John Rhys-Davies, Royd Tolkien & Sala Baker have joined the list of guests for CauldronCon. This Sci-Fi/Fantasy Con takes place on August 12th to the 14, 2005 at the Sheraton Ferncroft Resort Hotel in Danvers, MA. [More]

Nephellim writes: I thought this may be of interest to all Lord of the Rings fans out there as it features none other than Christopher Lee. Rhapsody's video for their new single, "The Magic of the Wizard's Dream", has been posted online at the group's official web site. The spectacular video was shot in high definition by noted director Neil Johnson, featuring a 40-piece orchestra and a 20-piece choir. [More]

LOS ANGELES - ABC said Tuesday that freshman hits "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" will be back next year, as well as "Alias" and "Boston Legal."..."Lost" is winning its Wednesday time slot and is drawing 15.9 million weekly viewers, making it the 14th-ranked program in primetime, according to Nielsen Media Research. The drama about plane crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island features an ensemble cast including Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Naveen Andrews and Josh Holloway (and Dominic Monaghan). [More]

The folks from seanastin.com send along photos from the Hollywood premiere of Sean Astin's latest film 'Smile'. Take a look! [More]

Spanner sends this in: MIRANDA Otto - that flame-haired Aussie actress whose name isn't Nicole Kidman - and actor husband Peter O'Brien are celebrating the arrival of their first child. Otto gave birth to a healthy baby girl last Friday, while the proud dad, filming in the States, watched the event via webcam. More importantly, that makes Barry Otto, currently appearing in the Queensland Theatre Company's production of Edward Albee's 'The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?', a grandad for the first time. No word on the name at this stage.

TORN, her fans and staff send along a huge congrats to the new mom and dad!

The popularity of Billy Boyd, star of multi Oscar-winning movie trilogy, Lord of the Rings, is set to add thousands of pounds to Scottish Youth Theatre's £1m fundraising drive! The money is being donated by 'Billy Boyd's Loons', an American based charity website, created by fans of the young Scots actor. [More]

Dominic Monaghan's new hit show 'Lost' continues to get better with each episode. Catch 'Lost' tonight at 8PM EST on ABC. TORN's chatroom now has a special 'Lost' screening room, login to #lost at 8PM and watch with fans from around the country! [ABC.com] [TORN Chat]

Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin got into a fight with Pamela Anderson's bodyguard outside of a New York City hotel over the weekend. The actor had planned a day out with his eight-year-old daughter Alexandra, but a relaxing excursion quickly turned into chaos when Anderson and her boyfriend Stephen Dorff attempted to leave the same hotel at the same time. "...the crowd of paparazzi and autograph seekers and people who were intrigued to see Pamela surged into me. I had my eight-year-old girl and we almost got pinched in between the Suburban... So I was trying to protect my daughter from the surging crowd and then I wanted to quickly duck into the car. Mike, who was Pam's security guy, saw from the back a guy getting in the wrong car. I thought it was my car but it was her car, and he kinda grabbed me and swivelled me around." The two have since apologised to each other. [More]

Vicki Shane writes: Among his many accomplishments Alan Lee has received the Carnegie Medal for his illustrated edition of the Iliad. And in 2003, he was rewarded for his extraordinary efforts in set decoration with an Academy Award for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I had the opportunity to first speak with Alan Lee last year while he was still in New Zealand finishing work on the expanded version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for DVD and video. A few weeks ago we were able to complete that interview. [More]

With the help of film maker Peter Jackson and a teenage cancer sufferer, a North Shore man's message about organ donation will reach 30 million people. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has included in his Return of the King special edition DVD a promotional advertisement which encourages people to become organ donors. [More]

Fullerton, CA (PRWEB) April 4, 2005 -- Rio Films, an independent nature documentary film company, has announced that Sean Astin ("Lord of the Rings") has provided his voice as the narrator of their latest project: "California Sea Lions-An Unforgettable Encounter". [More]

Excitement fills the air as RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS makes its gala West Coast premiere at the 2005 Newport Beach Film Festival. This will be the ONLY chance for west coast Ringer fans to see the highly-anticipated, critically acclaimed documentary on the BIG SCREEN. Ever. Miss this and you’re out of luck. [More]

Sean Astin is slated to be a guest on 'The View' today (April 4th). He is there to promote his latest film 'Smile'.

How good are your Tolkien and Lord of the Rings trivia skills? Test out your knowledge with our trivia quiz. Compiled by TORn Staffer Jincey, it's an oldie, but a goodie. [More]

TORN is finally spreading its wings, with the help of Creation, to bring quality LOTR entertainment to the East Coast. Billy Boyd and Elijah Wood are our first confirmed guests, with more to come. The event will be the weekend of August 26-28, 2005 in Orlando, Florida. [More]

Sideshow Toys had a live chat with comps and prizes over the weekend. Among the many cool things paraded across the webcam were a number of their fabulous LoTR figurines. Check out these screencaps of Galadriel, Sauron, a battle Troll and much more! Sideshow's own pictures foten don't do their figurines justice, but these are just superb! Credit to IanRocks on the TORnboards for the link. [More]

