MYTHICAL QUEST Left to right: Elijah Wood’s Frodo reaches for the fabled ring; Andy Serkis as Gollum with Sean Astin as Samwise.
was crying on their behalf, not on his own, or his
Jackson’s reel that he went for broke to turn
own company’s behalf.”
around the skeptical buzz on the film and build
boy oh boy, could you feel it. I don’t know if Bob
Says Kamins: “Those were high stakes, and
After shooting for a year and a half in isolation,
momentum for the late-year release. Shaye
remembers what I remember, which is me and
Jackson himself had become somewhat troubled
decided on a Cannes premiere-style launch,
Bob and Peter literally standing in the stairwell
with what was being written about his films, and
unveiling 26 minutes of scenes, followed by that
by the projection booth of the Olympia, wait-
the expectation of looming catastrophe. “People
party staged at the historic Château de Castel-
ing for the first screening to start. Both of them
knew that three films were being shot, and a lot of
laras, just outside town. Actual sets from the
looked sick to their stomachs. They were both
press I read—and some of this was New Zealand
movie were transported to turn the venue into
white as a sheet and couldn’t breathe. They liter-
press—would talk about how risky it was for New
Middle-earth, complete with cave trolls, Ring-
ally didn’t know what was going to happen, and
Line, that if the first film failed New Line would
wraiths and Frodo’s house in the Shire. It was $2
then the footage hit. We had a pretty good sense
probably cease to exist, because they’d be stuck
million well spent.
as people walked out, that they were buzzing,
with two other films that they can’t do anything
Jackson came to Cannes with cast and a reel
with,” Jackson says. “It is totally understandable
that began with him and Gandalf in the wizard’s
significant people who would normally occupy
press would speculate about the worst case
wagon to introduce footage which established the
the Croisette, both in the media and other major
scenario. These thoughts were going through our
Fellowship of men, hobbits, and an elf and dwarf
distributors who didn’t have the film. There was a
minds as well to some degree, but what bothered
to deliver the ring to Mordor. Then came the entire
buzz, and it was moving fast. You could feel that
me is some were written as a fait accompli. ‘Fan-
breathtaking sequence as the group enters the
something important was happening.”
tasy is always unsuccessful at the box office,’ and,
underground mines of Moria, battling Orcs, goblins
‘New Line is taking crazy risks with this unknown
and the fiery demon Balrog.
bad it might be.’”
“Everybody thinks the make-or-break moment
Says Galano: “If I had to choose a word to describe the buyers, it would be… euphoric.” “Sammy Hadida, who has passed away but
of a big movie is the opening weekend, but in some
who was head of French distributor Metropolitan,
Rather than rattling him, this criticism fueled
respects, I think that Cannes screening was our
saw me in the lobby and literally picked me up off
Jackson. “I’m the sort of guy that if I read people
opening weekend, certainly in terms of all these
the ground and kissed me on the mouth, he was
are speculating on how much I’m going to fail,
distributors being on board,” Jackson says. “The
so excited,” recalls Ordesky. “I thought his face
that makes me all the more determined not to
success of the movie in its initial release was going
would break from smiling so big.”
fail. I thought, I’m going to show you, I’m going to
to depend a lot on the amount of effort and hard
work like a crazy guy to make the best films I pos-
work that the different distributors put into the
with turning their nerves into excitement. “[There
sibly can. In a sense I’m grateful for those stories
film, because they were all in charge of promotion
was] a sense it would change not just our com-
because I do look back on that as being something
and marketing in their own territories. What that
pany, but everyone involved,” he recalls. “We sat
that really gave me the extra 10 percent to do the
Cannes screening did was it motivated and united
alongside the press, all of us experiencing it at the
best job I could.”
all of them in the sense they realized this could be
same moment. Then, the acute sense of being in
huge if they put in the extra effort.”
the world of the movie at that party with 1,000
Shaye became confident enough after seeing
40
DEADLINE.COM
Hadida’s brother Victor credits that screening
N E W L I NE CI N EM A /E V E RE T T
director,’ so, ‘Let’s talk about the failure and how
and a number of us were getting reports from