TNT Presents Ad-Supported Cable Premiere of the Oscar-Winning Epic Fantasy THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

Friday, Dec. 10 -- 8 p.m. (ET/PT)

Saturday, Dec. 11 -- 7 and 10:45 p.m. (ET/PT)

Sunday, Dec. 12 -- 8 p.m. (ET/PT)

New Line Cinema�s Oscar-winning THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, the first installment of J.R.R. Tolkien�s epic fantasy trilogy, makes its ad-supported cable premiere on Turner Network Television (TNT) in a special weekend of telecasts: Friday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. and 10:45 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 12, at 8 p.m. Peter Jackson directed the film, which stars Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Oscar nominee Sir Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Liv Tyler, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Christopher Lee.

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is the first of three parts in J.R.R. Tolkien�s epic fantasy about a quest to destroy the One Ring sought by the dark lord Sauron, who hopes to use its power to dominate all the races of Middle Earth. The ring has fallen into the hands of a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins, who must take it to Mount Doom, deep in the lands of Mordor, to destroy it. To help him in his daunting quest are his gardener Sam (Astin), his cousins Merry (Monaghan) and Pippin (Boyd), the wizard Gandalf (McKellan), a ranger named Aragorn (Mortensen), an elf named Legolas (Bloom), a dwarf named Gimli (Rhys-Davies) and a general named Boromir (Bean).

The following are some interesting facts about THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING:

- The entire LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy was shot on-location in director Peter Jackson�s home country of New Zealand.

- Originally, Jackson planned to make the trilogy into two films instead of three. But when he presented the idea to New Line, the studio heads said that the story could only be told properly in three films.

- All three movies in the trilogy were shot simultaneously during a record shoot that lasted 274 days.

- The vegetation in Hobbiton was planted a full year before shooting began to ensure it would have the proper aged look.

- A computer program named Massive allowed the filmmakers to depict large armies of computer-simulated orcs, elves and humans to move and fight each other independently.

- Viggo Mortensen lost a tooth during a fight sequence. But a dentist was able to repair it during a lunch break, allowing Mortensen to return to work that afternoon.

- The cast and crew required 1,460 eggs for breakfast every day during shooting.

- More than 1,600 pairs of latex ears and feet were used during the production.

- The maps used in the movie are replicas of the maps Tolkien drew for his books.

- Christopher Lee is the only member of the cast to have actually met Tolkien. He was also the first person cast in the movie, thanks in part to his extensive knowledge of Tolkien and his work.

- All of the chapter titles in the book are used as lines in the movie.

- Peter Jackson can be glimpsed briefly outside in the scene set in Bree. He plays a belching drunk who takes a bite out of a carrot. His two children also appear in the film as hobbits during the birthday party sequence.

- The elvish languages used in the movie are based on the limited dictionary Tolkien created for that language.

- At 6�1�, John Rhys-Davies, who plays the dwarf Gimli, is actually the tallest member of the cast.

- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING premiered in the United States Christmas 2001, raking in more than $66 million in its first weekend. The movie eventually took in $314 million domestically.

- THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING took home four Oscars, including Best Cinematography (Andrew Lesnie), Best Original Score (Howard Shore), Best Make-up and Best Visual Effects. It also won the BAFTA (Britain�s version of the Oscars) for Best Film.

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