Christopher Lee Snubbed This Lord Of The Rings Premiere Over Peter Jackson Feud

When Lee clarified how he felt about being axed from the final installment of Jackson’s monumental trilogy (and the one that ultimately went on to win a ton of awards), he said, «Of course I am shocked, that’s all I can say. If you want to know why [it has happened] you would have to ask the company New Line, or the director Peter Jackson and his associates, because I don’t really know why.»

After pointing fingers, the actor went on to showcase his disgust in response to the question of whether he would attend the premiere or not. The actor adamantly responded by, in the words of the Guardian, ‘snapping,’ «No, what’s the point? What’s the point of going? None at all.»

Fortunately for Lee, the ordeal wasn’t permanent. Shortly after the theatrical release, «The Return of the King» extended edition came out with over an hour of additional runtime. The first added scene on the docket? Saruman’s final confrontation at Isengard.

Even better? Lee found another way into Middle-earth by narrating the audiobook version of Tolkien’s epic First Age tragedy, «The Children of Húrin.» He was also able to patch things up with Jackson enough to reprise his Saruman role on the set of the «Hobbit» trilogy a decade later. The last of those films was the last movie Lee starred in that came out before his death in 2015.