The Lord of the Rings is one of the most important film trilogies of all time. The films were successful not only with critics and fans but also at the box office. Sean Connery could have been involved, but he declined.
Who is Sean Connery?
- His probably biggest role was that of James Bond
- In 7 James Bond films, he played the agent
- Other well-known films with him include In the Name of the Rose, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Highlander
- He worked as an actor from 1954 to 2003
- In 2020, the actor passed away at the age of 90
He could have also added The Lord of the Rings to his filmography, but he declined the role, although he read the script and would have had an incredible deal.
A trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring can be found here:
Sean Connery as Gandalf
As The Independent reports, Sean Connery declined the role of Gandalf. Mark Ordesky, the executive producer, described that they made an offer to Connery, but he declined.
We made Connery an offer, but he declined. We received a response years later, but apparently, he read the material and just didn’t feel it.
Mark Ordesky on the Gandalf casting (Source: The Independent)
Sean Connery read the script, but the role did not seem to fit him. Later he commented on it, as The New Zealand Herald reports. He said he had seen the books and the films, but he still did not feel it. Ultimately, it went to Ian McKellen, although another actor was also approached.
How much would he have received for the role? In addition to the fee of 30 million dollars, roughly 28 million euros, he would have even received a 15% profit share from the box office earnings. That would have paid off since the films grossed 2.9 billion dollars, approximately 2.7 billion euros. Thus, Connery would have earned 450 million dollars, around 420 million euros, just from that.
In which film did Connery act instead? Instead of The Lord of the Rings, Connery acted in the comic adaptation The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The film was a failure with critics and fans. Looking at the rating on Metacritic, the film has a critic score of 30 and a user score of 5.8.
There was never a sequel to the film, and it was also Connery’s last role, after which he retired. For Ian McKellen, the role paid off, who also played Gandalf in the Hobbit films. Sometimes the misfortune of one is the luck of another. The same happened to Bruce Willis: Arnold Schwarzenegger was offered the lead role in ‘Die Hard’, but he and 6 other action stars found McClane too dull and declined
