'RING' LEADER DIRECTOR PETER JACKSON FORGES AHEAD WITH J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S BELOVED TRILOGY.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Peter Jackson says he couldn't afford to think about what he had gotten himself into - filming three movies at once over 16 months for an unheard of budget of more than $270 million, with literally a cast of thousands and along the way possibly bankrupting the future of the studio that bankrolled the project.

``I didn't dwell on the enormity of it. I didn't dwell on the risk,'' says Jackson, the 40-year-old director of the ``Lord of the Rings'' trilogy of films. ``There's an expression in New Zealand that my dad used to say: 'One job at a time. Every job a success.' And that is what I've done in this film.''

The first installment in New Line's wildly anticipated film trilogy, ``The Fellowship of the Ring,'' based on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy epic, opens Wednesday. The second film, ``The Two Towers,'' is coming next December, and ``The Return of the King'' is to be released in December 2003.

So far it looks as if the studio's gamble will likely pay off. Early reviews have ranged from very good to raves: Peter Travers of Rolling Stone named it the year's best studio film; ``a great picture, a triumphant picture, a joyfully conceived work of cinema'' enthused Entertainment Weekly; Hollywood Reporter and Variety gushed, as did David Ansen in Newsweek. And for the hard-to-please ``LOTR'' fanatics, Harry Knowles of aint-it-cool-news.com has given the film his blessing.

Putting the massive project, which started six years ago, into the hands of Jackson was probably New Line's biggest leap of faith. There is little in the native New Zealander's background to suggest that he was ready for the David Lean-like task. Jackson began with a number of small splatter movies in his native country before drawing acclaim for the art house film ``Heavenly Creatures'' in 1994. His only other movie, ``The Frighteners,'' a 1996 horror-comedy starring Michael J. Fox, grossed $17 million, a pittance by Hollywood standards.

Sitting on a sofa in a New York City hotel, the bearded filmmaker looks to be more like a Hobbit - Tolkien's diminutive creature with large, hairy feet - than the wizard everyone is now calling him.

Jackson's first trick was getting the greenlight for the films in the first place. He first pitched the idea to Miramax, who only wanted to make one movie, but Jackson felt that it would take at least two films to tell the story. Harvey Weinstein, the company's head, then gave Jackson four weeks to make a deal with another studio for a two-picture project. After everyone in Hollywood passed, the director finally took the project to New Line, who suggested - to his surprise - three movies like Tolkien's three books.

``I couldn't believe it,'' says Jackson. ``It was one of the most remarkable moments of my life.''

All he had to do then was adapt a classic piece of literature into an action movie, develop special effects that hadn't been done before, hire an acclaimed international cast, bring all to New Zealand for nearly a year and a half and somehow make the whole thing work.

He did this by seemingly casting a spell over everyone he worked with.

``Once in New Zealand with Peter Jackson, you become utterly absorbed in the work,'' says Sir Ian McKellen, who plays the wizard Gandalf the Grey.

And once the cast members - who also included Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Ian Holm, Sean Bean and Sean Astin - were there, they bonded, notes Viggo Mortensen, who plays the warrior Aragorn.

``My feeling - especially on a movie like this - is if you're there for a year and a half and you don't realize that New Zealand is incredibly beautiful and the people are amazing and this is a unique story and there are friends to be made and experiences to be had, you're not present,'' says Mortensen, whom Tyler describes as the ringleader for the practical jokes that abounded on the set.

Any misgivings Jackson had about the commitment of his cast were blown away the day Mortensen had part of his front tooth knocked out in a fight scene.

``Normally I would have thought at this point a Hollywood actor would storm to their trailer and demand dental work and all that,'' Jackson says. ``But Viggo without blinking just snatched his broken tooth off the floor and said, 'Who's got Super Glue? Give me some Super Glue because we can stick it on and we'll carry on filming.' It was absolutely remarkable and the whole shoot had that sort of spirit and dedication.''

Hobbit forming

The same words that might be used to describe the themes in Tolkien's tome. The Oxford scholar had written it over a 12-year period as one book. For commercial considerations, it was split into three parts, the first of which was published in 1954. Creating Middle Earth of ``LOTR'' was a lifelong obsession for Tolkien, who first started writing about it while in the trenches in World War I.

``Tolkien went into the army in World War I with a large group of school friends,'' notes Jackson. ``By the time the war ended, only two of them were alive. A lot of 'LOTR' reflects that, themes about courage and sacrifice for a greater good and comradeship.''

Given that more than 100 million copies of the book have been sold since it was published, there are legions of fans who have their visions of how the film should (or should not) be made.

``I feel very strongly that you can't make films for other people as a filmmaker,'' says Jackson, who was barefooted and dressed in shorts during the interview. (Hey, it's summer in New Zealand.)

