 New Line wanted Peter Jackson (I) (qv) to start the film with a  prologue done by Cate Blanchett (qv), something that Jackson  didnt want to do. Ironically, a year earlier New Line had been  opposed to opening  _Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)_ (qv)  with a prologue narrated by Blanchett, something Jackson was in  favor of.