Barrie M Osborne, the legendary producer of Hollywood blockbusters like The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix is set to co-found a visual effects studio in India which will cater to the global feature film industry. Osborne will partnering N Madhusudhanan, another visual effects veteran in the Indian movie industry for the studio. The studio will be on the lines of the famous Weta Digital in New Zealand which recently shot to fame for its path-breaking work for The Lord of the Rings. [More]

Debbie writes: Calling all Elves, Wizards, Rangers, and Hobbits: Do you have a great-looking LOTR costume & love wearing it? The City of Hope is a cancer research and treatment hospital, and on SaturdayJune 4th they are throwing their large annual private party for their pediatric cancer patients and their families. Last year over 1500 people attended! [More]

Just who would hatch the idea of Vacaville's first-ever Middle Earth Festival? Just who would think of celebrating the life and writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, the British author who gave us the elves, dwarfs and other small humanlike creatures in "The Hobbit" and in his epic trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings"? [More]

Barrie Osborne, producer of the Oscar Winning movie series, 'The Lord of the Rings', has said that an exaggerated use of special effects in cinema could turn out be a danger for the content of the movie. Speaking to News Today, Osborne said that unless special effects complement the story or the subject of the film to the maximum, its usage as a part of the script can not be justified.' [More]

linuxelf writes: International Concert Attractions in Association with Andrew Kay and Associates by arrangement with Anketell Theatrical Productions adapted and produced by permission under license from The Saul Zaentz Company, Berkeley, CA, USA. Based on the book by J.R.R Tolkien. [More]

Ringer Spy glumPuddle writes: I work at a Christian bookstore and we recently recieved this catalog from ZonderKids. One of things advertised is the VeggieTales series (a computer-animated childrens video series featuring a cast of talking vegtables). Their next video will be a parody of LOTR entitled, "The Lord of the Beans" (staring Junior the Flobbit). [More]

Pre-Order 'Lord of the Beans' on DVD at Amazon.com Today!

Elrond's heart forbade him going with the Fellowship; Gandalf encouraged him to throw himself down a well as a preventative measure against stupidity. This weekend in Hall of Fire, we discuss Pippin Took: Bold, hard halfling or piece of luggage? [More]

MrCere writes: Is your geek wardrobe complete? At last, as promised, we have a limited number of one of our TheOneRing.net classic shirts available again! The "Don't Make Me Get My Ring" shirts are - in a limited number - on sale today. They come in traditional navy with gold printing or the unique natural shirt with gold and bronze lettering. Both styles have a ring on the back with the popular "Don't Make Me Get My Ring" phrase and a TORn logo on the front left breast. Like all of our shirts currently available, these are only available while supplies last. [TORN SHOP]

rohanlady writes: German LOTR fans will get to hear Howard Shore's LoTR Symphony this summer. The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival offers this brilliant piece of music together with the images of Alan Lee on August 13 in Neumünster (near Kiel). Conductor will be the wonderful Terry Edwards, choir master of the original soundtrack. Information about tickets at +49-(0)431-570 470, official tickets sales start on Monday April 4th.

Elijah Wood's latest film 'Sin City' opens in North America today (April 1st). The film, which also stars Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro and many many more, was entirely shot on a green screen much like 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'. Wood plays a mute murderer in this film noir 'whodoneit'. [Showtimes USA] [Showtimes CAN]

kunga writes: I attended the Tolkien lecture at Illinois Central College in East Peoria, IL last night and had a wonderful time. I attended the lecture with Balin, Nancy & several other Tolkien fans from around the area and even some fans from New Jersey & Iowa! The lecture was moderated by Mike Foster, professor at ICC and also a representative of the Tolkien Society. Noted Tolkien scholars, Douglas Anderson and Tom Shippey joined the lecture. [More]

Excitement fills the air as RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS makes its gala West Coast premiere at the 2005 Newport Beach Film Festival. This will be the ONLY chance for West Coast Ringer fans to see the highly-anticipated, critically acclaimed documentary in a theater. Miss this and you’re out of luck. [More]

Victoria, BC – Maestro Brian Jackson, Principal Pops Conductor of the Victoria Symphony, will lead the orchestra through a program of British music themed after the annual “Last Night of the Proms” celebrations for the final Pops concerts of the season on Thursday, March 31 at 2pm, Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2 at 8pm at the Royal Theatre. [More]

Ringers: Lord of the Fans will have its West Coast premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and there will be a Line Party function to celebrate it. On Saturday, April 23, we will have an afternoon of costumes, trivia, games, and fellowship. The screening (all ages welcome) begins at 7:30pm, and then there is a post party over at the Hard Rock Cafi at Fashion Island (21 and over). To join the Line Party and be updated on all the upcoming activities, please go here VIP guests have been invited, and currently John (Denethor) Noble has rsvp'd. More to be announced as they confirm. [More]

The Cinema Television Benevolent Fund and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have arranged a charity fundraising concert at The Royal Albert Hall where The Lord of the Rings film scores will be performed as well as other famous scores, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, E.T.with special guest conductors and a tribute to Elmer Bernstein. The CTBF are offering VIP access to gallery, drinks and canapés and a Filmharmonic CD and programme! The event will take place on June 5th. Full details here!