Jackson felt that if he listened to everybody's opinions, the film would become too bland. But he also knew he needed more than his own vision to make a good movie. He credits the conceptual designers, particularly artists Alan Lee and John Howe, for creating a much more ``wonderful version of Tolkien's world than I could have in my head.''

But changes had to be made. ``I tried to make a film you can walk in off the streets having never read 'Lord of the Rings' and still be able to follow the movie,'' Jackson says.

That meant paring down Tolkien's detailed book into more of an action story while still keeping the author's voice intact.

``We felt that the dialogue was the way we could get Tolkien's voice in the film,'' Jackson says, although those familiar with the book will note that many of book's lines are placed in different scenes in the movie.

``We weren't interested in putting our own agendas in the film. We were interested in putting Tolkien's agendas in the film,'' says Jackson, who nevertheless leaves no doubt when you talk to him that he knew what his role was when he made the movie - and that was to make decisions. And that's what he did.

``Being a director is all about making decisions and you couldn't allow decisions on a film like this to be driven by fear,'' he says.

Besides, Jackson believes that ``LOTR'' isn't as big of a gamble as people think, reasoning that if the movie had been made in the ``Hollywood environment of 'Pearl Harbor' '' instead of in New Zealand with his in-house special effects team, it would have cost $170 to $180 million.

``We never made a film this big before in New Zealand, but we figured out a way to make it,'' Jackson says.

He believes, too, that the film has benefited from six years of development. ``When we started, it was almost impossible to do hair in the computer, almost impossible to do water, almost impossible to do clothes. Now we have a number of shots where it looks like the digital characters' clothes are swinging around and their hair is swinging around.''

A very special effect

Jackson will be begin working on special-effects for ``The Two Towers'' soon, and by the time his team works works on ``The Return of the King'' in 12 to 14 months, he expects the state of special effects to have advanced even more.

Producer Barrie Osborne, who knows a thing or two about computer effects, having produced the groundbreaking ``The Matrix,'' notes that Jackson is now a ``master at manipulating different special effects.''

So it's looking more and more like New Line was right: Jackson was the wizard for the job. But don't expect the Kiwi to be making the Hollywood scene.

``I'm comfortable with the fact that the 'Lord of the Rings' is the biggest film I'm ever going to make. I'm very happy with the idea of making smaller films,'' says Jackson, sounding like he's ready to go home. ``I gravitate to things I can do at home.''

'Rings': by the numbers

NUMBER OF FILMS: Three, with ``The Fellowship of the Ring'' coming out Tuesday, ``The Two Towers,'' coming next December, and ``The Return of the King,'' to be released in December 2003.

COST: More than $270 million to make three ``Rings,'' $93 million for ``Fellowship.''

MARKETING COSTS: About $50 million for the first film.

LENGTH: Two hours, 58 minutes for ``Fellowship.''

LICENSING: New Line received about $55 million a film from foreign partners. Another $11 million from Burger King, JVC Electronics, Barnes & Noble and other toy and merchandise companies. Plus $10 million a film in tax incentives from the government of New Zealand.

SCREENS: Should open on 5,000 screens at more than 3,000 theaters in North America on Wednesday.

SHOOTING SCHEDULE: 274 days.

COSTUMES: 50 tailors, embroiders, cobblers and jewelers created an average of 150 costumes for each of the different cultures. Among the more than 48,000 items made for ``LOTR'' were: more than 1,000 suits of handmade armor, more than 2,000 rubber and safety weapons, more than 100 special, handmade weapons, more than 20,000 individual household and everyday items handmade by artisans, more than 1,800 pairs of prosthetic feet and ears individually sized and shaped and more than 10,000 facial appliances.

MINIATURE SETS: 64.

EXTRAS: More than 26,000.

EQUINES: ``LOTR'' used more than 250 horses, including a corps of 70 specially trained horses.

VEGETATION: To create Hobbiton, 5,000 cubic-meters of vegetable and flower gardens were planted a year before filming began.

PRODUCTION TEAM: More than 2,400.

ORC HEADS: 200, each unique.

NUMBER OF COPIES OF ``LOTR'' SOLD: J.R.R. Tolkien's book has sold more than 100 million copies.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) WITH THIS `RING'

A monumental adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy hits the screen, with much rejoicing and `Fellowship'

(2 -- cover -- color) Ian McKellen as Gandalf

(3) no caption (scene from ``The Fellowship of the Ring'')

(4) Peter Jackson

director, ``The Fellowship of the Ring''

(5) no caption (hand holding ring)

Box:

`RINGS' BY THE NUMBERS (see text)

- SOURCES: New Line and reports