The Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen has stated blockbuster Hollywood franchises are “not often that good” and “form of predictable.”
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Mortensen commented on why he hasn’t returned to a serious franchise after his position as Aragorn within the beloved The Lord of the Rings trilogy from the early 2000s. He made clear he is not in opposition to the concept however simply prioritises fascinating tales over specific budgets or administrators.
“I don’t actually search for or keep away from any form of style or any measurement funds; I simply search for fascinating tales,” he stated. “It doesn’t matter to me what the style is or what the funds is or who’s making them. I’d by no means do a film simply because so-and-so is directing it. It must be concerning the story, and if I believe I’m proper for the character. That at all times comes first.”
Mortensen continued: “That goes for franchises. If any person got here to me with X film, the third half or the ninth half, and I believed it was an incredible character and I wished to play that character and I believed I had one thing to contribute, I’d do it. I’m not in opposition to it. But they’re not often that good. I imply, to me, they’re not often that properly written. They’re form of predictable. I imply, after all there’s at all times the difficulty of if I run out of cash.”
The Lord of the Rings trilogy arguably got here earlier than franchises absolutely took over Hollywood, which maybe started when Iron Man kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008. Many at the moment are in search of the same degree of success because the indomitable MCU, evidenced by the likes of DC Studios hiring Peter Safran and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn to guide a brand new, unified DC Universe following its unique try’s shortcomings.
Lord of the Rings itself is now maybe responsible of this too, because the beloved unique trilogy was adopted up with The Hobbit trilogy starting in 2012, which wasn’t as properly acquired. Amazon has additionally continued the franchise with its The Rings of Power TV present, and animated movie The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim premieres on December 13, 2024.
Most lately introduced, nonetheless, is Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, a deep dive investigation of Gollum’s character directed by actor Andy Serkis. It was introduced alongside phrase from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslaz that The Lord of the Rings is a “largely underused” franchise that his firm is “laborious at work fixing.” This echoed feedback from the CEO of The Lord of the Rings proprietor Embracer Group, Lars Wingefors, who stated the corporate must be “exploiting Lord of the Rings in a really vital vogue.”
The Hunt for Gollum, which would be the first of at the least two new The Lord of the Rings movies, was seemingly introduced earlier than it had a narrative in place, too. “We actually wish to discover [Gollum’s] backstory and delve into these components of his journey we didn’t have time to cowl within the earlier movies,” co-writer and The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies director Peter Jackson stated. “It’s too quickly to know who will cross his path, however suffice to say we are going to take our lead from [original author J.R.R. Tolkien].”
Mortensen has already stated he’d be open to returning for The Hunt for Gollum however, just like what he informed Vanity Fair, it must make sense for him and his character. The 85-year-old Gandalf actor Ian McKellen stated he is open to it too so long as he is nonetheless alive.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll speak about The Witcher all day.
