On Dec. 17 the journey that first began in theaters three years ago — to save Middle Earth — comes to an end. Readers of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy already know how The Return of the King ends, but what they don't know is how the story will play out on the big screen.

Last year, Register correspondent Stan Williams interviewed the cast of the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers in New York. This year, Register movie reviewer Steven Greydanus traveled to Los Angeles to interview cast members and screenwriters.

Tolkien was a devotee of Eucharistic adoration who stuck to his faith through difficult times. Tolkien said the fact that he was “a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories) and in fact a Roman Catholic” was the most important and “really significant” element in his work. He called The Lord of the Rings “fundamentally religious and Catholic.”

Greydanus wanted to see just how aware the cast was of the story's Catholic roots. He also put questions to the screenwriters about how they handled the material.

He learned that the writers and actors were well aware of Tolkien's religious worldview and saw it as an integral part of the story.

Find Greydanus' full report on pages 16 and 17. Next week, Tim Drake speaks to Catholic fans and scholars about how they assess the movie.