Posted 13:29 by Grote 0 comments

Saruman Cut Out of Return of the King (Warning Spoilers Abound!)

Yup that's right and you can you heard it here first folks. That is, unless you've been to theonering.net recently. According to Ain't it Cool News, director Peter Jackson has cut Saruman from the third theatrical installment of Lord of the Rings. In a response to AICN's Harry Knowles query about the rumor PJ writes:

"...We felt it got ROTK off to an uncertain beginning, since Saruman plays no role in the events of ROTK (we don't have the Scouring later, as the book does), yet we dwell in Isengard for quite a long time before our new story kicks off.

We reluctantly made the decision to save this sequence for the DVD. The choice was made on the basis that most people will assume that Saruman was vanquished by the Helm's Deep events, and Ent attack. We can now crack straight into setting up the narrative tension of ROTK, which features Sauron as the villian...."

As much as I hate to say it, this makes sense. I would have loved to seen the confrontation at Isengard but now arises the $64 question: How the hell does Pippen get his hands on the Palantir that alerts Sauron to his presence and therefore provides a much needed distraction for Frodo and Sam? (and no, Pip you don't get $64 if you answer correctly)