The trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers will premiere on America Online on Monday.

        Starting at 12:01 a.m., fans can download images for the second film in the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy. A day later, the trailer will appear on the movie's Web site, www.lordoftherings.net.

        The film, which reunites Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and the rest of the cast from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, is due in theaters Dec. 18.

        The trailer will start appearing in North American theaters on Friday and will go worldwide throughout the month.

        When the trailer for last year's The Fellowship of the Ring went online in April 2000, it was downloaded an estimated 1.7 million times in the first 24 hours. The film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, and won four.

        The third film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, is scheduled to come out in December 2003. All three movies were shot simultaneously.

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