Lord of the Rings, Starring The Beatles, Directed by Stanley Kubrick

In March 1965 John Lennon declared about his group The Beatles: "We're more popular than Jesus now—I don't know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity." People in the UK generally shrugged, used as they were to the Liverpudlian's tongue often being planted firmly in his cheek.

However, a few years later people in the know had to suspect that he really had developed delusions of grandeur - along with the rest of the group. Perhaps they had partaken of one too many illegal substances - it was the sixties after all - but the four (by then former) mop tops reckoned that they could have a fair stab at Tolkien's masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings.

The plan was that Paul McCartney would play Frodo Baggins with Ringo Starr backing him up in the role of Sam Gamgee.  George Harrison would don a hat and grow his beard a little longer to take on the role of Gandalf and John Lennon decided that for him only the role of Gollum would do.

They even went as far as to Stanley Kubrick to direct the film.  Kubrick did consider it, citing the sheer immensity of the book as a reason for his declining The Beatles' offer.  But, what if.... what if the film had gone ahead?  We thank Flickr User Helder Silva for imagining what the movie poster may have looked like.

Shudder.