‘The Lord of the Rings’ Recast With Harrison Ford and Meryl Streep

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Gandalf using magic in The Lord of the Rings

Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

The Lord of the Rings franchise has new faces, at least according to new artwork that has surfaced online.

Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn (far left), Sir Ian McKellan as galdalf (middle), orlando bloom as legolas (right), sean astin as samwise gamgee (bottom left), elijah wood as frodo baggins (bottom middle), and dom monaghan as merry brandybuck (bottom right)
Credit: New Line Cinema

Based on the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson’s epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most critically acclaimed and beloved movie series of the modern age. Following the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Jackson returned to Middle-earth with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and finally, with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), which went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture at the 76th Academy Awards.

Known for its stellar cast, The Lord of the Rings franchise included the likes of Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Ian McKellan (Gandalf), Christoper Lee (Saruman), Liv Tyler (Arwen), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), and Andy Serkis as Sméagol/Gollum, among many others.

Aragorn talking to Gandalf in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Credit: New Line Cinema

More recently, the world of Middle-earth returned in Amazon Studios’ splashy billion-dollar series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The divisive series takes place in the Second Age of the fantasy epic, almost 5,000 years before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring and Frodo’s journey to Mordor to destroy Sauron.

And while the movie series was, in many people’s eyes, perfectly cast (20 years on and the internet is still ablaze with the scene of Mortensen’s Aragorn pushing open the doors doused in rainwater), new artwork has been created that reimagines The Lord of the Rings franchise if it was cast in the 1980s.

Hello, Harrison Ford and Meryl Streep.

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, scowling
Credit: Lucasfilm

Posting to their 368,000 followers on Instagram, @lotrology released a string of images recasting The Lord of the Rings with a slew of other popular faces. See the images below:

If Lord of the Rings was filmed in 80s. Double tap if you find it cool! Tag someone who needs to see this. Follow @lotrology for more cool content! Cr: cybergeekgallery on TikTok

 

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The photos include Sean Connery as Gandalf, Meryl Streep as Galadriel, Michael J. Fox as Frodo Baggins, Val Kilmer as Legolas, Brian Blessed as Gimli, John Cusack as Sam Gamgee, Richard Gere as Boromir, Peter Cushing as Saruman, and Harrison Ford as Aragorn.

The historical significance of The Lord of the Rings was cemented in 2021 when The Fellowship of the Ring was chosen for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. During its time in movie theaters, The Lord of the Rings franchise grossed $3 billion in box office receipts.

Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
Credit: New Line Cinema

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Middle-earth may have been revisited in 2022 in Amazon’s television series, but back in 2012, Peter Jackson returned to The Lord of the Rings universe with his The Hobbit trilogy: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

This year, an animated prequel to The Lord of the Rings is scheduled to be released. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim (2024) is on track for a December release and will be set 261 years before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. Brian Cox plays the King of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand, with Miranda Otto reprising her role as Éowyn.

Aragorn (left) and Eowyn (right) walking with horses in Lord of the Rings
Credit: New Line Cinema

Related: New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Spinoff Gets Updated Release Schedule

The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim is produced by Warner Bros. Animation, New Line Cinema, and Sola Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Who would you like to see cast in The Lord of the Rings? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!

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