COMMENT | Those of you who have seen the three 'Lord of the Rings' films over and over again and those of you who have recently enjoyed seeing 'The Hobbit' films in cinemas all have one man to thank, and that's Saul Zaentz, who recently passed away.
Zaentz, who originally started as a record company executive before getting into film producing, is responsible for many of the films that we hold in high esteem today. As an avid reader Zaentz committed himself to producing film adaptions of classic novels and works of literature,
The producer won three Best Picture Oscars for his adaptations, the first being the infamous adaptation of Ken Kessey's novel 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'. He'd later win his second academy award with the film adaption of Peter Schaffer's stage play 'Amadeus', which won eight academy awards. Finally Zaentz won his final Best Picture Oscar for 'The English Patient', which was an unpublished novel by Michael Ondaatje
However most people will know him as the man that made the critically acclaimed 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson, possible and subsequently also made the ongoing 'Hobbit' trilogy possible. That's because Saul had acquired the rights back in 1976 and had already produced the animated 'Hobbit' film directed by Ralph Bakshi.
In 1997 he In 1997 he allowed Miramax to option the "Lord of the Rings" property. However Miramax could not financially commit to making more than one film, so director Peter Jackson took the project to New Line. The rest they say is history with that trilogy grossing more than $2.9 billion worldwide and becoming one of the most successful trilogies of all time.
So, as someone who frequently spends his time, not only enjoying the Middle Earth films, but also writing about him, I have a lot to personally thank Saul Zaentz for and all there really is left to say is rest in peace, and thank you for your contribution to the film industry.
