Elijah Wood ‘Surprised’ by New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movies: I Hope They’re Made With ‘Reverence’ for Tolkien and Not Just to ‘Make a Lot of Money’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Elijah Wood is “fascinated” and “surprised” over Warner Bros. developing multiple new “Lord of the Rings” movies.

The studio announced the plan in February. Wood, of course, played the hobbit Frodo in Peter Jackson’s original “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which grossed $2.9 billion worldwide and remains one of cinema’s greatest fantasy achievements. “I’m fascinated and I’m excited.

I hope it’s good,” Wood recently told GQ magazine about the new films. “I’m surprised—I don’t know why I’m surprised because, of course there would be more movies.” “Obviously at the core of that, is a desire to make a lot of money,” Wood continued. “It’s not that a bunch of executives are like, ‘Let’s make really awesome art.’ And, again, not begrudging anybody because, of course, it is commerce.

But great art can come from commerce. So those two things are not mutually exclusive.” Wood stressed that Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy “didn’t come out of that place,” referring to commerce. “It came out of a passion for these books and wanting to see them realized,” Wood said. “And I hope that that is ultimately what will drive everything forward with whatever these subsequent movies are.