Saruman scenes axed from the new LOTR movie. *possible spoilers*

[ceenda]

Apparently all the scenes with Saruman have been cut out of the new Lord of the Rings movie for (wait for it...) "artistic" reasons. Apparently Christopher Lee is boycotting the premier, which is a shame cause I thought he was one of the coolest characters from the book and the film. :(

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3265475.stm

I wonder how they're going to explain stuff like:

1) What happens to Saruman and Wormtongue in the tower. Also, how Gandalf gets his hands on the orb thingy (palanteer?).

2) The scene at the end back in the Shire (i.e., what Frodo sees in the water).

Boooooo...

[jwo]

im sure they will be in the extended version.

[lavhoes]

Well, there was this 7-minute sequence that wrapped things up pretty nicely, but Two Towers was bloated as it was (as is the extended cut), and Jackson didn't want to put it at the front of RotK because it wouldn't make a very good opener. So he says he's going to slap it somewhere into the extended RotK cut, which works, I guess.

I just wanted more closure to the whole Saruman thing. I mean, the comeuppance he gets at the end of Two Towers is kinda...bleh. I mean, a powerful wizard gets his makeshift army destroyed, not that big of a deal. Sure, he's fucked for the time being, but it's not really something that you can say "wow, Saruman got pwned." You don't actually see anything more from him other than his "WTF?! TREES!" face. A small scene just showing Saruman dispairing or even someone smacking the crap out of him would work.

Ah well, I'm sure whatever's in the extended cut will be most excellent. Plenty of material to sketch from.

[bRyaN]

It very well may not be true...he said someone talked on the internet..

Everyone talks on the internet, and some stuff isn't necessarily true...i wanna see where he got his sources from, because it would be a major bummer if it is in fact true...

[Bob Loblaw]

Word is Darth Tyranus... <ahem> I mean Saruman will only appear on the DVD. So says Peter Jackson in communication to Ain't It Cool News (http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=16462).

Maybe instead of the attending the premiere, they could have old C. Lee do a DVD signing at Blockbuster when it finally gets released... or something like that...

[bRyaN]

I retract my previous post...

I will have salt and pepper with my foot please...

And that really sucks, now i'll have to wait until November 2004 to get the extended version of ROTK..

[oglzogl]

I guess the thread head says spoilers.. I am probably writing spoilers. Mabe not though.. if Sauruman isnt even in the RotK. Anyway, read at your own risk ;)

Your right ceenda... It seems that in the book, one of the important objects to the development of the story was the stone (crystal ball) in Sauruman's tower.

It was something that Aragorn used to confront Sauron in a test of will.. a confrontation which helped confirmed that Aragorn was king (if only to himself). It was not actually something I had necissarily looked forward (or had really thought about) but maybe something I will miss.

I was also wondering if they would reveal him as Sauruman the Many Colored when Gandalf confronts him at his Tower and breaks his staff. I like that part of the story.

Also, isn't Merry (or was it Pippin?) looking into the stone what made Sauron think he was the Halfling with the Ring? And isn't that one of the things that turned Sauron's attention away from Frodo?

That is really the only problem I can forsee with taking Sauruman out of the story. Be interesting to see how they handle it in the films. I think the Stuard of Gondor had one of those seeing stone's too. Maybe they can substitute what took place with Sauruman's stone with Gondor's. I am glad that they aren't going to add the Shire scene with Sauruman at the end. I always found that part of the story kind of anticlamatic and usually skipped over those chapters..

[Presence]

I would think it was a difficult decision to make on Jackson's part and he knew the flak he would get for doing it but in light of the amazing job they have done thus far I think we can all say it was for the good of the film.

[ceenda]

Yeah, I have to admit, given the track-record of the first two films, I think Jackson knows what he's doing. I guess the whole Aragorn vs Saruman thing will be dropped out, as it doesn't really figure too strongly in the main plotline.

And yeah, there'll be lots and lots of goodies in the extended version. :beer:

[Payback]

Yeh, I think we'll be too busy drooling over the battlescenes and certain arachnids, so Saruman is only gonna be missed by the people that read the books.

[al-x]

oglzogl: Yepp, Denethor, the steward of Gondor, has one of the palantiri in the white tower. It was by looking in this that made him go mad...

They could possibly use this one intead of the palantir from Orthanc, but that would mean that Aragorn can't confront Sauron until after the battle of Minas Tirith and isn't that battle rushed by Saruron 'cause of the confrontation by Aragorn?