But what exactly are the similarities, apart from the bearded wizards, the magic and the incredible power to captivate family audiences? Let's have a look at ten areas of the franchises that are spookily similar. Rowling owes Tolkien an awful lot, and not just her pen-name themes, ideas and even individual characters can be traced back to the Middle Earth epic, and from The Lord of the Rings, much of the imagery is derived from the same mythology and folklore than Rowling mined for Potter. It may be nearly sixty years since the last The Lord of the Rings book was published, but J. Being able to see them on-screen though certainly illuminates the similarities and differences between the two stories. With There And Back Again, Peter Jackson concludes his prequel trilogy of The Hobbit, just as new Harry Potter movie Fantastic Beasts enters production it seems we can't live with either of them, as they've become cultural icons of 21st Century cinema. On the other hand, I think I have better jokes.' Both Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings have reignited an era's love for fantasy almost single-handedly franchises as diverse as X-Men to Doctor Who and Narnia all owe something to both sets of films, which are both going strong. 'Tolkien created a whole new mythology, which I would never claim to have done. Rowling's Harry Potter world are 'fairly superficial,' according to Rowling herself. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings universe and J.

Happily, there are no hard feelings between Ian McKellen and Michael Gambon (or Gandalf or Dumbledore for that matter), as McKellen said that he often mistakes Gambon for himself.The similarities between J. Ultimately, Michael Gambon stepped in to take over the role of Dumbledore, adding his own flare to the role by giving Dumbledore a slight Irish accent. 'I couldn't take over the part from an actor who I know disapproved of me.'Īccording to McKellen, Harris had felt that - along with fellow Shakespearian actors Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Kenneth Branagh - he was “technically brilliant but passionless.” Ouch. 'But when they called me up and said would I be interested in being in the Harry Potter films, they wouldn't say what part but I worked out what they were thinking,' he continued. “When died – he played Dumbledore, the wizard – I played the real wizard of course,” he joked. Speaking to HARDTalk on BBC radio, McKellen explained that he turned down the role for the iconic wizard because the OG Dumbledore, Richard Harris, wasn’t actually a fan of his acting. Well, Ian McKellen has now spoken out about why he turned down the role of Dumbledore, and it’s actually for a super surprising reason. WHEN the first Harry Potter film premiered way back in 2001, it launched three unknown children into superstardom.It also cemented the careers of seve.

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