The map of regulars, maintained (albeit not so regularly! :)) by me, PipeSmoke... has just been updated for this first time this millenium! almost 100 new names grace it's hallowed list. [More]

Ian,

I suspect that Peter Jackson's film will discuss such things as the Three Rings of the Elf Lords, one of which (Narya) is held by Gandalf himself. Will this ring be visible upon Gandalf's finger in the film? Is he even shown to be the keeper?

Gorboth,

by the end of the third film Narya will be in evidence

best wishes from middle earth

ian mckellen

Thanks to Gorboth for the email!

From: Cinescape.com

Theatrical 'LOTR' Trailer? Okay, we've all seen the online Lord of the Rings preview, but when's it, or the first official trailer, going to hit movie theater screens? According to Mr. Showbiz columnist Charles Fleming, it may be very soon courtesy of an unnamed source at New Line. The source reports that New Line is currently working on a trailer for the first of three films, which won't open until Christmas 2001, for theater screens either this summer or fall. The source also tells the columnist, "It will be huge. You won't be able to escape it."

A new sci-fi spectacular is coming, and it's jar jar-free

GET READY FOR THE RINGS THING

Chewbacca might be howling. J.R.R. Tolkien Fans downloaded the first "Lord of the Rings" trailer nearly 1.7 Million times in its first 24 hours on the Net. That put it in a galaxy far, far away from the clip for "The Phantom Menace", which drew (only) about 1 million the first day. Says a LotR megafan. "It's so amazing to finally see this world come to life." if you haven't already, the first installment premieres Christmas-2001.

Thanks to Jeremiah B for the tip!

PJ: I need Frodo and Samwise on the set, please

Pause...

PJ: Frodo and Sam? I need you on the set, please

Pause...

PJ moves to the cafeteria tent, where our two Hobbit heros (Jason and Marcus) are munching away...

PJ: NOW!!!

Jason: You know, you might have told us that root beer stains mithril.

To read the comic, click here! [More]

Thanks to Jimmy for the tip!

From: Michael Martinez

New Line Cinema has finally answered the question which has bothered millions of fans: where did the trailer music come from? It was taken from "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc". The soundtrack for the film was composed by Eric Sierra. Amazon.Com offers a few sound clips from the track but none of them match the trailer music. You'll have to buy the CD to here the full original score. Fans in the UK can check out Amazon.Co.Uk but they have the same sound clips.

This audio is based on a tape recording that Tolkien made in August 1952. "The Lord of the Rings," on which he'd worked for over 14 years, had been refused by publishers and he had almost given up hope of ever seeing it in print.

But this recording made him believe in it enough again to prompt him to send it to a former pupil who had become a publisher. The result was that even during his lifetime over three million copies were sold. [More]

Thanks to Aiko for the tip!

Jason's mom: Jason tells me there's a big Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy in the works.

Jason's dad: wow, he must be ecstatic

Jason's mom: Actually he's pretty depressed

Jason's dad: That they won't be as good as the books?

Jason's mom: That he and Marcus missed the casting call

Jason's dad: Good Lord, can you imagine?

Cut to:

A VERY angry PJ behind the camera with a bull-horn.

PJ: Will the two Hobbits please climb out of the Balrog costime!

hehehehe

Follow this link to see it! [More]

Thanks to Derek for the link!

Since the job of editing over 6 hours of footage and FX into three movies is going to be such an enormous task, it looks like they have added a third Kiwi editor to join Jamie Selkirk and John Gilbert IX. His name is D. Michael Horton, and he has been an editor in the film business for over 20 years, working on over 25 movies, including A Soldier's Tale, The Quiet Earth, Once Were Warriors, and PJ's Forgotten Silver.

Also, many people are still wondering about Greg Powell's status as stunt coordinator. Well, the IMDB still has both Greg and Bruce Brown listed as stunt coordinators for the film along with one George Marshall Ruge, an experienced stunt man who has worked on The Mask of Zorro, Lethal Weapon 4, Mars Attacks!, and many more films. If Powell is indeed leaving the production, could Ruge be replacing him?

Now Hiring...

From: Cinefex Magazine

Text reads: Senior Level: Creature Animators, Matte Painters, Shaders, Texture Painters, Digital Modellers, Compositors, Production TDs.

To register your interest please fill out our On Line Questionnaire at www.wetafx.co.nz and courier your CV & Showreel to:

Contact: Kim Rickard or Lisa Josephs
Weta Digital, PO Box 15-208, 9-11 Manuka Street, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand
Tel. +64 4 380 9080 or email kimbre@wetafx.co.nz / lisa@wetafx.co.nz

Thanks to Caspian for the tip!

