Among the Deserted Theater Seats…

[2003]

LotR fan, in line for the RotK premiere: One, please.

Ticket seller: Why do you linger here when there is no hope?

LotR fan: There is still hope.

Ticket seller: If Tolkien's story survives in this script, you will still be disappointed. If Hollywood is defeated, and Peter Jackson is faithful to the books, and all that you hope for comes true, you will still taste the brevity of screenplays.

Whether by plot changes or the slow decay of timing, scenes will be cut. And there will be no comfort for you. No comfort to ease the pain of their omission, for Return of the King is the last movie. It will come to the silver screen, an image of the splendor of Middle Earth, in glory undimmed before the breaking of the film industry.

But you, my Tolkien fan, you will linger on, in darkness and in doubt. As nightfall in winter that comes without a star. Here you will dwell, bound to your grief, among the deserted theater seats, until all the world has changed and the long months of your wait for the RotK EE are utterly spent.

There is nothing for you here, only disappointment.