Those attending the theatrical re-release of The Lord of the Rings trilogy should keep an eye out for The Lord of the Rings’ iconic Mines of Moria set. Then you might notice for the first time that Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn is only filmed from the side in most of his scenes. That’s because Mortensen had a surfing accident during production and showed up on set with a swollen black eye.
“The thing about these movies, of course, is that we shot all three at the same time and in a mixed way,” Jackson says in the video introduction for the “Fellowship” re-release (via Entertainment Weekly). “So one day we’ll shoot a little bit of ‘The Fellowship’ and then it’ll be Monday. On Tuesday we’ll shoot scenes for[the second film]’The Two Towers’, then on Wednesday we’ll go back to The Fellowship and on Thursday we’ll shoot all the way to[the final film]’The Return of the King.'” So this was really just one movie for us. ”
“So, the other thing I remember about the Moria Mines scene is that we all got together to shoot that scene,” Jackson continues. “And Viggo was out with the Hobbits for the weekend, and he was surfing, and while he was surfing, his board flipped over in the air and hit him in the face. So when he came into the room, his eyes were wide and closed like swollen boxers, and he said, ‘I’m sorry, Peter. I’m so sorry.'” And I said, “Oh, God.” So it turns out all I can do is shoot him in the side. I couldn’t shoot it (from the front). ”
Mortensen played Aragorn in all three of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. Jackson will return to Middle-earth as a producer on the new Lord of the Rings, directed by Gollum actor Andy Serkis. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will go into production this year and is scheduled to be released in theaters in December 2027. Mortensen told GQ UK in 2024 that he wouldn’t be opposed to returning as Aragorn if it made sense.
“I don’t know exactly what’s being said, I haven’t heard it,” he said at the time. “Maybe you’ll hear about that one day. I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing that character. It was a lot of fun. You know, I only do it if I’m suitable for the role in terms of my current age and so on. I only do it if I’m suitable for the character. It would be stupid to do it if I’m not.”
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings” will be re-released in the United States on January 16th, “The Two Towers” on January 17th, and “The Return of the King” on January 18th. Fathom Entertainment said the film has earned $5 million in domestic advance sales and has sold about 407,000 tickets to date.