Today, April 17th is Sean Bean's (Boromir) birthday. Sean was born in 1959 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. Which makes him 41 today, Happy Birthday Sean!

From: Andrew

The local Radio Station in Whakatane had two interviews with Lord Of The Rings Staff.
Claire Raskind media spokesperson and Matt Cooper location scout, and a local man from my home town.

They are shooting at Whakapapa Ski field on Mount Ruapehu and getting fantastic results for the Mordor Battle scenes. 800 staff on set. Ruapehu alpine lifts are showing heaps of support and help for the production. It is not often they have orks on the Lifts!!!

The mountain has been misty and very moody over the last two weeks which is typical. Snow on the peaks but not on the field at this stage.

Mithrigil has written an encapsulating musical satire called "Peter's Rings". If you've seen it on the news groups already this is no surprise for you, I suppose, but Mithrigil has graciously permitted us to put it up at Xenite.Org.

I'll say no more than that you should all hurry over to this site and prepare yourselves for a hearty laugh: [ more ]

Frodo and Sam re-cast?

For folks who have no idea about the Foxtrot comic, it follows the trials and tribulations of an average nuclear family with screaming kids, a typical dad, and a pet lizard. Creator Bill Amend seems to be on the ball as far as sci-fi/fantasy fans are concerned, he had a lot of stuff in his strips about Phantom Menace last year. I hope he's jumping on the LotR bandwagon, because he can be really hilarious with fan mania portrayal.

His youngest character, Jason Fox, is a big geek and loves Star Wars, etc., so maybe this is the beginning of his being a Tolkien fan as well.

From: The Official Foxtrot Website

LOTR Casting Change??? [4/11/00] Rumors out of New Zealand more and more point to a major casting change in the upcoming Peter Jackson-directed Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Despite official word to the contrary, a careful frame-by-frame analysis of the recently released QuickTime preview offers convincing evidence that the roles of Frodo and Sam will not be played by actors Elijah Wood and Sean Astin as previously reported elsewhere, but rather by a pair of hobbit-sized unknowns. More to follow on this breaking story, we're sure.

Thanks to TheOneRing.net Staff Member Anwyn for the tip!

You can see Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) in 'Pushing Tin' on TMN [More]

You can catch Christopher Lee (Saruman) in two films on TMN, first is "The Oblong Box" as well as "Scream and Scream Again".

There have also been some small updates in the Fan Section, including fan art and writings. [ more ]

Another great topic has been conjured up by my favorite wizard Gandalf. Last week's Hall of Fire meeting was great, with at least twenty folks getting deep on the issue of racism in Middle-earth. This one's a bit more on the lighter side, so read those books and scratch that memory!

What is your favorite moment in each of the Three Ages in the history of Arda (Middle-earth and the rest of the world)? For the First Age, maybe the War of Wrath? In The Second Age, how about forging of the Rings of Power? And the end of The Third Age, the destruction of the Ring?

The place: The Hall of Fire; connect to Barliman's and type /join #thehalloffire
Your hosts: Gandalf, Nazfyratu, and Tookish
The time: Saturday, April 15, 5:30 EST (-5 hours GMT)

Blanchett Talks 'Rings' Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) is talking, briefly, about the Lord of the Rings project. While talking to frequent Cinescape contributor Cindy Pearlman for her syndicated column, Blanchett talked about Tolkien's original books, saying, "[Author] J.R.R. Tolkien created a whole language. He created a world within a world. My god, that man. He created the Middle Earth. I think Lord of the Rings will be a historic movie." [More]

'Claire Raskind: I'm live on the set of Helms Deep with Director, Writer, Producer Peter Jackson. We're looking forward to the ShoWEST footage being shown on the Official Website. Pete, how do you feel about that?

Peter Jackson: I think it's really great that some of the footage that we've been shooting is able to be seen at this early stage. We've been shooting for nearly six months now, and we've got 8 months to go and it's just great to be able to share some of what we've been doing with the fans.'

Or, to hear the man yourself, head on over to the Official Site.

Thanks to Neil for the tip!

Click on the image to view in our scrapbook

Good friend to TheOneRing.net Keith Stern, head hancho at Mckellen.com sent this recent pic of Ian McKellen (Gandalf) on a short holiday from filming in New Zealand. This was taken during Ian's 'Live Chat' for the X-Men film on Yahoo!

You can also see Miranda Otto in 'Last Days of Chez Nous' on Bravo.

