Elijah Wood to film in city

7:30am Wednesday 10th January 2007

Comments (5)   Have your say »

HOLLYWOOD actor Elijah Wood is coming to Oxford to film a new murder mystery set at the University.

The Lord of the Rings star will join an all-star cast in The Oxford Murders, based on the award-winning novel by Guillermo Martinez.

Filming of The Oxford Murders, directed by Alex de la Iglesia , will take place at various locations across the city including the Sheldonian Theatre and the Radcliffe Camera in March.

Wood, who is best known for his role as hobbit Frodo in the film versions of Oxford author JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, plays a young Argentine student who goes to Oxford to study.

But he becomes intrigued when he finds his landlady - an elderly woman who helped crack the Enigma Code during the Second World War - murdered in cold blood.

Wood, who has also starred in Sin City, Happy Feet, and the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind co-stars with John Hurt , who provided the voice of Aragorn in the 1978 animated version of he Lord of the Rings.

In the film, Hurt stars as an Oxford University professor who takes Wood under his wing as they work together to decipher a series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols.

The manager of Waterstone's book shop in Oxford, Colin Shone, said The Oxford Murders novel was a big success when Mr Martinez attended a book launch two years ago.

Mr Shone, 42, who has managed the Broad Street store for five years, said: "The book has already been a huge success. Sales are continuing each week and it was one of the best sellers of 2006.

"Mr Martinez is a great friend of the store. He came here two years ago to launch the book. The event attracted a lot of attention and it was really enjoyable - Mr Martinez is such a charming man and clearly very popular in Oxford.

"I think with any book that is made into a film there is always increased attention and everyone becomes very excited.

"With the great cast expected to star in the film and the already high successful book, the two should fit very well together and we are all very excited about it."