The Lord of the Rings is not something that you would typically associate with hip-hop or rap. However, for some reason, the original cast of The Lord of the Rings trilogy got together to do a rap video to help celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary. Much to everyone’s surprise, it was awesome.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy just turned 20
The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy novel of the same name. It’s widely considered one of the best cinematic pieces in movie history with the first film grossing nearly $1 billion on a $93 million budget. In total, the trilogy has grossed roughly around $3 billion at the global box office. More importantly, the original trilogy was a critical success, securing as many as 17 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Part of the reason why The Lord of the Rings trilogy was so big was how “perfect” its casting was. The trilogy featured an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, and Viggo Mortensen, just to name a few. Since then, the trilogy’s director, Peter Jackson, has expanded on the story of the trilogy by leading the spin-off/prequel, The Hobbit trilogy.
Having said that, you’d think that there’s been some celebration of sorts for the trilogy’s twentieth birthday. Unfortunately, there isn’t. But, don’t worry, the original cast hasn’t forgotten about the movie at all. Several actors from 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring went ahead and made a rap video with Stephen Colbert.
The song, The #1 Trilly, starts with a performance from Colbert and Baptiste before Lord of the Rings alumni Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan all jump in to perform. The music video even included bits from Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, and Andy Serkis. While they couldn’t contribute to the video in person, they each recorded portions from their home. Other guest stars and celebrity rappers all made contributions as well.
In other news, the success of the original trilogy, as well as the Hobbit prequels, have spawned spin-offs in other media.
Earlier this year, we learned about Amazon Prime’s plans to develop a TV series set in the Second Age of Middle Earth. We’ll learn more about Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings TV series once it makes its debut next year. Meanwhile, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum got a new trailer at The Game Awards 2021. Finally, Monolith Productions will be using the Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War for its upcoming Wonder Woman game.
