Christopher Lee cut from the upcoming "Lord of the rings" movie!

[FearlessFreep]

I heard Peter Jackson say that basically the movies are about Frodo trying to destroy the ring, and that seemed to be a litmus test for what to put in or leave out, etc...  So while stuff like Bombadil and the Shire are important to the wider story of Tolkien's they are regretfully expendable in terms of the narrower focus of the movies.