Lord of the Rings studio wanted Peter Jackson to kill a Hobbit

Although that of Peter Jackson the Lord of the Rings saga makes a lot of tweaks to bring the world of JRR Tolkien to the big screen, overall it’s a faithful adaptation. But pressure from the studio in a weird way would have taken him down a very different path: some halfling chaos.

Talk to IGN about their new the Lord of the Rings podcast series-called “Friendship Onion” -Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd (who played Merry and Pippin) spoke of a time when pressure from senior executives the the Lord of the Rings production The team wanted to amplify the stakes of the series by killing one of its four smallest stars. Apparently tall people were forbidden, and the stakes of, say, a massive war between the forces of good and evil for the fate of all Middle-earth could only be high if you found one of the cutest hobbits around and stab him to death or something.

“It’s a good job that didn’t happen because it would have been me,” Monaghan joked to IGN. “It certainly would have been. There’s no way they’ll kill Frodo and Sam, and the only ones left would be Merry and Pippin. They wouldn’t kill Pippin because Pippin has a very strong history with Gandalf. It certainly would have been me.

Merry and Pippin both find themselves in the kind of peril that could undo even the bravest of Shirefolk as the trilogy comes to an end, of course. In Return of the king, Pippin is roped into Denethor’s bondage and fights alongside Gandalf during the siege of Minas Tirith, while Merry, hoisted alongside a disguised Eowyn, rides with the Rohirrim to flank the forces of Mordor on the Pelennor fields. But … come on. You can’t kill them! It would go against the spirit of the books! And not just because they survive alongside Sam and Frodo to return to the Shire – and in the books confront the forces of “Sharkey” and “Worm” (aka Saruman and Grima Wormtounge) as they attack the Shire – but because one of the the Lord of the RingsThe most popular themes concern the “little people” who seize the opportunity and resist in the face of monumental obstacles.

Killing one of the Hobbits can cause momentary shock (and a lot of anger from fans of the books), but it robs the point of their survival: that the bravest among us may come in unlikely shapes and sizes, and that those “unimportant” to the world at large can play a big role in saving it. Fortunately, as we know, these requests never went far. “I think Pete rightly said, ‘This is remarkable written work, and we have to stick to the text,” “added Monaghan. “So he stuck to his guns. Yes, I am grateful that this has not happened. We’re going to breed a full pint of the best of the prancing pony at this.

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