‘The Lord Of The Rings’ Star Says The Studio Wanted To Kill A Hobbit

The Lord of the Rings star Dominic Monaghan revealed that the studio wanted director Peter Jackson to kill off one of the film’s main hobbits.

It’s been nearly twenty years since The Lord of the Rings hit theaters and it is still regarded as one of the best film trilogies ever made. At the center of the story were the four hobbits Frodo, Sam, Mary, and Pippin who, like most of the main characters in the film, survived the entire length of the trilogy. If the studio had had its way, however, at least one of the four would have been killed off.

Inbetween film roles, Lord of the Rings star Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd have devoted their energies to a podcast based on their experiences on the films. While discussing their podcast with IGN, Monaghan revealed that, at one point, the studio pressured Peter Jackson to kill at least one of the film’s hobbit characters but didn’t go into why or when this would have happened in the films:

“It’s a good job that didn’t happen, because it would have been me. It definitely would have. There’s no way they are killing Frodo and Sam, and the only ones that would be left would be Merry and Pippin. They wouldn’t kill Pippin because Pippin has a really strong story with Gandalf. It would have definitely been me. I think Pete quite rightly was like, ‘This is a luminary piece of written work, and we need to stick close to the text.’ So, he stuck by his guns. Yeah, I’m thankful that didn’t happen.”

Which of the hobbits do you think Peter Jackson would have chosen to kill in The Lord of the Rings? Are you glad that all four survived the length of the trilogy? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

The next project based around J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth world is Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series. The series is being developed by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, who will lead a writer’s room that includes Game of Thrones alum Bryan Cogman. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J. A. Bayona is set to direct multiple episodes of the series.

Amazon has not announced a released date for The Lord of the Rings series. Stay tuned for all the latest news on Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content!

Source: IGN