September 5, 2003

Worry Not, Lord Annatar!
Bob Praz

That's right, Grond IS in the movie! The orc ram we see in the RotK preview is obviously some other, simpler weapon. In the "Making of the Movie Trilogy" by Brian Sibley (by the way, I highly recommend this book) there is an actual picture of the Grond miniature, as well as a few paragraphs about it. It seems to be very cool, and very close to its description in the books.
As for the Darkness that issues from Mordor to blot out the sun in Gondor and Rohan, I think most of the digital grading and such for those effects have not been done yet (since there's no Mordor-spawned weather in NZ, it might be done partly in digital). So many of the battle-shots we've seen may look different in the final movie. It happens often with early trailers. This is what I'm hoping, of course, and let's not forget that the sun does come out in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, so maybe that makes some confusion.

If you want to catch a sneak preview of all this, you can go to the official site of EA's ROTK game, and watch the E3 movie, which features a preview of the Siege of Gondor, including Grond. Since the game is closely based on the movie (at least in look and visual design), it's a good idea of what we might see.

As for the Winged Nazgul that confronts Gandalf and Pippin at the end of the RotK preview, I doubt very much that it is the Witch-King himself, as by that time he is either fighting Eowyn or already slain. Anyhow, we'll see...

P.S.: I hope, however, that we will get to see Gandalf's confrontation with the Witch-King right after the destruction of the city's gate. That was a cool moment in the book.