While it was already reported that the world of 2024 movies would see a posthumous cameo from Sir Christopher Lee set for The Lord of the RIngs: The War of the Rohirrim, I somehow forgot this fact. So as I got to the end of the first anime in Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth Saga, it was a pleasant surprise to hear that familiar voice in my ears once more. As it turns out, the decision to bring back Saruman in The War of the Rohirrim was a decision made early in the process, and it came out of a question from producer Philippa Boyens.
Sitting down for a virtual interview with Ms. Boyens on behalf of CinemaBlend’s attendance to The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’s press day, I was able to actually get the full story on how this all happened. Kicking off the tale at hand, here’s what Philippa Boyens told me as the inspiration for even bringing Saruman back:
…one of the questions that arose in our minds were, which characters from the live action films would legitimately be part of this story? There really is only one, and that is Saruman. … I went to Peter really early on when we were doing this, because one of the things we wanted to do is we wanted this to be a standalone story, a story that doesn't need to have any rings of power in it, or dark lords.
As we spoke about The War of the Rohirrim’s special place almost 200 years prior to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the producer/co-story writer specified how in the timeline of J.R.R. Tolkien’s lore, Saurman appears around this point. This gives audiences who love The Lord of the RIngs movies a connection between this ring-less saga set in the world of humanity.
With the purpose now devised, it was time to figure out how to bring Sir Christopher Lee’s voice back into the fold. Digging further into this topic, Philippa Boyens shared these next steps that took place:
Peter had a very strong sense that he felt that Chris Lee would've wanted to do it. And so we then went to [Lee’s wife, Gitte Lee], who was still alive then, and asked her, and she said exactly the same thing. … I was a bit daunted, because I was thinking, ‘How are we gonna construct this line using his actual voice?’ And then I remembered that one line in The Hobbit, where he turns up at the White Council fighting the Necromancer, where he says ‘Are you in need of assistance, my lady?’ And so we use that as the basis of this line.
Admittedly, there will be some audience members who think that A.I. was used to achieve this effect. Thankfully, it sounds like all that was needed was some clever audio editing, a la the late Paul Newman's return as Doc Hudson for 2017's Cars 3. For reference, you can listen to the audio in question in the below clip from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:
![The Hobbit (2014) - Clash of Immortals [4K] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KnD_NkGTEXo/maxresdefault.jpg)
For as brief as Sir Christopher Lee's cameo is in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Saruman's appearance is a fitting bridge to the legacy movies. With all of the care and thought taken in continuing this legacy of quality adaptations, the intent of this animated epic was kept in sight at all times.
Opting to focus on the untold history that started Rohan's second line of kings, the struggles and survival of humanity are the main event. That’s what you’ll see in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which is currently showing in theaters. Because what other time of year would you schedule a Middle-Earth Saga entry?
Should this inspire you to watch the entirety of Peter Jackson’s six-film opus in live-action, you can currently stream both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies, as they’re currently bound together by the forces of a Max subscription!
