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National Film Vault

OFFICIAL FILM AUTHENTICATION BY CROWN GRADING
A
AUTHENTIC
CROWN CERTIFIED
Film cell NFV-000001796 Tap to enlarge
MOVIEThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Movie Trailer
SCENEBoromir and Aragorn
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2001
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000001796

FILM NOTES

New Line Cinema released The Fellowship of the Ring in December 2001, launching Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's trilogy and reshaping what studios believed a fantasy epic could achieve at the box office. The teaser trailer campaign that preceded it built enormous anticipation, giving audiences their first extended look at Middle-earth before the film's premiere. These promotional strips circulated to press and exhibitors, making surviving trailer cells scarce compared to release-print material.

This cell preserves a moment from that trailer pairing Boromir, played by Sean Bean, alongside Aragorn, two men bound by the fractured legacy of Gondor and Isildur's line. Boromir's presence in early promotional material carries particular weight for collectors, since his arc concludes within the first film, making trailer appearances a rarer record of his role than footage from later chapters. A trailer cell like this offers a glimpse of how the studio chose to introduce these characters and their tension to a first-time audience.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

Consistent with a 35mm theatrical trailer print carrying a Return of the King end-card, as expected on a Fellowship of the Ring trailer.

Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single-track optical stripe.
Edge print
Text reading 'THE RETURN OF THE KING' is visible printed within the picture area as a title card overlay; no manufacturer key numbers or SAFETY FILM edge text are legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cool-blue tint; dye image reads as warm and saturated, consistent with a colour release print.
Projection history
Light horizontal abrasion lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be the same held or near-identical frame, showing a title card for 'The Return of the King', consistent with a trailer end-card sequence.
Era check
The single variable-area optical track, colour dye base, and title-card format are consistent with a 35mm theatrical trailer release print from the early 2000s.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063656
Original Film Capture As received
The film strip as photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size