Adapting JRR Tolkien's epic story of “The Lord of the Rings” was a huge undertaking and ultimately took three films to tell and three screenwriters to bring it to life. And on February 29, 2004, three Oscars for adapted screenplay were presented to the trio of writing team behind the latest installment of the hit series, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and the director. Peter Jackson.
All three won their first Oscars that night, although for Jackson and Walsh (his longtime coworker), those weren't the only awards they would take home. “The Return of the King” was a hit that night and ultimately won 11 awards, a feat that tied it with “Ben Hur” (1959) and “Titanic” (1997). It was probably a satisfying way to cap off more than six years spent creating the franchise and finally move beyond the nominations phase: Jackson, Walsh and Boyens had also been nominated in 2002 for writing the first film in the series, ” “Lord of the Earth.” Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”
It was the first time since “The Bridge on the River Kwai” in 1957 that a group of three screenwriters also won in this category.
Meanwhile, Walsh, who began working with Jackson in the 1980s and shares two children with him, earned her own special award: the Oscar for original song, shared with Howard Shore and Annie Lennox for the film “Into the West.” ”. She and Jackson earned their third Oscar that night (shared with producer Barrie M. Osborne) when the film was named best picture of the year.
After the envelope was opened and presenters Sofia Coppola (who would win her own writing award moments later, for the original screenplay of “Lost in Translation”) and Francis Ford Coppola announced that the trio had won the Oscar for adaptation, The three of them hurried to the stage to say a few words.
“We grew up loving these books,” Boyens said of the JRR Tolkien series. “We had no idea we were going to go gray trying to turn them into movies.” Boyens has been writing scripts for Jackson films for years, including “King Kong,” “The Lovely Bones” and, later, the three-part adaptation of “The Hobbit.” This was his second nomination and so far his only win.
Jackson thanked his and Walsh's children “for putting up with Mom and Dad working on this movie their whole lives, because they're only 7 and 8 years old.” He added that the cast also deserved special recognition, for “having read this rather uncomfortable text.” Jackson had been in the academy's crosshairs for nearly a decade, beginning with his first nomination as an original writer in 1995 (with Walsh) for “Heavenly Creatures.” In 2010 he would get another nomination, this time for best film, for “District 9.” But all of his other nominations so far have been for the series “LOTR.”
The competition in the category barely seems to have had a chance, thanks to the way “Rings” swept everyone in the room that night. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini of “American Splendor,” who co-directed her film, were each nominated for the first time; Bráulio Mantovani, from “City of God,” was also nominated for the first time; “Mystic River” screenwriter Brian Helgeland won an Oscar (with Curtis Hanson) in 1998 for the adapted screenplay “LA Confidential”; and Gary Ross, writer and director of “Seabiscuit,” returned home empty-handed. He had previously been nominated in the screenplay categories for “Big” (1989), “Dave” (1994) and had an additional nomination with “Seabiscuit” in the best picture category, as he had also been a producer on the film. .
