The Lord of the Rings: the three options that were considered for the death of Gollum

The Return of the King, the third and final installment of The Lord of the Rings, is drawing to a close. As Aragorn and his army battle Sauron’s forces, the two hobbits Frodo and Sam are about to complete their quest and destroy the One Ring by throwing it into the flames of Mount Doom.

Like a final obstacle in their path, Gollum then reappears, determined to recover his “precious” before it is thrown into the lava. Given that Frodo, eaten away by the Ring for many weeks, had finally decided to keep it to himself, this return finally appears to be a godsend, since it generates a violent confrontation between the two characters, resulting in the fall of Gollum and the Ring.

This conclusion, however – and as Tolkien fans no doubt noticed – differs somewhat from the original work, in which Gollum stumbled on his own into the void after retrieving the Ring. A choice that Peter Jackson fully assumes in the audio commentary of the film:

“I never liked the idea of ​​a gleeful gollum dancing and falling in the lava, which happens in the book”, he explains. “I know why Tolkien did this, it’s justified, but I never wanted to do this. For me, Frodo had a role to play.”

Before opting for this fierce fight between the two protagonists, the filmmaker nevertheless considered two other options:

“We envisioned three endings. First, Frodo killing Gollum by pushing him into the void. Then, the same ending as in the book, Gollum dancing, stumbling and falling. That was not right either. And finally, the same ending as in the book, Gollum dancing, stumbling and falling. , this version, which was done at the very end. We did it on the last day that Elijah [Wood] was here.”

Metropolitan FilmExport

The interpreter of Frodo will therefore have completed his adventure on the set of Lord of the Rings while battling Gollum and his precious in Mount Doom. A very logical way to come full circle for the “Ring Bearer”.

You should also know that the very last digital shot of the film, finalized by the special effects company Weta Digital just a few days before the theatrical release of the feature film, was the one where we can see the Ring disappearing in the lava. .

(Re) discover all the details hidden in the “Return of the King” …

See the slideshow