When the movies are over, Will the craze for Tolkien still be around?

[kittiegirl]

Well, I think the TRUE Tolkien fans will still be into it, much like the TRUE Star Wars fans are stil into Star Wars.<P>I just think after the movies die down a bit, then people won't buy so much LOTR merchendise because some people will follow whatever is popular for the time, and stop buying because it's not "cool" anymore.<BR>Which is sad, but I'll be happy knowing that some of us follow what we truely like instead of going with the crowd about it.<P>You can tell the people are just going to the movies because it's a new movie, or because a cute actor or something like that.

[THE Ka]

Wow! A post that actually intrigued people, not to scare them away... sorry, i'm really bad at posts, for some reason people don't like mine.

Anyway, i am glad to see such a turn-out! thankyou! you make me feel like i'm accepted around here (finally). Yes, i understand the main message you all are saying. And i fully agree. For example, before the movies were even a thought, and i had completed all three books finally (I would always read one and three... i don't know why. two never caught my eye.) i absolutely loved the character Boromir (Some of you may already know this ). I don't know why at first, but, i did. We have exact opposite personalities but, he was my favorite. When the movies came out, something odd happened. i picked up my old copies of LOTR and began to read again. Then, i went and saw the first movie. And lucky for me, one of my favorite actors (Sean Bean) played as Boromir! i was sooo happy. Then as i can remember, my friends began to read again, then their friends and so on.

See something? I was surpirsed movies could do this... and with such power.

Thankyou's all who posted!

[Meela]

Is the craze still around? Perhaps not for me...

I'm loathed to admit that I've lost considerable interest in the LotR movies, and LotR in general to an extent. It began after Rotk was released on DVD; it suddenly felt as though the three year bubble of excitement and crazed fandom had been popped with a large pin, and I had deflated with it.
I haven't even watched the Rotk DVD since I bought it on the day it came out in May; snippets, yes, but not the entire movie in one go, and I haven't even yet watched the bonus documentary material.
I don't know whether I was simply cut off, but it seemed that there was a noticeable lack of interest. The staple magazine coverage was largely reduced from what it had been for the first two DVDs, and in general there was little hype or publicity.

I'm happy to be able to counter this with my new-found interest in the original material. Now that the movies are less prominent, I'm working my way back towards studying the books, languages, the origins of the characters, and so forth. I'm hoping that the release of the Extended Edition of RotK will renew my interest in the movies considerably.

I was never a true Tolkien fan; a serious admirer, borderline obsessive perhaps, but I never could tackle the books in the intellectual manner that is commonly adoption in the forum. I certainly loved the books, and the spirit behind them.
I think perhaps now that I'm looking at the books and LotR as a whole more insightfully I'll be able to call myself a borderline obsessive once more with feeling.