By the way PK, I have already ordered Stormtroopers to keep Lucas 100 miles away from the script .

And funnily enough I got an email from a Nigerian princess too .

As much as I love Alba, she merely makes me horny. Liv Tyler made my heart break. But tell you what, if Liv turns us down we'll have Jessica as a stand in . She's going to have to undergo some serious training though, to get her accent up to speed. I'd rather have Natalie Portman, who is beautiful, can pull off a perfect British accent, and has an incredible acting range. She can make me cry too (though in Star Wars it was because Lucas squandered her talents).

GB

I've heard of that Nigerian. I'm just worried about the exchange rate in Australia. 2.1 billion Nigerian is about 50 cents Australian, isn't it? I think I'd lose any profit in postage. (Nice of the Nigerian to offer though!)

Natalie Portman? Yes, good thought, GB. But Jessica's in now, we need the money - thanks PK. (Sorry Liv - I'm all for you, it's just a business decision. Mind you, if you had, say, $100 Liv... Come on, I know you're as smart as you're beautiful - you can work it out!)

Cate could be Melian perhaps. But no goofy smiles or statements like: "I would be beautiful, beautiful but pretty darn nasty with it, especially if I had a golden ring!" Or whatever it is she said in LOTR. (Yes, and no sudden color changes either or stormy stuff around her head! Eek!)

The Wolverine guy... Yes, yes, yes! (Without the Wolverine bit, of course!) He'd make a good Beren. He can actually act. Shame about Wolverine... but can act.

As an economy measure, I could be persuaded to be an extra, no charge.

I reckon I'd make a good villager clad in rags shoveling muck in the background somewhere in the movie. I'd have wild hair and a wilder beard which I'd grow on leave. I could also be a rock too - I've a good shape for that kind of thing. All we need is a grey blanket - which we could use for other purposes too; three or four actors could sleep under it on location. Jessica could fit - and Natalie (as an extra) and Liv (as another extra) and.. well, me I guess.

I think this idea is really beginning to take off!

Odo

Hey, those Croatian Silver Dragon guys will volunteer for free I think. They can do the battle scenes and we'll just multiply them with CGI. Yes indeedy, this is coming along nicely. I can volunteer to be someones Beard. By Jove I think we can pull this off .

GB

I almost suggested you playing my beard, GB - but I did not know if you would think the suggestion appropriate. (I've still not quite got used to talking to a beard - nor, for that matter, used to a beard talking back, and I don't know the protocols yet! Forgive my quaintness! I'm just a shy hobbit from Down Below, after all).

As to those Croatian chaps - I like the cut of your jib. Great idea. (So long as they don't use real swords. We want to cut down on First Aid costs - forgive the pun!) They certainly sound bloodthirsty enough for the First Age!

Odo

Well, being a GIRL, and interested in the film business myself, I have some insight.
1. Whoever said Natalie Portamn should be Luthien was dead on. She's BEAUTIFUL, and i don't want to see Liv Tyler again, she's Arwen, not luthien...
2. As Beren, I think Colin Farell perhaps...He seems kind of Rugged
3. LOTR was done for a low amount of money, and this can as well, if we can find dedicated, experienced fans in the film business who would want to work on the movie offering their services for a little amount of money, then we could DEFINITELY pull this off.
4. The director, I believe, should be unknown, someone who wants to do their best job their first time, and will really put their heart and soul into it. I'm still very young, (14 actually) but I plan on becoming a director or screen writer in 5 years or so, going to one of the top film schools in the country. I would LOVE to direct this movie someday, but for me that's at least 6 years away... so someone else would be IDEAL if we were to begin this soon...
5. It all depends on who you know. If you know people who are experienced with CGI, or who are blooming film makers, hire them, because they aren't aloof and successful YET, and will take any job such as this with the highest respect.

Actually, instead of Natalie Portman, Keira Knighley. Here's a picture comparing and contrasting the two. Luthien should be someone with natural beauty, not just pretty or sexy, but BEAUTIFUL. Trust, their is a difference. Jessica Alba is just pretty, but not BEAUTIFUl. This is a link to two pics, one of NP and one of KK. You GUYS decide
http://www.inmirror.com/files/imagecach ... ley1_0.jpg

Okay Tinuviel, back to taking this seriously , I agree that finding people to work on the project who are up and coming is key. On the other hand, for quality control to achieve something as magnificent as Jackson's films will require some people with quite a bit of experience.

