Some people say the week-end is a time to relax, well I'm certainly not one of them! This week end proved to be chock-full of news! Here's the recap:

On Friday TheOneRing.net™ broke some Exclusive news regarding casting. Bernard Hill (the Captain from Titanic) has been confirmed as having a role in LOTR. Read it here.

Early Saturday morning New Line Cinema revamped the entire official website and a truckload of goodies came our way, including some amazing secret images! This was again another TheOneRing.net™ Exclusive. Read about it here. Click here for hidden images.

We then finally brought you the news of a great plan New Line has to get you folks involved, you can ask PJ himself a question! Get the details here.

And as always you can get a quick look at all this weeks news here.

ok, I'm going to bed...

Woo Hoo! Ebay Items for the week! [More]

New Line Cinema has some amazing things planned! [More]

Ringer Spy Mongvar fills us in on a Tolkien lecture to celebrate The Silmarillion getting released in Brazil [More]

You can catch Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) in 'A Perfect Murder' on Cinemax in the States[More]

You can see Elijah Wood (Frodo) in 'The Faculty' on TMN in Canada [More]

You can see Sean Astin (Sam) in the 80's kid flick I grew up with 'The Goonies' on UK Channel 5 at 5 PM

Thanks to Gavin for that UK tip!

Super Spy Aiglos found this bit of news!! [ more ]

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Ringer Spy Dave snot here (don't you love that name?) sent me this computer image, from the official site, all 'fixed up' to get the lines out. [More]

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Andy from www.scorereviews.com fills us in on the latest from our good friends at FilmForce.ign.com:

"On a recent installment of the "FilmFreak" show on KLSX 97.1 in Los Angeles, a representative from New Line indicated rumors of composer Wojciech Kilar's (Bram Stoker's Dracula) attachment to the forthcoming Lord of the Rings feature films are not well founded.

The New Line rep said Kilar's name has indeed been brought up in association with LOTR, but revealed New Line's favorite to score the trilogy is James Horner (Aliens, Braveheart, Titanic)."

The Elijah Wood (Frodo) Film 'Black and White' is out today in a few select theatres in the US.

Check out more hidden stuff from the official site! [ more ]

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Julius, from TheOneRing.netª Dutch affiliate Midden Aarde (lordoftherings.nl), alerted us to a hidden shockwave file within the official site.

Click here to download the file. [ LongLoop3_4.swf ]

Update

Thanks to the super keen ears of Ringer Spy Jon we now know that the music in this Shockwav File is not original work for LOTR. It's music from New Line's dark thriller 'Dark City'. Thanks Jon!

The new New Line site is not 30 minutes old and a super spy contact has gotten me these, apparently they are available online yet we have not seen them yet! enjoy! [More]

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The Official New Line Site has revamped! [More]

Super Ringer Spy Galadriel sends in some great insider info on the goings on in Helms Deep! [More]

From: Howard

Bernard Hill as 'EJ' in Titanic

I just saw British actor Bernard Hill on The Gloria Hunniford Show here in the UK proclaim that he was flying down to New Zeland to be in the Lord of the Rings films. He didn't say what part he was going to play.

Check out his IMDB listing for more information.

More info as it floods in!

UPDATE

A few choice phone calls has Confirmed that Bernard Hill will be in LOTR yet we are not sure who he will be, word was (from a fuzzy UK pay phone) that Hill will play 'Theodus, or something greek like that', now, it's time for you hard core Ringers to clear up the mystery, since we know Kevin Conway will play Theoden (and I asked, 'are you sure it's not THEODEN?' , no, my contact replied) please drop me a line with your ideas!

This is a rather cool article covering Peter Jackson's previous work, check the details in our Official Peter Jackson Fan Club: The Bastards Have Landed. [ TBHL ]

From: Scout

Sometime this week STARZ! had a little news on LOTR. It was during their "Movie News" filler between movies. They were talking about movies due in the future. It was done from the perspective of New Line releases. They showed the conceptional artwork from the main site and had a brief commentary from a "Variety" writer. No discussion of cast. They mentioned the modest budget and Jackson's ability to deliver a blockbuster in light of his limited resume.

I bet it was no more than a minute long. It's supposed to be repeated tomorrow 2-18-00 at 7:30 PM EST.

Xoanon here,

If anyone gets the gusto to pop in a tape in your VCR and hit record and send it on over I'd love you for it :)

From the good folks at CHUD:

Vin Diesel wanted in

In a recent interview with IGN big Vin Diesel (The Iron Giant, Pitch Black) recently revealed that he wanted to play Aragorn, so why didn't he get the part? Read on...

IGN SCI-FI: What character did you want?

VD: I wanted Aragorn. Aragorn, son of Arathorn. But the point is, I wanted to be a part of that, whether it was as a producer, director, actor.

IGN SCI-FI: So why aren't you part of it?

Read the rest here.

The inaugural OneRing.net walk around Mordor started out small, (there were only four of us) but we enjoyed wonderfully atmospheric conditions of fog and gloom with the occasional clear moment when we could admire the gigantic horrible heaps of ash and slag that make up Mts. Ngaruhoe and Ruapehu. Stay tuned for the photos!
Next plans: a hobbithead expedition to the top of Ruapehu next month; next year a trip across the flank of Ruapehu going as close to the filming locations as possible, not that anyone will be there. Keep February 2001 clear if you are a bit of a traveller and like hiking.
Oh, and I have some fresh newsbits in Spy Reports

Are you like me? Find yourself getting bored with today's work and fiending for some good quality Tolkien content? Its been a slow movie news day, so let me give you some ideas on how to spend those precious long minutes at work...

Ever wonder how LOTR might convert to a musical? Check out our fan creative writing section!

Maybe you are looking for a really good recipe for Lembas?

For you gamers, ever wonder what WarCraft would be like for LOTR? Or maybe Diablo?

How about checking out how 4th graders visualize The Hobbit.

Better yet, know another language and want to practice your fluency skills? Check out our many community members that mirror our site in other languages then English!

Checked up on Tehanu's serach for Middle-earth recently?

Need to test your Tolkien Trivia knowledge? Did Aragorn have any children?

Well, I figure that will keep you busy for a while. Apologize to your boss for me..:)

Ian McKellen writes a new rant "A Gay Gandalf" Homophobia is Everywhere, check it out for Ian's view on Homophobia. [More]

The good folks at Scoop have sent us these great pics from Helms Deep! [More]

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Ringer spy Binky fills us in on all the wet happenings down at Helms Deep, currently the centre of operations for the production, if you hadn't already noticed. [More]

The NZ Evening Post has printed a huge pic from the Helms Deep set. [More]

!!!SPOILERS!!!

You can catch Sean Astin (Sam) in 'Boy Meets Girl' on TMN. [More]

You can aslo see Ian McKellen (Gandalf) on the Interview show 'Parkinson' on BBC America at 11 PM EST. [More]

Thanks to SEN5241 for the tip!