"Once in a lifetime." The phrase comes up over and over from the people who worked on Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings". The film's seventeen Oscars, record-setting earnings, huge fan base, and hundreds of ancillary products attest to its importance and to the fact that Rings is far more than a film. Its makers seized a crucial moment in Hollywood - the special effects digital revolution plus the rise of "infotainment" and the Internet - to satisfy the trilogy's fans while fostering a huge new international audience. The resulting franchise of franchises has earned billions of dollars to date with no end in sight. Kristin Thompson interviewed seventy-six people to examine the movie's scripting and design and the new technologies deployed to produce the films, video games, and DVDs. She demonstrates the impact Rings had on the companies that made it, on the fantasy genre, on New Zealand, and on independent cinema. In fast-paced, compulsively readable prose, she affirms Jackson's Rings as one the most important films ever made.
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"The Frodo Franchise is the best case study yet written about film as a commodity in the global marketplace."--Film Quarterly "For any person interested in the role of franchise film making on modern Hollywood, The Frodo Franchise should be considered required reading."--Film International "A lively and quick read that should appeal to scholars and fans alike."--Tolkien Studies "It's always more satisfying to follow the art than the money, but in this comprehensive study you can do both."--Metro Newspapers "Whether you are a film scholar, a student, or a Tolkien enthusiast, you will benefit from her [Thompson's] efforts."--Journal of Popular Culture
About the Author
Kristin Thompson is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her many books include Film Art: An Introduction and Film History: An Introduction (both with David Bordwell) and Storytelling in the New Hollywood.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Monika
Format:Paperback
As a huge fan of Lord of the Rings and a bachelor in film studies, I was very excited to find out that Kristin Thompson wrote a book dealing with the one and only movie of my heart. Since you're reading this, I guess you went through that LOTR fandom madness as well, so this book might be very touching at some points when you realize and remember the good old times when LOTR was being released. But the biggest accomplishment of this book is that it takes you right into the difficult process of making those movies - from the very start where there were huge problems with the rights and then Jackson's attampts to find a producer, through the big night in Cannes to the Wellington premiere and the Oscar night. Kristin Thompson talks about all the aspects of producing this movie, all the difficulties that the filmmakers were dealing with, about the growth of importance of websites like The One Ring.net, marketing strategies, merchandising, creating new digital programs so the movie was possible as well as all the other technical aspects, building the Miramar empire, the rise of New Zealand and a lot more. And reading one chapter after another you just go "wow" cause you always knew those movies were special and important but having all the facts laid down and put in context you just realize HOW MUCH speacial they are and what a "once-in-a-life-time" movie it is and how much has changed in making movies only thanks to LOTR. And also how incredibly talented bunch of people made it. LAlso it shows a great contrast to Hollywood film making.
This book is at some point an extension of all the documentaries on the extended dvds but you learn much more in these (besides you even learn how those documentaries were made!). It's a great inspiration, indeed!
This book is at some point an extension of all the documentaries on the extended dvds but you learn much more in these (besides you even learn how those documentaries were made!). It's a great inspiration, indeed!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect book for Rings Fans and Film Buffs
28 July 2007
By James W. Cortada
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This book is an intimate look at the creation, filming, and deployment of The Lord of the Rings movies. It discusses all the key participants, the role of New Zeland, how fans influenced the movies over the Internet, and how the film industry is fundamentally changing because of this project. It is well documented and close to the events because the author had access to everyone involved, producers, director, actors, techis, the works. The book is also a great action-packed read. Maybe the best film book we have seen this year!!
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Frodo Franchise is an utterly fascinating, completely unbiased behind-the-scenes look
3 Aug 2007
By Midwest Book Review
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
DVDs can be stamped out in seconds, while VHS tapes are slower to produce because they have to be recorded in real time. Time is money, and so the movie industry's movers and shakers acted decisively to all but eliminate the VHS format - by charging video rental stores exorbitantly high fees for the rights to offer VHS rentals and much lower fees for the rights to offer DVD rentals. Author Kristin Thompson (Honorary Fellow in the Department of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison) traces how this and numerous other profit-driven directives have permanently changed the modern film industry in The Frodo Franchise: The Lord of the Rings and Modern Hollywood. Central to The Frodo Franchise is the story of Peter Jackson's celebrated three-film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings", and the lasting impact it has had on cinematic and entertainment culture. "The Lord of the Rings" was utterly groundbreaking in that it was, from Jackson's initial vision, a commitment to three full-length movies to be released over a short period. Yet the success of the film itself is virtually eclipsed by the immense profits of the franchise label - toys, video games, movie-related books, collectibles, and countless other Lord of the Rings licensed merchandise. The Frodo Franchise examines this franchise phenomenon and its repercussions on modern cinema (where the real money to be made lies in a film that will spawn profitable sequels and merchandise, rather than one-shot stories), with especial attention paid to the construction of "The Lord of the Rings" trailblazer trilogy. Accessible to lay readers and cinema scholars alike, and illustrated with numerous black-and-white photographs as well as an inset section of color plates, The Frodo Franchise is an utterly fascinating, completely unbiased behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" movies and their effect on both the body of Tolkien's famous mythology and cinema as a whole. Highly recommended.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book rocks!
31 Oct 2007
By E. Horikawa
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
The Frodo Franchise is a MUST-HAVE for anyone who is passionate about: The Lord of the Rings movies, Peter Jackson and how he and his fellow creative geniuses revolutionized the movie industry, New Zealand, the LOTR fan world, etc. It is an engaging, carefully researched and very detailed work about all aspects of the PJ/LOTR phenomenon. It includes great photos, important interviews, fascinating information about the way films are marketed and how LOTR took that to a new level, etc. The title tricked me--for some reason I thought it would be a negative book; however, it is clear Thompson is a Tolkien fan who was at first skeptical about the films but then grew to love them. This book is an in-depth look at all things LOTR and, much to this reviewer's delight, it is clear the LOTR phenomenon is not going away anytime soon. Thank you, Kristin Thompson, for this wonderful and important book!
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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