You can also catch Miranda Otto in 'The thin Red Line' on Cinemax. [More]

From EvenstarJ

Entertainment Weekly's April 21 edition has two LOTR tie-ins.

First, in "The Drying Game," about the new movie 28 Days, starring Sandra Bullock and Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) : "Gwen (Bullock) develops a flirtation with a rehabbing baseball star (Viggo Mortenson), who's a clean-cut, sweet-talkin' dreamboat. He's the film's all too convenient way of letting her ease herself out of her relationship with her boozer boyfriend--" [More]

Now that you've had a wonderful glimpse into the world of Peter Jackson's vision, we invite you to take a closer look at the Professor who inspired such creativity. We have a huge April update. Come on over to Green Books and check it out:

• Ever wonder why Tolkien fans are so obsessed? Is it real passion or over-baked zealotry? Go Out on a Limb with me and find out how Sir Ian McKellen got caught up in one fan's neurosis for details.
• Anwyn has a compelling new Counterpoint," Free Will and the Demands of Conscience." Share some amazing insights that power Tolkien's characters.
• Turgon tells us that we are only two months away from a terrific new American paperback of J.R.R. Tolkien's Letters. Check out his excellent Bookshelf for more.
• Enjoy sixteen great new articles in Questions & Answers. We lift the curtain on these items and many more:
  1. What was the origin of the great Dragons?
  2. What about the cleansing wind that sweeps away the power of Mordor?
  3. Was Gandalf truly invincible?
  4. What were those evil Silent Watchers at Cirith Ungol?
• In our popular Moon Letters you'll find more than fourteen great new poems, fictions, and some hysterical parodies of LOTR. Amazing what a creative group of Ringers we have visiting us!
• There are more updates to our previous Q&A. Thank you all for helping us provide more comprehensive information.

Remember, the Green Books section is not what you'd first expect. We are light years away from just a dry, boring discussion of Tolkien's literature. Trust me on this.

Much too hasty,
Quickbeam

BARRY OSBORNE: Hello Paul how are you.

HOLMES: Good where are you.

OSBORNE: Standing on top of Mt Ruapehu at the moment. [More]

Thanks to Andrew Harvey for leading the way!

In just over a week, TheOneRing.net will be making an exclusive presentation at ImagineCon ( psst...We are showing stuff you have never seen before!).

Imagine Con is a Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Comic and Toy fair convention, April 20 - 23 2000 at the Virginia Beach Pavilion Virginia Beach Va.

We will also be giving a small seminar on creating your own fantasy based web community for all those aspiring webmasters out there.

So if you can, come visit us at the Beach and see the faces behind the site!

Thanks to Keith from McKellen.com for the tip!

This explains why we have to wait 20 months for episode 1 as post production can't start until all three films are done. Back to the computer now boys.

Thanks to Resevoir Dog for the tip!

This is from The Creative Planet's ring of websites dedicated to the cinema industry, some which mentioned the success of the LotR trailer...

"'Lord of the Rings' Sets Record New Line Cinema reported that more Web browsers downloaded the promotional trailer for "The Lord of the Rings" during its 24 hours of availability than any other film marketing footage in history. While Apple Computer reported 1 million downloads of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" in its first 24 hours, 1.67 million people downloaded behind-the scenes footage of "The Lord of the Rings" on April 7. Traffic to the site was aided by fan sites that heralded the launch of the official site and by New Line's NeoPlanet "Lord of the Rings" Web browser and Internet clubs. The first of the films in the trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring," will open in 2001."

Thanks to AmyD for the tip!

I just thought you might want to know that the UK BT internet ISP ran an article on the Lord of The Rings Website (the official site, that is), and how it was jammed up by the number of people trying to download the trailer.

Thanks to Daniel P for the tip!

"'Rings' Fans Fuel Download Record --

The Lord of the Rings preview site reigns supreme on the internet -- having been downloaded almost 1.7 million times the first day it was available.

That beats even Cindy Margolis' record!

That Apple Computer tally also beat the record set by the trailer for Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace, which racked up 1 million downloads in its first 24 hours.

The two-minute trailer, which debuted Friday, features battle footage, behind-the-scenes shots of the special effects team and interviews with star Elijah Wood and director Peter Jackson. New Line promises that more trailers will be posted at www.lordoftherings.net as the movie's Christmas 2001 release date approaches.

The Fellowship of the Ring, the first movie in the trilogy, along with Two Towers and The Return of the King, are all being shot consecutively in New Zealand with stars Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, and Liv Tyler."

-- The Orlando Sentinel, Wednesday April 12, 2000

Thanks to Aelric for the tip!