10:52am UK, Wednesday November 21, 2001

New cinema release Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring looks set to give Harry Potter a run for his money, according to Variety magazine. 

SL-hobbit

The much-hyped Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is also a PG.

Lord of the Rings relates JRR Tolkien's epic tale of adventures in Middle Earth inhabited by men, hobbits, elves, dwarves, wizards, trolls and orcs.

Queues

Picture makers New Line Cinema says the "awesome" fantasy Tolkien created meant "it has taken more than four decades for cinema technology to reach the necessary level of sophistication" to bring it to life.

The film, starring Liv Tyler and Christopher Lee (pictured), has proved a smash hit in Sweden - fans have been queuing in freezing temperatures in and ticket sales over the internet were halted when the website was swamped with requests.

"We had people going out with hot coffee and hamburgers for people standing in line," said Rasmus Ramstead, president and CEO of the Swedish distributor Svensk Films.

"Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was the last time people queued up outside theatres, but it's never been anything like this."

Gore warning

The story centres on shy young hobbit Frodo Baggins who inherits a ring. But it comes with a heavy price. It is the One Ring, an instrument of absolute power that could allow Sauron, the dark Lord of Mordor, to rule Middle-earth and enslave its peoples.

Frodo and a motley group of adventurers, including men, a wizard, a dwarf and an elf, must take The Ring across Middle Earth to the Crack of Doom and destroy it forever.

The journey involves overcoming fierce opposition from the forces of the Dark Lord. But the mission is made even more difficult by The Ring's increasing power over its owner.

The picture comes with the advice that it features "battle violence and fantasy horror" and "may not be suitable for under-eights".

The picture goes on release in the UK on December 19.