Weekly updates on box-office takings have become a permanent feature of the country’s newspapers with every international film award ceremony greeted with breathless anticipation and endless speculation about the impact of the film’s success or failure on the country’s “reputation”. In New Zealand, where the trilogy was shot, the media and government have whipped up an extraordinary atmosphere of nationalistic fervour. With two more episodes already filmed and now in post-production-their carefully planned release dates set 12 months apart each- The Lord of the Rings is set to become one of the highest earning film series of all time. This month it ranked 7th in the world list of top grossing films. Released just before Christmas, the film has amassed a record breaking 13 Oscar nominations-including Best Picture and Best Director-and after only four months in circulation has taken $US767 million at the box office, nearly five times the cost of making it. One of this year’s leading contenders is New Zealand director Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring, the first in his The Lord of the Rings trilogy. When the Hollywood publicity machine moves into overdrive with the Academy Awards in March each year, its prime concern is not reward for artistic endeavour but the promise of massive profits for those movies acclaimed by the power brokers in the industry.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |