Fans out early for ‘Lord of the Rings’

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2001 | 9:42 a.m.

When Dave Eagle heard that the first film in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy would premiere with midnight shows he vowed to be among the first to see the fantasy epic.

Eagle just didn't realize that getting a seat for a midnight showing would require a four-hour drive to Las Vegas.

"My wife and I are huge 'Lord of the Rings' fans and we just had to see it," said Eagle, who made the 240-mile drive from his home in Riverside, Calif., Tuesday. "Everything in Riverside was sold out. The closest place with tickets avaliable was Las Vegas."

Eagle, 34, and his wife were among the capacity crowd at the Orleans this morning. The crowd saw elves, dwarfs, wizards and Hobbits of J.R.R. Tolkien's writings spring to life -- on film anyway.

The Eagles, both lab technicians who got two days off, planned to head back to Riverside after the movie.

"We just couldn't wait another 24 hours to see it," Eagle said. "I don't think we'll have any problems staying awake through the movie, and we brought plenty of ginseng for the ride home."

Allin Dubuc has been counting down to the opening of "The Fellowship of the Ring" since he first heard about the films a year ago.

"I've been checking websites and sniffing around for any little piece of information that I can get," Dubuc, 48, said as he waited to go into the Orleans' theater.

Dubac, who has read the "Lord of the Rings," written in 1954-55, eight times and first read it when he was 16, said that he thinks the movie will be a blockbuster if director Peter Jackson gets the little details right.

"I think he understands that there is a devout, almost religious following for these books," Dubac said. "I'm especially interested in seeing hairy Hobbit feet, and the round doors on the Hobbit holes."

The 178-minute film is the first of three films, budgeted at $300 million and shot over 18 months in New Zealand. The next two films, "The Two Towers" and "The Return of King," are scheduled to be released during Christmas 2002 and 2003.

Fans such as Tom Reinert, 24, started lining up for the film at the Orleans about 9:45 p.m.

Reinert, who first read Tolkien's books at age 12, said he couldn't remember ever being as excited as he was waiting in line to see the film.

"This is like what Christmas was like when I was a kid," Reinert said.