--- title: Lord of the Rings: Architects Crowdfunding to Build Real Minas Tirith description: They just need a couple of billion to do it canonical: https://time.com/3995934/lord-of-the-rings-city-real-life/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-13T14:53:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:13.133Z og:title: These Architects Are Fundraising to Build a Real-Life 'Lord of the Rings' City og:description: They just need a couple of billion to do it og:url: https://time.com/3995934/lord-of-the-rings-city-real-life/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfbf67da18185132/69885bc4428a9eeb4dcce446/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-return-of-the-king.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1854 og:image:height: 1043 og:image:alt: the-lord-of-the-rings-the-return-of-the-king og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Architects Are Fundraising to Build a Real-Life 'Lord of the Rings' City twitter:description: They just need a couple of billion to do it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfbf67da18185132/69885bc4428a9eeb4dcce446/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-return-of-the-king.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Architects Are Fundraising to Build a Real-Life _Lord of the Rings_ City > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7cf203be-b5de-4e59-9dcd-c8cb40eae5b3&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far) [Watch (HLS stream): The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S3M25t5U.m3u8) (4:16)  _Published 2012-05-17. TIME movie critic, Richard Corliss lists his top films of the millennium (Thus Far). For the full, list go to time.com/entertainment_ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Aug 13, 2015 2:53 PM UTC  Minas Tirith Minas Tirith Wingnut Films by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Aug 13, 2015 2:53 PM UTC Attention _Lord of the Rings_ fans: Minas Tirith might be real — eventually. A self-professed “ambitious team of architects and structural engineers” has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the necessary funds to build the fictional city created by J.R.R. Tolkein and visualized by Peter Jackson in his cinematic version of _Lord of the Rings_. The architects ran the numbers and realized they would need approximately £1.85 billion (about $2.82 billion USD) to fully fund the project. Any leftover money would be used for the upkeep and maintenance of the new city of Minas Tirith and was projected to last until 2053\. On [their Indiegogo page](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/realise-minas-tirith#/story), the team wrote, “We believe that, in realising Minas Tirith, we can create not only the most remarkable tourist attraction on the planet, but also a wonderfully unique place to live and work.” The team has given themselves 60 days to raise the cash, which is as steep a climb as the stairs of Minas Tirith will be when the project reaches completion. To encourage donation, they’ve set up some attractive rewards. If you donate £100,000 ($155,800 USD) you earn the title of Lordship or Ladyship of the City, while a mere £3 (around $4.70 USD) donation gets you a follow on Twitter. At the time of publication, the [Indiegogo campaign](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/realise-minas-tirith#/story) had raised more than £16,000 ($24,000 USD), but still had 48 days to raise the rest. ### PHOTOS: See the 13 Actors Who Play the Dwarfs in 'The Hobbit'  Fili - Dean O’Gorman Warner Bros.; Anita Bugge—WireImage—Getty Images  Kili - Aidan Turner Warner Bros.; Gregg DeGuire—WireImage/Getty Images  Oin - John Callen Warner Bros.; Tschiponnique Skupin—Geisler-Fot/picture-alliance/dpa/AP  Gloin - Peter Hambleton Warner Bros.; Dave J Hogan—Getty Images  Dwalin - Graham McTavish Warner Bros.; David Livingston—Getty Images  Balin - Ken Stott Warner Bros.; Ben A. Pruchnie—Getty Images  Bifur - William Kircher Warner Bros.; Ray Tamarra—Getty Images  Bofur - James Nesbitt Warner Bros.; Ray Tamarra—Getty Images  Bombur - Stephen Hunter Warner Bros.; Joel Ryan—Invision/AP  Dori - Mark Hadlow Warner Bros.; Ray Tamarra—Getty Images  Nori - Jed Brophy Warner Bros.; Ray Tamarra—Getty Images  Ori - Adam Brown Warner Bros.; Anita Bugge—WireImage/Getty Images  Thorin Oakenshield - Richard Armitage Warner Bros.; Jason Merritt—Getty Images _Read next:_ [_Watch a Supercut of Every Onscreen Death in the_ ](http://time.com/3628745/lord-of-the-rings-supercut/?iid=time%5Freadnext)[Lord of the Rings _Trilogy_](http://time.com/3628745/lord-of-the-rings-supercut/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day_](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Hi I'm Richard Corliss, Time Magazine movie critic, to show you my infallible or highly debatable selection of the movies of the millennium. [ MUSIC ] [ INAUDIBLE ] Stronger. In a way, these movies, made in the last 12 years, cover the whole history of movies. [ SOUND ] You'll also find a few films that look forward to the stories and techniques of the next hundred years. The fellowship awaits the ring bearer. [ MUSIC ] The Artist. It's a movie set in Hollywood's silent era and it's virtually wordless. Is that a gimmick? Nope. A sustained cinematic inspiration. Deserving of every prize it received, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. This tres French film was also the most classically American picture of its time. [ SOUND ] Found something. The Hurt Locker. US soldiers coming to Iraq knew what to expect: 130 degree heat. And streets full of men, women, and kids, [ CROSSTALK ] any one of whom could detonate a bomb that would blow Americans and Iraqis to bits. What's the best way to, to go about disarming one of these things? The [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ LAUGH ] That's a good one. Determined to get the facts straight, not to score political points. Kathryn Bigelow made an honest, searing war film that fully deserved its Oscar for Best Picture. It's just 39 days. 38 if we survive today. [ SOUND ] Avatar. James Cameron's science fiction 3D film does what fantasy is supposed to do. Create a total environmental experience. Viewers don't just visit the Pandora rainforest, like the movie's paraplegic hero Jake, they find their legs and quickly their home there. To become [ UNKNOWN ]. Hunter, you must choose you're own ikran, and he must choose you. [ NOISE ]. For a sensational, seductive movie immersion, Avatar has it all over Cameron's previous blockbuster. This film is truly titanic. [ SOUND ] The lord of the rings trilogy. Two forms are daring on display here, Peter Jackson's for synopsizing tokens novels into three spectacular three hour films. And the commercial daring of new lines cinema which financed a $ 300 million three part telling of the token saga. Before a single frame had been shot. Will you look into the mirror? What will I see? Even the wisest cannot tell, for the mirror shows many things. [ SOUND ] The movies of the past dozen years, will be remembered for their technical wizardry and digital sheen. Wall- E has all that. [ SOUND ] Plus a toy- meets- girl love story as pure as any in the cinema's first 100 years. This Pixar animated feature, designed as family entertainment, had a bold vision both in story and in sound. [ SOUND ] There's plenty of space out in space, female star liners leaving each day. We'll clean up the mess while you're away. And when Wall E meets his sleek robot Eve, they inhabit a sci fi cyborg romance for the ages. 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