and to be honest with you, I wouldn’t [return to Middle Earth]. I have already completely ruled it out. There’s a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. Really I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment anymore.”