[Kalimac]

Don't worry, DarkRose - the popularity will probably slack off somewhat (inevitable, since TTT will be a "more of the same" while FOTR was new and exotic). But based on my own highly unscientific talks with friends who had never read LOTR (and some of whom still haven't) but who loved the FOTR movie, they're all really excited about seeing the second and third one. You couldn't call them Tolkienites by any stretch of the imagination, but they're definitely more than fair-weather fans of the movie .<P>And think of it this way - sequels are made all the time, often more than once, and those for movies which weren't exactly immortal in the first place (Die Hard II, anyone). If OK-ish sequels to OK-ish movies like that can draw enough box office to prompt the making of yet another sequel, I doubt that TTT and ROTK will have many problems. Hype? Yes, there's a lot of hype. But if the movie is worth it (and I think these are) people will either (a) enjoy it or (b) ignore it, go see the movie anyway. It just means they won't be getting the collectable goblets at Burger King.