I fear that they will also remove the scouring of the Shire. I was looking at some sites, and I saw what I think was a picture of Saruman being impaled. I'm afraid they're going to kill him off, instead of just trapping him, and then eliminate that part of ROTK.
I guess it's not essential to the big story of middle earth, but I always liked the scouring because it shows how much the main hobbit characters have developed.
Actually, it is the big story of Middle-earth:
Saruman laughed. 'You do what Sharkey says, always, don't you, Worm? Well, now he says: follow!' He kicked Wormtongue in the face as he grovelled, and turned and made off. But at that something snapped: suddenly Wormtongue rose up, drawing a hidden knife, and then with a snarl like a dog he sprang on Saruman's back, jerked his head back, cut his throat, and with a yell ran off down the lane. Before Frodo could recover or speak a word, three hobbit-bows twanged and Wormtongue fell dead.Compare:To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrowded figure it loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing.
But Arwen went forth from the House, and the light of her eyes was quenched, and it seemed to her people that she had become cold and grey as nightfall in winter that comes without a star.