If we really want to attempt something like this as a "fan Film", it may be worthwhile approaching the folk who made The Hunt For Gollum and getting them on board. Then for the CGI work it would be necessary to find a team of CGI artists who would be willing to work for free.

Now, I would love to rope in some experienced actors and an experienced director, but it's hard to find successful artists who would be willing to essentially work for free. So the question we have decide if we were serious about this, is do we just want to just make a "fan film", or do we want to make a commercial film which is bankrolled by, and made for, dedicated Tolkien Fans?

Odo's original post suggests the latter. Fan Films are great, but it would seem we would like all the benefits of a Huge Hollywood production, without the headaches of Studio control of the product. So assuming a group of fans could raise the capital, and obtain the rights from the Tolkien estate (two huge "ifs"), we would then be tasked with enticing some serious talent (including Natalie Portman). And finding an experienced director with vision who would be willing to follow the story to the Letter as well as "Spirit". I think this means we would have to try and obtain a director who was experienced in this sort of thing. But that doesn't necessarily mean a Hollywood director. Dragon Wars was a Korean production (with unfortunately weak characterizations), but was visually brilliant. So it might be possible to find someone outside of Hollywood with what we would need.

GB

I almost suggested Knightly myself. But as good as she is, I think I would still choose Portman. Her acting in V for Vendetta and The Professional is so unaffected and moving. Knightly is brilliant, but she doesn't move me like Portman. If it was strictly based on who was "Hottest", then someone like Alba would win the day, but I want someone that gets under my skin, reaches for my heart-strings and yanks on them . That is what makes an actress "beautiful" instead of merely "hot".

GB

Obviously my original idea was to have some fun speculating about making a Beren and Luthien Movie, but this does not preclude anyone taking it absolutely seriously. No one on this forum seems to be afraid to use their imagination, and as I said at the beginning "from little things, big things grow," so if anyone thinks we could get this crazy scheme up, don't let me be the one to stop you.

Tinuviel, the pre-production process for a Big Movie (and this would be) can take years, especially if it's a group of people starting from zilch. If it takes five (even ten years) to begin filming, then you could be a candidate yourself as Director. I bet PJ started out with the nutty idea he could become a big time director, so why not you? (I know you would pay the story proper respect!)

Make no mistake, this thread is fun, but some of the suggestions for Director and Actor seem more than reasonable to me. My suggestions (amid all the corny jokes) are serious suggestions. I'm a fantasy writer myself (unpublished, aren't we all, alas!) and if someone wanted me to write a script for this movie, I'd have a crack at it. I'd need it to be a fair dinkum movie, though; I need to eat and would have to earn a wage while doing so.
At the moment we've got pledges for $100.00 (thanks again PK!), so I haven't got the pen out yet, and maybe there would be someone better qualified than me to write it anyway (it's possible, you know!).

Yes, we've got a fair way to go. But, well, who knows?

As to Keira - nah - Natalie before Keira. Your pictures were nice, Tinuviel - but both ladies were a bit tanned-up and made-up for my liking. We would have scrape off the goo, I feel. My daughter is a dancer and she gets made-up, and looks beautiful from a distance on the dance floor, but up close, the make-up doesn't look anywhere near as nice. So it'll have to be light make-up for the close-ups, thank you very much. Yes, we would need to "naturalize" K and N before we could seriously consider either!

GB, I'd really like a movie where even the CGI looks natural. Some of the LOTR stuff seemed cartoony to me. We want our CGI to be indistinguishable from real life footage. Our budget may be low at the moment, but our standards must remain high!

Anyway, back to business! Any suggestions for Morgoth? Is anyone game enough to try and suggest someone?

Odo

It's really in Fellowship that the CGI is most noticeable. It becomes fairly seamless and much more realistic as the films progress, but I take your point. CGI has advanced even from those few short years ago.

Though when I look back at the Matrix sequels (regardless of what else one may think about them), it is remarkable how realistic they were. One is hard-pressed to find anything to complain about, and they hold up extremely well next to more recent Behemoths like Transformers. I feel much the same way about (most of) the CGI heavy sequences in TT and RotK.

And I agree, by the time we might seriously be able to get something like this off the ground, Tinuviel could well be on her way to becoming the director of this possible project .

And I totally agree about the makeup,...ick . A little goes a long way. Here's to Portman getting the part.

Edit: I am sure when I get my finances stabilized I could contribute $50 too. Of course it would be nice to also have a paying role in the production (maybe art or music director).

GB