NEW LINE CINEMA’S THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING DOMESTIC RELEASE DATE MOVED TO MAY 12, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENEW LINE CINEMA’S THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING DOMESTIC RELEASE DATE MOVED TO MAY 12, 2004

Last Release to be Biggest

Film delayed to maximize postproduction efforts and bring trilogy to a suitable closing

Los Angeles, CA, April 1, 2003 – New Line Cinema’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, will be held for domestic release until Wednesday, May 12, 2004. The effects work on this third and final film of the trilogy will surpass its predecessors in scope and intensity, and the producers as well as director Peter Jackson feel that the extra time will cement the film’s status as the king of fantasy films and the crowning jewel of New Line’s massive effort to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic to the screen. A senior New Line executive made the announcement, joined by Jackson, who stated, “With the earlier Oscars in 2004, the original December release date will not make the deadline for Academy consideration. Given that fact and the tremendous amount of work needed in postproduction for this film to reach its full potential, New Line has decided to take the extra time in order to best please the fans.”

Jackson added, “The May release schedule is typically the biggest of the year, including the kings of the summer box office. The lineup for 2004 is a bit empty at the moment, and we feel that placing Return of the King in May will give the fans something out of the common run of action films to appreciate all summer as well as establish New Line at the top of the order for the summer rush.”

Jackson, the cast, and the effects house, WETA Workshop, will be working on postproduction for the remainder of 2003.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King stars (in alphabetical order) Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Brad Dourif, Bernard Hill, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, John Noble, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Karl Urban, David Wenham, and Elijah Wood.

New Line Cinema presents a Wingnut Films Production, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, directed by Peter Jackson. The screenplay, by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair and Jackson, is based on the classic trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. The film is produced by Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Robert Shaye, Michael Lynne and Mark Ordesky. The director of photography is Andrew Lesnie, A.C.S. The production designer is Grant Major. Michael Horton is the editor. The co-producers are Rick Porras and Jamie Selkirk.

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