THE LORD OF THE RINGS - MCKELLEN SLAMS BRITISH FILM INDUSTRY

Veteran actor SIR IAN McKELLEN has slammed the British film industry for lacking the ambition and courage to produce mega-budget films.

The 64-year-old actor says movie producers lack the guts to film epics such as THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, which he stars in.

Sir Ian made his comments at last night's (04NOV03) BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS in London as he collected the VARIETY UK PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR award.

He said, "Why are we happy in Britain to settle for small, independent films? Why wasn't a great film like Lord Of The Rings made in this country?"