They Should’ve Done This Instead of Magical Mystery Tour

In 1967, the Beatles discussed starring in LORD OF THE RINGS. John wanted to play Gollum, mystic George was going to be Gandalf, Paul would be Frodo and Ringo would be Sam. To direct it, John contacted Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove, 2001). Tolkien himself nixed the idea, since he controlled the film rights, but it is fun to imagine what the film would have been like. The Beatles were notoriously impatient during film shoots, so doing a film with the slow-moving, meticulous Kubrick would have been one of the most fantastic films of the decade or a totally insane train wreck.