 Even though Sarumans demise appears in the Special Extended Edition  of _Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)_ (qv),  Christopher Lee (I) (qv) was (and still is) "not amused" that his  character was cut from the theatrical release. In an interview done  after the release of the Extended Edition, he acknowledged that the  makers gave him several arguments for trimming the scene (pacing and  time constraints), but in his opinion, none of them justified  omitting such an important narrative element.