There have been many instances of AI art being used to recreate well known franchises in the style of a certain director, but thanks to content creation studioCurious Refugethings have been taken one step further…on an Unexpected Journey, you could say.Bill Murrayas Gandalf, Timothy Chalamet as Frodo, Willem Dafoe as Smeagol, and Owen Wilson as Sauron are just a few of the bizarre whimsical twists in the newly created full trailer for Wes Anderson’sLord of the Rings – The Whimsical Fellowship.
Of course, the chances ofWes Andersonever venturing near the world of Tolkien are as likely as Martin Scorsese directingAvengers: Secret Wars. However, thanks to the continued development of AI software, a fan-edit has made it possible to see what that eventuality could look like. The results are staggering to look at, and while they whole thing is pushed almost to the level of parody, with almost every shot focusing on the Anderson way of centralizing a single character, it does make you wonder exactly what the whole movie would look like. Check out the trailer below.
The video sees many of Wes Anderson’s favorite actors come together to take on the appearance of many of Tolkien’s well-known characters. As well as the aforementioned quartet of Murray, Chalamet, Dafoe and Owen, others getting into their fantasy attire are Tilda Swinton – who to be honest is often mistaken for Peter Jackson’s Galadriel star Cate Blanchett – Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Benicio del Toro and Ben Stiller, Christoph Waltz and Lea Seydoux.
If nothing else, the trailer is a reminder of just how powerful AI technology has become, and what is possible with it. The real question, which is partly being asked by the current writers' strike, is – should we be incorporating AI technology into the roles of content creators, writers, and moviemakers at all? An answer to that does not seem to be as simple as it sounds.
Lord of the Rings: How War of the Rohirrim Could Establish a New Path for the Series
The Lord of the Rings Is About to Return to the Big Screen
Outside of Peter Jackson’sLord of the RingsandThe Hobbit, there have been no attempts to develop any more projects based on Tolkien’s work for a number of years. Now, following Prime Video’sThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseries, Warner Bros. Discovery have announced their intention of revisiting the franchise with several new projects including new movies.
Although there is currently little known about how WBD will be delving back into Middle-earth, although the new project is not expected to remakeThe Lord of the Ringsitself, there are other projects coming soon for Tolkien fans to enjoy, or criticize, depending on their take on the material. This includes the second season ofThe Rings of Power, whichis currently filming in the U.K. for an expected 2024 release, but first up in the animated movieThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which is a prequel movie telling of theorigins of the fortress of Helm’s Deep. That movie is not released in cinemas until April 2024, but will be receiving its premiere this June at France’s Annecy Festival.
