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Trivia: According to the book, Frodo is the oldest of the Hobbits in the Fellowship, but Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo, is actually the youngest of all the Fellowship actors - he was seventeen when filming began. The actors who played the younger Hobbits (Merry, Samwise and Pippin) - Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin and Billy Boyd - ranged in age from 23 to 31 at the beginning of filming. Ironically, in the book Pippin is the youngest of the four Hobbits, whereas Billy Boyd, who played Pippin was actually the oldest of the four actors portraying the Hobbits.

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Trivia: The 2004 adaptation is a loose adaptation of the Jules Vernes novel. Instances include changing Phileas Fogg as an English gentleman into a gentleman-inventor; changing Passepartout to a Chinese thief from a French valet; and replacing an Indian princess with a French artist.

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Question: This is very absurd but some of my friends strongly think that Sam is a closet homosexual, and that his relationship with Frodo is more than loyality and friendship. They claim that Sam speaks of Rose Cotton as a way to "keep up with appearances." Can anyone tell me that Sam is not a homosexual?

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Chosen answer: Sam ultimately marries Rosie and has thirteen children. Unless your friends still regard that as "keeping up appearances", in which case it's the most heroic case ever recorded, they're wrong. His love for Frodo is merely great loyalty and friendship, nothing more.

Tailkinker

Question: I have yet to read the book, but what are the Corsairs?

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Chosen answer: The Corsairs of Umbar are a piratical group, originally of Gondorian origin, whose founder, Castamir, was ousted as ruler of that land (he usurped the throne and had a vicious and cruel reign lasting ten years) some 1500 years before the events of the film. Since that time, they've held a great hatred for Gondor, fighting against them as much as possible. As a trivia note, forty years prior to the films, the Corsair fleets were all but destroyed by a devastating Gondorian attack led by a man named Thorongil. Thorongil was, in fact, Aragorn - he used this alias during his early life and his service to the lords of both Gondor and Rohan (as mentioned in the extended Two Towers film).

Tailkinker

Question: Is there a romantic relationship between Galadriel and Gimli? Also, it seems foolish, but is it true that Galadriel seems to have some sort of infatuation with Frodo? She seems pleased (by her come-hither looks) that Frodo is coming with her to the Undying Lands in the Grey Havens scene.

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Chosen answer: Galadriel and Gimli? Bizarre mental image. Um, no, there's nothing going on there. Gimli does fall for her beauty, true, and she's flattered, but there's nothing else there. Do bear in mind that Celeborn, her husband, is around as well. No, she doesn't have an infatuation with Frodo either - her initial rapport with him would be down to them both being Ringbearers. Come-hither looks at the Grey Havens? I don't really see those - what I see is that she's excited about returning to Valinor, the land where she was born, and that she hasn't seen for seven thousand years. Nothing to do with Frodo going along, or any desire for hobbit lurve...

Tailkinker

Question: Are there hidden allegories (Christian, political, social, etc.) behind the stories of the Ring trilogy?

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Chosen answer: None whatsoever. To quote Tolkien "As for any inner meaning or 'message', it has in the intention of the author none". He was strongly opposed to those who tried to read deeper meaning into the books.

Tailkinker

Trivia: In the biblical book of Jonah, there is actually no whale that swallowed Jonah. The "whale" is a mistranslation of the Hebrew word for a big fish by the translators of the King James Version. Because of the prominence, respectability, and the wide distribution (it is in the public domain in the U.S., but not in the U.K.) of the King James translation over modern translations like the New International Version, the "whale" is what most Bible readers think of the sea creature that swallowed Jonah.

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Trivia: Is currently the fastest major theatrical film to earn back its production and marketing costs ($55 million in three days). It is also the fastest film to earn a profit (grossing over the $110 million threshold within five days), since a film needs to earn twice the production and marketing costs to make a profit.

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30th May 2004

Saved! (2004)

Trivia: According to director Brian Dannelly, several fundamentalists working on the film quit. A church, a Christian rock band and the homeowner whose house was to be used for important scenes pulled out of productions because of objections over the film's unflattering content.

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Other mistake: In the Bible, Moses had two sons, not one (Gershom) as depicted in the film. He had both sons in Midian before he came back to Egypt to redeem the Jews.

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Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Differences from the source material are not mistakes. This is an adaptation where Moses only has one son.

This isn't a valid correction. It's not an "adaptation." Otherwise, you could excuse anything. Moses could be called Bob, by your logic.

Bishop73

Trivia: Loosely based on the life of controversial Louisiana governor then senator Huey P. Long who was assassinated by a political enemy in 1935.

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Trivia: Became the most profitable film based on return of investment on its theatrical run, excluding marketing costs. The return of investment is an amazing 354,614.29%, as the film had a production budget of $35,000 and grossed $248 million worldwide.

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22nd Apr 2004

Titanic (1997)

Trivia: After being on release for about 3 months, Titanic replaced Star Wars: A New Hope as the movie with the highest ever domestic box office total, ending its run with over $600m.

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22nd Apr 2004

Titanic (1997)

Trivia: Until Avatar surpassed it in 2010, this was the highest-grossing film of all time, in North American and worldwide. It was also the first to gross over a then unheard-of $500 million (its total gross is $600 million) in North America, and the first to gross $1 billion worldwide.

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Trivia: This film had the dubious honor as being the highest-grossing film to be nominated for "Razzie" awards, until "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" was released in 2018. It also has the dubious honor as one of a few films to be nominated for both "Razzie" (for directing, screenplay, picture, and acting roles) and Academy Awards (only for technical achievements) at the same year. While it did not win any Oscars, it won only one "Razzie" for "Worst Supporting Actor" (Ahmed Best who provided the voice of Jar-Jar Binks).

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22nd Apr 2004

The Exorcist (1973)

22nd Apr 2004

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Trivia: Was the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time for nearly twenty years until "The Matrix Reloaded" upseated it on June 3, 2003. In the history of R-rated films, it held the longest record for high grosser (19 years).

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Trivia: Until October 2003, the film was originally called "The Passion" until Mel Gibson found that Miramax owns the rights to that name (from a romantic fantasy book), so he decided to add "of Christ" to it. Then a month latter, Gibson added an additional "the" between "of" and "Christ" which makes it "The Passion of the Christ," the title which was released in theaters.

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Trivia: Contrary to earlier media reports, Pope John Paul II never publicly endorsed the film after receiving a private screening of it.

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