Author(s): Kristin Thompson

NZ Non Fiction

This is a fascinating behind-the-scenes book about The Lord of the Rings as a contemporary cinema phenomenon. Compiled by a leading American film academic, it is the fullest possible inside story - of the planning for the movie, the corporate battles, the struggle to get the movie made, the creative genius of Peter Jackson, the special effects and digital breakthroughs, the massive promotion, in particular the radically new use of the Internet ? and the millions of dollars the movies cost, and then made, at the box office. Thompson argues that one of the reasons why the film was an international success because its makers seized a crucial moment in Hollywood, both to make the film but also to market it using the cutting edge power of the Internet around the world. The Lord of the Rings took NZ by storm, and there are detailed chapters about this set in NZ. But it also took Hollywood by storm, forcing the rewriting of some of Hollywood's basic rules about how you make and sell a blockbuster. It is now a benchmark against which all other films are measured. First published September 2007.