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) negotiate with Saul Zaentz who had held the rights to the book since the early 1970s, pitching an adaptation of "The Hobbit" and two films based on "The Lord of the Rings". Negotiations then stalled when Universal Studios offered Jackson a remake of "King Kong". Weinstein was furious, and further problems arose when it turned out Zaentz did not have distribution rights to "The Hobbit"; United Artists, which was in the market, did. By April 1996, the rights question was still not resolved. Jackson decided to move ahead with "King Kong" before filming "The Lord of the Rings", prompting Universal