Director Peter Jackson decided to make a sly dig at Weinstein in the popular fantasy trilogy…
One of the orcs in director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was designed to look like Harvey Weinstein, according to star of the films Elijah Wood.
Wood made the revelation on a podcast, explaining that the film’s creatives disliked Weinstein, who is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for third degree rape and first degree criminal sexual assault.
Weinstein initially owned the rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise through his company, Miramax, but apparently fell out with director Peter Jackson, resulting in the franchise being offered to other studios.
Speaking to the Armchair Expert, Wood said: “Miramax said, ‘We will only give it back to you in turnaround, but two things have to happen. One: You have to go get it set up this weekend. And two: Whoever agrees has to agree to make all three at once.
“The window of time was insane. They shopped it around town. Peter made a pitch video that’s pretty impressive, taken to a variety of places. Most people were balking at the notion of doing more than one film.
“The popular opinion was, ‘No, you have to see how [the initial movie] does and then invest the rest of your money.”
Elijah Wood says Peter Jackson designed an orc to look like Harvey Weinstein during #LordOfTheRings
'Fuck him"
🎙 Armchair Expert pic.twitter.com/BxHyWDP8OP
— ScreenTime (@screentime) October 4, 2021
Eventually, New Line picked up the franchise and the rest is history – but Jackson still wanted to have a dig at Weinstein.
“One of the orc masks — and I remember this vividly — was designed to look like Harvey Weinstein as a sort of a ‘f*ck you,'” said Wood.
He added: “I think that is OK to talk about now, the guy is f*cking incarcerated. F*ck him.”
Related links:
- Amazon’s Lord of the Rings moves show to UK from New Zealand
- The Lord of the Rings Amazon series sets release date and releases first image
- Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show to cost $465 million for one season
