'Two Towers' faces sequel pic challenge

Jackson pic blazes new trail with saga's filming sked

By PETE HAMMOND

CGI/human character Gollum, played by Andy Serkis, is campaigning for acting honors.

If "The Two Towers" follows its predecessor "The Fellowship of the Ring" and earns a best picture nom, Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy will achieve a first in Oscar's 75-year history: Two best pic nominees coming out of the same shoot. Of course, all three "Godfather" films were nominated (and Nos. 1 and 2 won), but they were shot separately. The Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley movies, "Going My Way" and "The Bells of St. Mary's," won back-to-back pic noms in 1944 and '45, respectively, but they also were standalone productions. The three "Rings" pics, on the other hand, lensed simultaneously in a massive 15-month shoot.

The "Rings" saga is clearly traveling into uncharted Oscar territory. So what kind of campaign strategy is distrib New Line working up to ensure a case of Acad voter deja vu doesn't keep the epic out of Oscar consideration?

"I don't think one can overstrategize when it comes to the Academy, because you are talking about a pretty savvy group of people," says New Line exec Mark Ordesky, also an exec producer of "Rings." "Ultimately the film is the best tool, because it clearly is not a sequel in any kind of traditional sense."

He thinks the conventional wisdom that the central film in the trilogy could not be a top contender for best pic is slowly being eroded, especially with its recent pic (drama) and director Golden Globe noms, its Time magazine cover and its place on many top-10 lists, including the AFI's.

"The press is doing a lot of our work for us, as the film is being reviewed as a distinct standalone entry with more positive notices than the first received," says Russell Schwartz, New Line's prexy of domestic marketing.

He admits that, due to the box office giant's high profile, he's not spending as much on the Oscar campaign as he did last year, when the whole "Rings" concept was still a roll of the dice.

"However, we are spending very competitively against every other movie out there, and we are making sure the feel and look of the presentation of the campaign equals the experience of watching the movie," says Schwartz.

He and Ordesky hope the enthusiasm they have been witnessing at official Academy screenings means they have a chance to get somewhere near the 13 Oscar nods the first installment received. And if that happens, have they thought about a "threepeat" with the release of "The Return of the King" next Christmas?

"These films are completely unprecedented in the history of cinema," Ordesky says. "There was no roadmap for the making of them and I think there is no roadmap for what we're about to go through on the awards front with them."