Love all things Middle-earth? Then Empire has the ultimate magazine for you: The Lord Of The Rings: An Empire Celebration, featuring the world’s greatest access to the iconic movies.
This special collector’s edition issue is packed with Empire’s coverage from both the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies, as well as interviews with Peter Jackson and his crew from across the six movies, cast reunions, oral histories and more – plus Andy Serkis looking ahead to the making of new film The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum. It’s so packed with goodness, you might as well call it my precious…
Find it in on newsstands now across the UK, or you can order a copy online here. It will be available on US newsstands from October 14. Here’s a sneak peek inside:
The making of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy
With his original Tolkien trilogy, Peter Jackson forever changed fantasy on the big screen – and Empire was there the whole way. Read all of our original magazine features on The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return Of The King, going on set and speaking to Jackson, his cast, and his crew about pulling off the most ambitious adaptation of all time.
The making of The Hobbit trilogy
Roughly a decade later, Peter Jackson went back for more: digging deep into Middle-earth again to adapt The Hobbit. And, once again, Empire was there to witness it, as Jackson spun An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation Of Smaug, and The Battle Of The Five Armies from Tolkien’s tome. Read all of our original magazine features following Jackson and co. as he embarked on his return journey.
Interviews galore
Empire has spoken to many of the minds behind LOTR and The Hobbit over the years – and all those conversations can be found here. In 2009, we spoke to Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, back when they were meant to make The Hobbit together. In 2011, we pulled together an epic Oral History on Return Of The King’s epic Oscar night sweep. In 2015, we interviewed Elijah Wood and Martin Freeman together to get their twin perspectives as leading Hobbits; plus, we posed questions from Hollywood’s finest to Peter Jackson. In 2017, we asked the members of the Fellowship to write questions for each other, which they all answered in turn. In 2021, we united Elijah Wood and Daniel Radcliffe, to discuss their dual journeys as Frodo and Harry Potter, respectively.
And just a few months ago, we brought together LOTR’s four Hobbits – Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd – with Gandalf himself, Sir Ian McKellen, for an epic reunion chat. Plus, we spoke to Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler together; Orlando Bloom and John Rhys Davies; and Sean Bean and Viggo Mortensen too.
Andy Serkis writes…
Few people have experienced Middle-earth so thoroughly as Andy Serkis, whose Gollum changed the VFX world forever – and spanned both of Jackson’s trilogies. Now, as he embarks on directing and starring in the upcoming The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum, he writes for Empire on his experiences in a saga like no other.
And much more!
And that’s not all. There’s also a comprehensive map of character journeys through Middle-earth; Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens looking back together on the whole wild undertaking; a deep-dive on the creation of Rivendell; the screen history of Gollum; interviews with the Rings films’ greatest bit-players; plus, we make a case for each Rings film being the best of the three, and plenty more besides.
The Lord Of The Rings: An Empire Celebration is out now
