Christopher Lee led a life that was almost mythical in its grandeur. He was close friends with both J.R.R. Tolkien and Ian Fleming, eventually embodying iconic characters from their realms. Lee portrayed the sinister wizard Saruman in both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series, and even after his passing in 2015, the actor will return from beyond the grave to reprise his role in The War of Rohirrim.
Philippa Boyens, a long-time collaborator of Peter Jackson and co-writer of The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, discussed with TheOneRing.net at New York Comic Con, confirming that Saruman will indeed make an appearance, once again voiced by Lee. "We delved into his recordings, I had the privilege of revisiting his voice, not just his lines, but his conversations with us as we recorded him," Boyens recounted. "We based his performance in The War of Rohirrim on a line from The Hobbit, specifically 'Are you in need of assistance my lady?', a variation of that line. We examined how many takes he did of that, whether we could use it, and if we could find a new interpretation, tweaking it slightly…but it remains an authentic piece of Christopher Lee's performance."
Lee's late wife, Gitte, granted the team her approval to incorporate old recordings of the actor in the new film. No AI, no impersonators, just the pure, menacing baritone of Christopher Lee. The anime Lord of the Rings film is set before both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, focusing on Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan, and his daughter, Héra, who faced a formidable adversary.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim is set to hit theaters on December 13.
Source link: https://www.gamespot.com
