Henry and Gandolfini

The world's most famous boy wizard and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is about to be irreverently and thoroughly spoofed with bathroom humour and innuendo.

MGM studios says it has bought the script of Henry Bates and the Sorcerer's Balls - a comic parody of both the hugely popular Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series.

Out go the Hobbits and Gandalf the good wizard and in come the Bobbits, who are under an evil sexual spell, and the good wizard Gandolfini who battles the bad wizard Enron.

Henry Bates attends a school called the St Buggerers Academy for Boys and One Girl, and sets out on a quest to regain his kingdom - the Land of Middlefinger.

The script was written by the anarchic United States team of Tim Stack, James R. Stein and David Morgasen who were responsible for the television series Son of the Beach - a parody of the hit sex and swimsuit series Baywatch.

"It is irreverent but we are fans of the books and the movies. We think people will get a kick out of this," Morgasen said. The writers are hoping to keep the script clean enough to earn a PG-13 rating.

There have been no decisions yet on casting, but MGM is expected to move quickly given the short shelf-life of the idea.

The Return of the King - the third and final part of the The Lord of the Rings series - is due to reach movie theatres next month. The third of seven potential Harry Potter instalments - The Prisoner of Azkaban - is scheduled to be released next June.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings