News

Congratulations
Within 5 days it will be Cate Blanchett`s 39th birthday. (May 14, 1969)
(Galadriel)

Congratulations
Within 16 days it will be Ian McKellen`s 69th birthday. (May 25, 1939)
(Gandalf)

Congratulations
Within 18 days it will be Christopher Lee`s 86th birthday. (May 27, 1922)
(Saruman)

Trivia

Release date: December 5, 2002

Oscars::
Best Sound Editing
Best Visual Effects

Oscar nominations:
Best Picture
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Best Editing
Best Sound

The makeup department took six to seven hours a day to put the make-up on John Rhys-Davies (Gimli). Source / More (Book)

The two towers ranks number 57 in the American box-office rankings.
Grossing adjusted for inflation -> $368.8 m Source / More (Web)

Differences between the book and the movie: about 30
- The Ents do not refuse to attack Isengard
- Elves do not come to Helm's Deep
- Gimli does not engage in comic relief
- Faramir does not decide to send the One Ring to Gondor
- Frodo does not attempt to give the Ring to the Nazgūl

The battle at Helm's Deep was edited down from twenty hours of footage, shot over a three month period.

This is part two in the trilogy. The other parts are:
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Return of the King (2003)
The movies were filmed simultaneously.

The book was originally intended by Tolkien to be published in one large volume, but the paper shortage ruled this out. Instead it was divided into three volumes:
The fellowship of the ring
The two towers
The return of the king

Bibliography

Bio

Ian McKellen

Remarkable:

Ian was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1991 for his efforts in the arts.

Born:

May 25, 1939

Born as:

Ian Murray McKellen

Ian was born in the industrial north of England McKellen and attended St. Catharine's College, Cambridge. Without any formal dramatic training, he made his professional debut in 1961 in A Man For All Seasons.

Acting steadily throughout the 1960s and 1970s, McKellen won both popular and critical acclaim in his performances and on Broadway, he won every available award including a Tony for his portrayal of Salieri in Amadeus (1981).

Ian appeared in a number of motion pictures but only halfway the nineties he was noticed by Hollywood. He played the title role in Richard III (1995) but his movie breakthrough role for mainstream American audiences came with Apt Pupil, based on a story by Stephen King. Nowadays McKellen has become a major global star by playing leading roles in blockbuster films like X-Men (2000/2003) and the The Lord of the rings trilogies (2001/2002/2003)

Academy awards:

2002 Nominated Best Actor for: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
1999 Nominated Best Actor for: Gods and Monsters (1998)

Selected Movies:

• The Return of the King (2003)
• The Two Towers (2002)
• The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
• X2 (2003)
• Gods and Monsters (1998)
• Richard III (1995)
• X-Men (2000)