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CNN Live At Daybreak

Premiere of "Lord of the Rings"

Aired December 11, 2001 - 06:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Finally, you may have thought "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was this fall's only movie made from a fanciful British book. Well, make way for another contender at the box office, the "Lord of the Rings."

CNN's Becky Anderson was at the London premiere last night.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it secret? Is it safe?

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well it finally came to pass in the far, far corner of the land known as London's West End where the much awaited world premiere of "Lord of the Rings" brought the magical world of Middle-earth to the big screen. And with upwards of $270 million spent on the Tolkien trilogy, there's a lot riding on this first part, "The Fellowship of the Ring," particularly when it comes to turning a classic of this magnitude into a movie.

PETER JACKSON, DIRECTOR, "LORD OF THE RINGS": People will complain. It doesn't worry me, I'm expecting it. I mean I'm a -- I'm a Tolkien fan and I've tried to make the film for myself, you know. I mean in a sense I've taken the approach that there should only be one fan I'm trying to please, not millions, and that fan's me.

ANDERSON: But as hard as it will be to match the expectations of diehard Tolkien fans, it may be equally as challenging to rival the power of "Harry Potter."

ELIJAH WOOD, FRODO BAGGINS: They're both kind of different films, both fantasy, but, you know, different in the sense that one is very dark and a little bit more mature and involved, you know, whereas "Harry Potter's" a bit more fantastical and has mainly to do with magic. So they're different films.

ANDERSON: The two movies are also bashing it out at the bookstores where both have seen demands soar in the run up to the movies. For "Lord of the Rings," this phenomenon has been nothing short of fantasy. SUSAN LAMB, WATERSTONES: Over the last six months, we've seen a 600 percent increase in the sales. And we're now seeing that we're selling ten times as many copies in a week as we were this time last year. And I think what's really, really interesting, obviously there are lots and lots of ardent fans out there, but now that people are reading it in advance of the film, it's coming to a whole new audience.

ANDERSON: Well the gauntlet has been thrown in the intrepid quest to be this year's biggest movie, can the teenage wizard stand his ground or will the ring rule?

Becky Anderson, CNN, London.

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