The folks from TOPPS send along some more details of thier 'Lord of the Rings: Evolution' series. Similar to the Star Wars - Evolution set from 2001, this is an all-character series (a first for Lord of the Rings, as all 7 past sets have been story-based). It will be printed on silver-foil stock and will feature double-image front designs (a primary big image, and a secondary, smaller image). There will be 72 cards, which will be broken into Character, Races and Creatures subsets (plus a title/checklist card). [More] [Visit Topps.com]

December 19, 2005 - The Hobbit still faces legal hurdles before Jackson can make the missing film in the Lord of the Rings saga. However, there's still a chance we'll get to see Bilbo's first journey in a few years' time. Peter Jackson explained the Hobbit situation to the media during the King Kong premiere gala: "MGM used to own The Hobbit and then MGM got bought by Sony a few months ago, and so now Sony have the rights — or half of The Hobbit rights, and New Line have the other half. Now, New Line and Sony have to talk to each other and I don't think that anyone's going to call me until those rights issues are resolved. That's entirely between them, so…" [More]

Do you want to be good? Or do you want to be evil? Either way, we have the details on the good and evil campaigns in The Battle for Middle-earth II. EA plans to release the public beta test of The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II this week, and in preparation for this real-time strategy game, we've got the details on the game's two single-player campaigns. Like its predecessor, The Battle for Middle-earth II will let you play as either the good or the bad guys as you attempt to lead your forces to victory. Below, we've got the details on the 16 missions in both campaigns. In addition to the campaigns, there's a Risk-style metagame that will let you try to conquer the whole of Middle-earth as you like. The Battle for Middle-earth II will ship in early 2006. [More]

Voiceover artist Shawn Meunier sent along an MP3 of his work on the radio commercial for the LOTR Musical in Toronto..take a look! (.70MB MP3) [More]

Despite starring in three of the most talked about movies in recent years, Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen tries his best to shun the fame game. You'd be more likely to see him at a poetry reading than gallivanting round Beverley Hills with a model on his arm. With his rugged good looks and star quality, the actor could have quite easily fallen into the trap of becoming tabloid fodder like many stars before him. But he is notoriously cagey about his private life and considers any discussion of his own romantic affairs as "not pertinent." [More]

HOLLYWOOD - Hollywood stars Orlando Bloom and Kate Bosworth have sparked rumors they have become engaged to be married, after perusing London's top jewelers this weekend. The Kingdom of Heaven actor, 28, has enjoyed an on/off relationship with the 22-year-old beauty since January 2003, after they met filming an advertisement for clothing giant Gap. An onlooker tells British newspaper The Sun, "They were picking out engagement rings and she was trying them on. They popped into lots of flash jewelers on New Bond Street. But they were in Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels for the longest period. [More]

The voting booth is open, and a good number of ballots have already been returned! Make sure not to miss your chance to vote for the best of 2005's Lord of the Rings creative and scholarly writing, and acting. Winners will be announced at the official One Ring Award Ceremony, taking place during the ORC weekend of January 20th-22nd 2006 from The One Ring Celebration in Pasadena CA. Don't delay, award those people that have made a difference in the world of Tolkien this past year! [VOTE]

TheOneRing.net and the Hall of Fire was delighted to host Cliff Broadway and Carlene Cordova for a live Q&A session about their documentary Ringers: Lord of the Fans earlier today. Here's the chat log. Thanks to everyone who attended -- HoF will now take a break and resume in early January. [More]

PS. The link should work now. Sorry about that! -- Dem.

Fanie from Project Monaghan writes: We're announcing our latest auction: A beautiful Air New Zealand Middle Earth Poster signed by Dominic Monaghan and Bruce Hopkins. All of the proceeds from the auction will go to TreePeople, an environmental care non-profit organization that Dominic Monaghan supports. Huge thanks to Dom and Bruce for their autographs, and to Elisa for the photograph. To view the auction, just visit this link. [More]

The latest newsletter is ready to go! Do you want to receive our free weekly newsletter? Packed with tons of info to keep you up to date on the latest? Plus filled with exclusives from time to time! Join the crowd of over 17 700 mailing list members! Sign up now! [More]

Today is Bernard Hill's Birthday! Bernard was born on December 17th, 1944 in Manchester, England. That makes him 61 years old today! Happy Birthday Bernard!

TheOneRing.net is delighted to announce that the two guiding lights behind the creation of Ringers: Lord of the Fans will join us for a live Q&A chat in the Hall of Fire tomorrow, Saturday December 17, at the special time of 5pm EST.

That's right Cliff Broadway (aka TORn staffer Quickbeam) and Carlene Cordova (aka TORn staffer Asfaloth) will be on hand to answer your questions about the experience of making Ringers and their thoughts on what makes the Tolkien community so vibrant and vital even 50-plus years after Lord of the Rings was first published. They'll also talk about their thoughts on the ways Lord of the Rings has influenced popular culture around the world over the years and film-making in general. [More]

The voting booth is open! Unlike the 'Academy' you don't need to be a member of TORn, or even be attending ORC to vote! The only requirement is that you are a Tolkien fan. Winners will be announced at the official One Ring Award Ceremony, taking place during the ORC weekend of January 20th-22nd 2006 from The One Ring Celebration in Pasadena CA. Don't delay, award those people that have made a difference in the world of Tolkien last year! [VOTE]

Today is Miranda Otto's Birthday! Miranda was born on December 16th, 1967 in Brisbane, Australia. That makes her 38 years old today! Happy Birthday Miranda!

Gandalf writes: Shine grabbed an Air NZ complimentary magazine on the way to the Wellington red carpet event containing this article on Peter Jackson. Some great little snippets in there and well worth a read! [More]

Isilien Taureva writes: I think you'd be interested to know that on Page 59 of today's "Los Angeles Times Calendar Weekend", under "My Favorite Weekend", there's a very brief interview with Andy Serkis, in which he tells what his favorite weekend is.

Grant Gould writes: Here's a look at some more sketch cards from Topps' upcoming "Lord of the Rings: Evolution" set. [More] [Topps]

One of the creative talents behind the King Kong Christmas blockbuster, and the Lord of the Rings movies will outline his work at a special presentation at the Porirua Festival of the Elements on Waitangi Day. Titahi Bay’s own Daniel Reeve has become internationally known for his calligraphy and cartography work in films including all three of the LOTR movies, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, King Kong and Van Helsing. [More]

decoder writes: ABC Australia aired a fantastic interview with Peter Jackson tonight. You can read the transcript and view the interview on the website. 'David Stratton interviews director Peter Jackson about his varied and exciting filmmaking career from BAD TASTE to KING KONG.' [More]