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Starring:	Elijah Wood Viggo Mortensen Liv Tyler Ian McKellan
Directed by:	Peter Jackson
Executive produced by:	Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein Mark Ordesky
Distributed by:	Warner Bros. International

Synopsis

Considered by millions throughout the world to be the greatest adventure ever told, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy chronicles the epic struggle for possession of the infamous One Ring. If returned to its creator, the Dark Lord Sauron, the Ring will give him the power to enslave the world.

New Line Cinema presents The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the central film in Peter Jackson's trilogy, an epic adventure of good against evil set in a time of uncertainty in the land of Middle-earth, scheduled to open December 18, 2002. The trilogy represents an unprecedented undertaking - three films made simultaneously over a year and a half of production. The first film in the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, was released December 19, 2001, to widespread critical acclaim and garnered $860 million worldwide. The film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, more than any other film in 2001, and won four, including Best Visual Effects for the groundbreaking techniques used by Jackson and the visual effects team to fully realize Tolkien's universe.

At the end of part one, following the death of Boromir (Sean Bean) and Gandalf's plunge into the pit at Khadad-d�m, the Fellowship was forced to divide. Though splintered into three groups, each member of the original Fellowship is no less determined in their heroic quest.

Lost in the hills of Emyn Muil, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) discover they are being followed by the mysterious Gollum (Andy Serkis). A mercurial creature who has himself been warped by the Ring, Gollum promises to guide the Hobbits to the Black Gates of Mordor if they will release him. Sam does not trust their new companion, but Frodo takes pity on Gollum, who like himself was once a Ringbearer.

Across Middle-earth Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the Elf archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli the Dwarf (John-Rhys Davies) encounter the besieged Rohan kingdom, whose once great King Theoden (Bernard Hill) has fallen under Saruman's deadly spell through the manipulations of his spy, the sinister Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). Eowyn (Miranda Otto), the niece to the King, recognizes a leader in the Human warrior Aragorn. And though he finds himself drawn to her, Aragorn is constantly reminded of his enduring love for the Elf Arwen (Liv Tyler) and the pact they made together.

Gandalf (Ian McKellen) has been reborn as Gandalf the White following his cataclysmic fight with the Balrog, and reminds Aragorn of his destiny to unite the Rohan people with the last remaining stronghold of human resistance - Gondor.

Meanwhile, the captured Hobbits, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), have escaped from the Uruk-hai on their own, fleeing into the mysterious Fangorn Forest, where they discover an unexpected ally among the ancient trees - Treebeard, a living, walking tree-shepherd, whose forest Saruman has decimated.

In their parallel journeys, the Fellowship will face unimaginable armies and deception while also witnessing ancient wonders and the untapped strength of their people. Together they must stand against the powerful forces spreading from the Two Towers - Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupted wizard Saruman has bred a lethal army 10,000 strong; and Sauron's fortress at Barad-d�r, deep within the dark lands of Mordor.

TRIVIA

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, were all filmed simultaneously.
Several members of the cast returned to New Zealand as Peter Jackson has thought of some more ideas for scenes. In June and July 2002, the cast and crew returned to New Zealand to do some supplementary shooting for the film. This included re-shooting and replacing scenes and inserting single lines of dialogue into scenes, which had been shot two years earlier. Orlando Bloom was unable to join the cast and crew as he was busy shooting another movie.
The Orc battle cries for the Helm's Deep battle sequence were provided by a stadium of 25,000 cricket fans, who screamed the war chants, spelled out on the Diamond Vision screen, with Jackson himself leading the crowd.
The theme to Requiem for a Dream by Clint Mansell was re-orchestrated for the trailer.
Gollum/Smeagol is a CGI character, but Jackson wanted the character to be performer-oriented, so actor Andy Serkis, the voice of Gollum, played the character in a motion capture suit. Serkis also played scenes with Eljiah Wood (Frodo) and Sean Astin (Sam) on set to give the actors a focal point. On those occasions when Serkis was actually in shot Gollum was composited over him in post production.
The set for the Helm's Deep battle scene was built on location in New Zealand over a period of seven months
When arriving upon the set to film the scene in which Andy Serkis (Gollum) has to catch a fish, they discovered that it had snowed overnight. Peter Jackson had the snow cleared on the set (which included defrosting the river as well as the land surrounding it) by 1:00 PM.
The role of �owyn, the White Lady of Rohan, was first offered to Irish actress Alison Doody in December 1999, who had to decline the part because she had just given birth to her second daughter. Miranda Otto then auditioned for the same role.
John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in the film, also provided the voice for Treebeard.
Peter Jackson's children appear as "cute Rohan refugee children".
The map that Faramir and his aide look at is the map featured in the books, drawn by Tolkien's son, Christopher.
The battle at Helm's Deep was edited down from twenty hours of footage, shot over a three-month period with the rain machine battering down on the cast.
Viggo Mortensen broke a toe while kicking the steel helmet by the orc pyre.
In the wide shots of Legolas, Aragorn & Gimli running after the Orcs, all three performers are running injured. Orlando Bloom had a couple of broken ribs (from a fall off a horse); Aragorn had a broken toe (from kicking the helmet in the Orcs funeral pyre scene); and Brett Beattie (Gimli's scale double) had a knee injury. Peter Jackson said that all three were very dedicated and continued to film the scene, often yelling "ouch" or "ow" after "Cut" was called.
Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan spent so much time up the tree (TreeBeard) during the making of the the film that they spent their time between takes writing a screenplay. Additionally, it was so difficult to get up and down to their "perches" that they were left there during breaks while the rest of the crew went off to eat, though someone was kind enough to pass theirs up to them.
To make the many sparkling lights in Galadriel's eyes, the crew put white Christmas lights behind the camera.
Gimli's armor weighed about 30kg (66lb).
There were so many extras used in the sequences at Helms Deep, and the filming went for so many months that almost all the extras and principle actors got tee-shirts reading "I survived Helms Deep". There were so many of these shirts that extras would often meet other extras in New Zealand's main cities because they would recognize the shirts.