The Lord of the Rings Battle Scene That Almost Ruined the Trilogy
The headline may leave you somewhat puzzled. After all, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is famous for its spectacular battle scenes, which no fantasy movie since had managed to match, and few battles in historical movies rival.
But that's because you're unaware of the costs and toils, associated with actually making these battle scenes. And costs were high enough to make the studio doubt in the whole enterprise. In particular, the Battle of Helm's Deep, 40-minute action sequence at the climax of the second film, The Two Towers, nearly broke both the people on set and the trust between the director and the New Line Cinema's executives. The vision of Saruman's massive Uruk-hai legion assaulting the proud fortress, defended by men and elves, was incredibly ambitious – almost too ambitious. Filming it took more than 120 days, and still it was almost as arduous and exhausting to everyone involved, as actual war, particularly as three fourths of it was shot in the night.
"Three and a half months of night shoots – it was the making and breaking of certain people," said Sala Baker, the actor and stuntman who portrayed several orc warriors during that sequence.
"Those months of night-shoots…constant hardship," agreed Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn. "I hated it, I enjoyed it, I will always remember it."
Sheer strain was only half the problem. The production went well over the budget, and kept going even farther. Peter Jackson's initial pitch promised to deliver three Lord of the Rings movies for a combined budget of $180 million. The first film alone ended up costing $93 million, and the sheer scale of the Battle of Helm's Deep meant that the expenses weren't going down. Just in the middle of its filming, New Line's co-chairman and the trilogy's executive producer Michael Lynne sent a messenger on set, telling Jackson that "… he's going to threaten to sue you and sell the house from under you to cover the cost overruns."
Peter Jackson's answer, as per The Telegraph, was infused with warlike spirit of the scene which he was trying to bring on the screen: "Just tell Michael Lynne that I'm shooting this f*** film and I'm doing the best job I can, and I'm not going to interrupt my day with a phone call like that."
Forced to choose between trusting their director and breaking up with him completely, thus shutting down the production, the studio chose the former – to their ultimate financial gain, and great rejoicing of fantasy fans across the world.