Saruman than in their equivalent books, and he appears in several scenes that are not depicted in Tolkien's work. In the films, Saruman is depicted presenting himself outright as a servant of Sauron. Smith and Matthews suggest that Saruman's role is built up as a substitute for Sauron—the story's main antagonist—who never appears directly in the book. Jackson confirms this view in the commentary to the DVD. They also suggest that having secured veteran British horror actor Christopher Lee to play Saruman, it made sense to make greater use of his star status. Despite this increased role in the first two
The Lord of the Rings (film series) to enter a deal with Miramax to receive foreign earnings from "The Lord of the Rings" while Miramax received foreign earnings from "King Kong". It was also revealed that Jackson originally wanted to finish "King Kong" before "The Lord of the Rings" began. But due to location problems, he decided to start with "The Lord of the Rings" franchise instead. When Universal cancelled "King Kong" in 1997, Jackson and Walsh immediately received support from Weinstein and began a six-week process of sorting out the rights. Jackson and Walsh asked Costa Botes to write a synopsis of the book and they