Return of the King nominated for 12 Baftas

12.30am


The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has been nominated for 12 awards at Britain's annual Baftas.

The 12 nominations included Best Film, Peter Jackson for Best Director and Sir Ian McKellan for Best Supporting Actor.

The film became front-runner for the Oscars on Saturday when it won the highest honour for a film given by the Producers Guild of America.

Ten of the 14 previous winners of the Guild's Darryl F Zanuck Award for Theatrical Motion Picture have gone on to win the best picture Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making it a key indicator in the battle for filmdom's highest prize. The Oscars are on February 29.

The third and final instalment of Jackson's adaptation of J R R Tolkien's epic fantasy has won several major critics awards so far this year, including best film award from the New York City film critics and a best director award for Jackson from the Los Angeles critics.

The trilogy is rapidly becoming one of the most successful works in film history with the first two instalments bringing in about $1.8 billion worldwide and the third grossing about US$710 million ($1.07 billion) since its Christmas opening.

- NZPA


Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings