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May 12, 2003 - May 18, 2003

News for May 18, 2003

Billy Boyd Interview

5/18/03, 6:42 pm EST - Tehanu

We missed this one! Billy Boyd [Pippin] was interviewed by Action Figure Toys at Collectormania. [More] Thanks to Adrian for the link.

LOTR Props Exhibition to Travel

5/18/03, 6:01 pm EST - Tehanu

The fantastic exhibition of LOTR props currently at Te Papa, the Museum of NZ, is to travel the world over the next few years. RandomHobbit got the details. [More]

LOTR Screening in Singapore

5/18/03, 5:50 pm EST - Tehanu

Gollumayee reports: "Outdoors movie-under-the-night-sky Starlight Cinema in Singapore will be showing LOTR & TTT on 21 Jun 2003 (Saturday) for S$13. First movie starts at 8 pm. Much healthier watching in the open air than in an enclosed cinema hall." :) [I notice you can also win air tickets to NZ - Tehanu]

Wenham & Weaving in Aussie mini-series

5/18/03, 5:44 pm EST - Tehanu

Jess reports that David Wenham [Faramir] and Hugo Weaving [Elrond] will co-star in a 4-hour mini-series titled "After the Deluge". They play brothers who struggle to come to terms with the roles they have played as brothers, husbands, sons and men. It will air in Oz on Channel 10 later this year.

The People's Guide to JRRT Doth Shippeth

5/18/03, 5:34 pm EST - Tookish

Yes!! I just had email from Amazon indicating that my copies of The People's Guide to JRR Tolkien have been shipped!! Check out the book here: [More]

Update: Ringer Laurelinthegolden was quick to write in: Got mine last week~after e-mailing Amazon WONDERING where is was!

Lucky!

More Sauron Speculations

5/18/03, 5:31 pm EST - Tehanu

Wilhelm of Eregion has some good thoughts about how Sauron might or might not appear in ROTK. [More]

ROTK Set Pics from NZ

5/18/03, 3:51 pm EST - Calisuri

Ringer Syphon12 sends in some great images from a recent visit to New Zealand and The Stone Street Studios, where ROTK reshoots were taking place. (And also an image of the Gollum at the Embassy Theater). !!!SPOILERS!!! [More]

Ringer Events: HS Concert in WI

5/18/03, 3:14 pm EST - Calisuri

Attention Milwaukee/North Shore Wisconsin Ringers. A local high-school in your area is performing the score from FOTR. [More]

TTT wins big at SFX Awards

5/18/03, 2:48 pm EST - Calisuri

Ringer Irascian sends in this report from the May 17th SFX Magazine Awards ceremony where TTT took home the majority of the honors for the evening! [More]

News for May 17, 2003

Billy Boyd News

5/17/03, 5:55 pm EST - Tehanu

Billy Boyd [Pippin] has updated his Diary. [More]

Lawrence Makaore Booksigning

5/17/03, 5:32 pm EST - Tehanu

One of the virtues of living in Wellington is the chance to stumble across LOTR stars like Lawrence Makaore [Lurtz] doing a booksigning, as NZBoy discovered. [More]

BitofEarth.net: Fan Activities

5/17/03, 5:19 pm EST - Tehanu

For people who can make it to Oregon, BitofEarth.net [creators of the very successful Project Elanor] have three more exciting events lined up. The first is Tentmoot, a weeklong festival of Tolkien fun which will culminate in a showing of ALL THREE MOVIES, in December. [More ] In July, they're holding a music festival, The Hall of Fire Concert Series and in September, a fan film festival, The Lost Palantir If you have a band or a film, they're looking for submissions.


More Fun at the Mill

5/17/03, 5:02 pm EST - Tehanu

Sarah reminds fans near Birmingham that this weekend is another Tolkien Weekend at Sarehole. [More]

"There are plays and performances, and readings of Tolkien's books. Crafts and guided tours of Mosely Bog which is right beside where the professor used to live. It is a site of special archaeological interest, and people have said that the landscape is "Middle Earth in minature" so there will be tours of both the nature, the history, and the Tolkien connection.

"There will be music and dancing and ales and plenty of food, and stuff like that you can get your hands stuck into, and plenty of general tomfoolery." *winks*

Dream job for LOTR-loving Sociologists

5/17/03, 4:55 pm EST - Tehanu

Luke came across this interesting job advertisement in The Guardian. This might be the dream job for a LOTR fan with skills in research, sociology, and media studies. Seems to be a research project studying how the LOTR trilogy is received and understood in various cultures around the world. [More] [Hah, the TORN staff could tell them a thing or two....]

News for May 16, 2003

Hall Of Fire Chats This Weekend

5/16/03, 7:37 pm EST - Frode

Fearing for what Denethor will do in his madness, Pippin has searched out Gandalf at the gates of Minas Tirith. At the turn of the tide, Gandalf must leave the battle and go to the citadel to face the steward of Gondor. Meanwhile in the Tombs, Beregond is fighting Denethors servants over the life of Faramir.[More]

Official Site Update! 25 ROTK pics!

5/16/03, 6:26 pm EST - Calisuri

Today just seems to be a banner Return of the King day! The official site, lordoftherings.net, has posted 25 images from ROTK for our viewing pleasure. My personal favorite is the Samwise pic with the phial! Check 'em out! !!!MAJOR SPOILERS [More] For some reason the page is not loading properly on the official site. We have mirrored them here.

Gollum tops movie creatures list

5/16/03, 2:33 pm EST - Xoanon

Gollum has been named the top movie fantasy creature, beating ET and Yoda. The cave-dwelling hobbit - from the Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy - topped a poll for online retailer Amazon.co.uk. Yoda the sage-like Jedi Master from the Star Wars series, making his first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, was runner-up in the poll of 5,000 people. [More]

Media Watch: Disney Magazine

5/16/03, 2:28 pm EST - Xoanon

Kungloosh writes: Just wanted to give you a heads up on a couple articles that are in the new Disney Magazine. One is for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN-The Curse of the Black Pearl. Has nice article with inteviews of the cast. Orlando Bloom (Legolas) is quoted a few times. Also they have a snipet for HIDALGO with Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn).

Got scans? Send them along!

Get Out The Vote!

5/16/03, 2:13 pm EST - Xoanon

Don't forget to vote for the 2003 MTV Movie Awards! LOTR is up for several awards including Best Actor and Best On-Screen Team. The MTV awards air on June 3rd. [More]

AICN ROTK pics! - UPDATE

5/16/03, 1:17 pm EST - Calisuri

Because of the really bad quality, the filmmakers have asked that the images be removed from AICN. However, read a few stories up for some cool new ROTK images at the official website.

News for May 15, 2003

ROTK Gaming Footage?

5/15/03, 8:19 pm EST - Tehanu

Matt sends us this link to Gamespot: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Trailer 1 - Direct Feed.
Take a look at the first footage of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King." [More] [UPDATE: Ahah. Don't waste your time if you're on a Mac or don't have Windows for some reason.]

UPDATE: To download this clip you have to register and install some download manager which is probably some form of malware/spyware/adware. We suggest you don't do it! Unless of course you enjoy being spammed.

UPDATE 2: Someone finally got this downloaded and viewed the footage. It is NOT movie footage, but instead footage of game play in the new EA game.

Viggo Mortensen News

5/15/03, 7:02 pm EST - Tehanu

WeeTanya writes in with news for Viggophiles: House of Telcontar has updated their site with much, much news of Viggo [Aragorn], including reports from his Cuban art exhibition, and translations of an article from Granma International. [More]

Bloom's 'Pirates' Trailer

5/15/03, 6:46 pm EST - Xoanon

Bloom Pirates of the Caribbean Teaser Poster

Disney opened their 'Pirates of the Caribbean' website with several teaser posters featuring the main cast, this is the Orlando Bloom (Legolas) poster. [More]

Lord of the Rings Audiobook

5/15/03, 6:39 pm EST - Tehanu

Our recent story about the British Museum's newly discovered recordings of Tolkien's own readings sparked a lot of interest in audio versions of Tolkien, some of which deserve to be more widely known. There are, for instance, several versions of LOTR availabe as audiobooks on CD or cassette. Each version has its proponents; Ringer Jan offered us this review of the unabridged LOTR as read by Rob Inglis. [More]

Sauron in ROTK: the clincher

5/15/03, 6:21 pm EST - Tehanu

Well, this is the clincher as far as whether Sauron was FILMED in ROTK. Whether he makes the final cut, we don't know. [More] Also, Sala Baker, who plays [among other roles] the bad dude in big armour, has another two months of reshoots this year. When asked, he wouldn't say if it was general stuntwork, being an orc, or something more. Thanks to all who wrote in.

Australian actor juggles roles in 'Matrix,' 'Ring' series

5/15/03, 1:55 pm EST - Xoanon

Agent Smith is played by Australian actor Hugo Weaving, who also plays Elrond in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Weaving's face is far better known than his name, but that may be changing. By early next year, after the release of "The Matrix Revolutions" in November and the "Ring's" epic finale, "Return of the King" in December, the combined box office grosses of Weaving's movies could challenge Harrison Ford's. [More]

TTT DVD's Sell Big In The UK

5/15/03, 1:50 pm EST - Xoanon

DP writes: Sales of the theatrical version of TTT on DVD are already number one in the UK charts at all the major online retailers. That is despite the fact that the actual release is months away- and every sensible collector will also get the Extended Version. Will it be the best selling DVD in the UK ever?

[Pre-Order Yours Today!]

Oz LOTR Double Feature Extended

5/15/03, 1:45 pm EST - Xoanon

Andrew writes: They've extended the back-to-back Lord of the Rings double in Australia for another week, due to popular demand! [More]

Journey to Middle Earth

5/15/03, 1:42 pm EST - Xoanon

From Mindy Belz: Matamata is a throwback town on New Zealand's North Island of few stoplights and two motels. The road out of town heads west through a farm valley where the onion harvest is underway. Migrants stoop in the late summer heat, heaving bulbs from the ground, laying them in rows, and spiking the dry air with an eye-watering aroma. [More]

McCartney Loves Rings

5/15/03, 1:39 pm EST - Xoanon

Daniel writes: I just thought I'd write to say that Paul McCartney was on the BBC World Service last weekend speaking to DJ Steve Wright and he was asked what his favourite film was: one was Lord of the Rings, and the another was Wizard of Oz.

Bloom Set To Star In Idle's 'Piano'

5/15/03, 1:37 pm EST - Xoanon

Orlando Bloom (Legolas) is reportedly ready to join the comedy 'Remains of the Piano', directed by former Python Eric Idle. Screendaily.com learned of the news directly at Cannes. [More]

Weaving in Cannes

5/15/03, 1:33 pm EST - Xoanon

Hugo Weaving (Elrond) is currently in France promoting 'The Matrix: Reloaded'. The film will get a special, non-competition, screening at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. [More]

The Matrix: Reloaded Opens Today

5/15/03, 11:19 am EST - Xoanon

The latest Hugo Weaving (Elrond) film 'The Matrix: Reloaded' opens today around the world. Hugo plays the evil Agent Smith in the film, take a look at some showtimes in your neck of the woods. [Showtimes]

Sean Bean in 'Troy'

5/15/03, 2:50 am EST - Tehanu

Wilkolence sends us this nice shot from Yahoo of Sean Bean (Boromir) on set for the movie Troy, which Orlando Bloom (Legolas) also stars in. [More]

ROTK Footage Report

5/15/03, 2:35 am EST - Tehanu

IGN Filmforce got a look at some ROTK footage, which they describe here. [More] !!!Spoilers!!! Thanks to CurunirTheIstari for the link.

Sauron in ROTK?

5/15/03, 12:06 am EST - Tehanu

Alex sent in more thoughts on whether Sauron might appear in person in ROTK. [More] Tiny Spoilers

News for May 14, 2003

How Long is the TTT Extended Edition DVD?

5/14/03, 11:53 pm EST - Tehanu

No more arguments: It says it on the official site; "The New Line Platinum Series™ The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Special Extended DVD Edition (due out on November 18) inlcudes never-before-seen footage, special features and more! DVD 4-disc set with 43 minutes of new and extended scenes added to the film (also available on VHS). 2 bonus discs of all-new special features." [More]

Barliman's Bash Toronto, 2003

5/14/03, 11:41 pm EST - Jincey

The time is fast approaching - 23rd July isn't far away, and it's time for interested folks to step up and start making their plans. The purpose of the Bash is simple - get a bunch of people with a common love together in one place to talk and laugh and get to know one another. More than being a "Tolkien Event", it's a Tolkien *community* event. [More]

Ring*Con 2003 Update!

5/14/03, 5:27 pm EST - leo

It's been a little quiet from the side of the people organising Ring*Con 2003 this year. The event, held in Bonn, Germany, has its own website, [RingCon.de], and people who poke around on that can now find two nice new things. First of all there's a short trailer promoting the event, and secondly there's an announcement saying John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) will attend! John Rhys-Davies was also scheduled to attend last year, however he had to cancel because he was in Croatia filming La Femme Musketeer. Now we all now what happened there, so I suggest you just come to Bonn this year John...

TTT chomps T-Rex

5/14/03, 3:36 pm EST - Calisuri

Ringer Speedcorn and Ringer Michael send in this update on the TTT Box office. The worldwide gross for TTT has reached $921.0 million moving it past Jurassic Park ($920.1 million) and into 4th spot on the alltime highest grossing films list. It is now just $4.6 million shy of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace ($925.6 million), which currently holds 3rd spot. [More]

Hugo Weaving at The Matrix II Premiere

5/14/03, 1:20 pm EST - Xoanon

Here is a collection of Reuters images featuring our very own Hugo Weaving (Elrond) at 'The Matrix: Reloaded' premiere. The Matrix opens tomorrow (May 15th). [More]

Italian Tolkien Fans Unite!

5/14/03, 1:09 pm EST - Xoanon

Oronzo Cilli from the Italian Tolkien Society writes: The Italian Tolkien Society is organizing a series of events aimed at rousing Italian fans' interest as well as fans all over the world. [More]

GAMING: ROTK/MEO Music News

5/14/03, 12:58 pm EST - Xoanon

M sends this along: (someone I know) was asked to participate in a music recording session for the ROTK video games (Playstation, X-box, etc.). They recorded various choral selections such as Gimli's War Chant and Forging of the Ring... [More] [Gaming Havens]

Happy Birthday Cate Blanchett!

5/14/03, 10:31 am EST - Xoanon


Today, May 14th is Cate Blanchett's (Galadriel) Birthday! Cate was born on May 14th, 1969 in Melbourne, Australia. That makes her 34 today! Happy Birthday Cate!

New Sev Caption Contest

5/14/03, 8:36 am EST - leo

John from Sev.com.au e-mailed me saying he is currently running a LOTR-related caption contest. The cartoon has all the Moria orcs fleeing in terror from a scary red glow at the end of the hall. Gimli wonders "What's scaring the Dorcs away?" The reader gets to write Gandalf's response. The entries are rated by readers, with the funniest punchline voted on in a week's time. Check it out here!

Peter Jackson on King Kong

5/14/03, 5:18 am EST - Tehanu

NZ's Onfilm magazine has an interview with Peter Jackson about his next project, where he talks a little about his approach to it. [More]

News for May 13, 2003

ANCANAR: Posters Available for Pre-Order

5/13/03, 11:04 pm EST - Xoanon

The results are in from the Ancanar (the indie Tolkien-inspired film) Poster Contest: The EPIC Poster design has been voted #1, and can now be pre-ordered at the Ancanar Store. The posters will arrive on June 5th, but if you pre-order before then, the price drops to $14.99 (normally &17.99) and you get the option to have it autographed by the filmmakers Sam Balcomb and Raiya Corsiglia) and Gregory Lee Kenyon (Ancanar). An Ancanar.com exclusive, this beautiful, full-color poster measures an enormous 24x36", printed on thick 100lb cover stock. [More]

'At Dawn in Rivendell' Review

5/13/03, 10:58 pm EST - Xoanon

Michael Cunningham from the Tolkien Society (UK) sends along this review of 'At Dawn in Rivendell' featuring Christopher Lee (Saruman). Amidst the respective wakes of commercial flotsam and heated discourse which marked the paths left by Peter Jackson's cinematically interpretative forays into Middle Earth rises the latest release from the Tolkien Ensemble. Entitled 'At Dawn in Rivendell' this release is the penultimate installation of a tetrad of works by the Ensemble which began in 1995 with ' An Evening in Rivendell', followed with ' A Night in Rivendell' in 2000. The extant works saw fruition through the musical alliance of Caspar Reiff and Peter Hall. [More]

Media Watch: Nintendo Power Talks 'The Hobbit'

5/13/03, 10:39 pm EST - Xoanon

Scorpio writes: The latest edition of Nintendo Power magazine includes a fold out poster of the upcoming Hobbit video game for Nintendo Gamecube. It also has a little article. [More]

What do Tolkien and Cricket have in common?

5/13/03, 9:39 pm EST - Tehanu

What indeed? The Carribean Cricket sportswriter draws a long bow here, in 'The Final Stand.[More]

Andy Serkis Going on 30

5/13/03, 4:49 pm EST - leo

ComingSoon.net reports that Andy Serkis (Gollum) will play a part in the upcoming movie 13 Going On 30. The movie, starring the gorgeous Jennifer Garner, is about a young girl who turns 30 after a wish. Serkis will play the part of her boss. As it stands now 13 Going On 30 will hit American theatres in February 2004.

In Search of QEIB

5/13/03, 12:58 pm EST - Xoanon

Gordon Paddison has written more than a few pages in the history of online buzz. In just 18 months, The “Lord of the Rings” franchise has grossed more than $1.6 Billion worldwide at the box office and if the momentum continues for the third installment -- “Return of the King” with a Christmas release -- this trilogy could gross more than $ 2.5 Billion. According to theater exit polls, more than 45% of the opening weekend audience said they learned about the first “Lord of the Rings” movie from Web promotions. [More] [Nothing to do with sites like TORN of course, it was all Gordon. Natch! - Tehanu]

Elijah Wood: 18 Across

5/13/03, 12:54 pm EST - Xoanon

Bonnie writes: I just wanted to let everyone know that the crossword puzzle in this weeks People Magazine features Elijah Wood (Frodo) and is entitled "The Ring Bearer." [More]

Media Watch: Inside Entertainment Talks Elijah's 'Mind'

5/13/03, 12:40 pm EST - Xoanon

Anborn1 sends along the latest issue of Inside Entertainment, featuring information on Elijah Wood's (Frodo) lastest film. [More]

Bruce Hopkins News.

5/13/03, 6:54 am EST - Tehanu

Bruce Hopkins (Gamling) has a warning posted on his website warning people to beware of anyone posing as his agent/minder/relative. They probably aren't. [More] Also news: Bruce is going to be at Detroit's Comic Con on May 16-18. [More]

Learn More About Tolkien

5/13/03, 6:31 am EST - Tehanu

In Ontario, there's a course you can take on 'How LOTR was adapted for Film,' and you can order a Christian History magazine that discusses Tolkien this month. [More]

"50 First Kisses" Script Review

5/13/03, 6:08 am EST - Tehanu

Cleolinda sends us this review of the script for a movie that Sean Astin (Sam) is working on. [More]

AICN's Ringwraith Competition

5/13/03, 5:52 am EST - Tehanu

Remember the Flaming Marshmallow Balrog competition at AICN? Ringer Dale won the latest competition: "Make a Nazgul figure, mount it on a pet, take a picture.[More] Dale adds that Harry is planning on more contests if anyone is interested in participating. The next LOTR related one will be for the Sideshow/Weta Stone Trolls diorama.

Oh yeah, while we're there, Mel sends us this Gingerbread Two Towers made by students of Uppsala University. [More]

TTT Songstress: Isabel Bayrakdarian

5/13/03, 5:09 am EST - Tehanu

If you live in the LA area and you were HAUNTED by that magical voice in TTT's "Evenstar," you should check out the Marriage of Figaro with the soporano Isabel Bayrakdarian as Susanna. The performances are May 22 through June 19th of 2004. Thanks to Mavra for the link.

"The Art of the Rings"

5/13/03, 4:15 am EST - Tehanu

Marea reminded us of this site - a wonderful artist's eye examination of the meaning behind some of the imagery used in the LOTR films. It's been updated since we last mentioned it. [More]

"Theoden's Ill Choices"

5/13/03, 4:04 am EST - Tehanu

Rylie sent us this link to HollywoodJesus.com's latest article. "Arguably, the defining human characteristic may be the ability to act contrary to what we know is good for us, even wilfully so... "
[More] The site says it welcomes "Hindus, Jews, Christians, Wiccans, Muslims, Atheist, Agnostics, Gays, Straight, Geeks and Freaks." Just in case you thought I was going all religious at you.

A Few Fun and Silly Things....

5/13/03, 3:50 am EST - Tehanu

Let's kick off today's news with something fun...like MapQuest to Mordor....or Elf on a Shelf....or a great hobbity pub in Vermont. [More]

News for May 12, 2003

TORN Digital XIII: Rohan Family Reunion

5/12/03, 4:06 pm EST - Xoanon


Miranda Otto gives TORN fans a big hello

This TORN DIGITAL episode focuses it's lenses on the Riders of Rohan. Specifically, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban and Bernard Hill. Shot on the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere for "The Two Towers," Miranda comments on how Eowyn is such a monumental role to fill. Karl Urban and Bernard Hill discuss their equestrian skills and give us a glimpse of the strange language that is Rohirrim. With pithy interviews and commentary by the effervescent Quickbeam and sardonic direction, editing and producing by the ever present Asfaloth. [TORN DIGITAL XIII] [Archives]

Hugo Weaving Talks 'The Matrix'

5/12/03, 3:37 pm EST - Xoanon

Comingsoon.net has a nice interview with Hugo Weaving (Elrond) about his latest film 'The Matrix: Reloaded' (which opens this Thursday May 15th). Watch out for HEAVY MATRIX SPOILERS right from the get-go in this article. I was VERY upset after only reading the first 2 sentences! Shame on Comingsoon's spoiler policy! [More]

ROTK Spoilers?!

5/12/03, 3:26 pm EST - Xoanon

Ringer Spy Bregedalagos, who is new to us, and therefore cannot yet take everything as red, sends this in. So take this all with a mountainside laden with salt! !!!Possible Spoilers!!! [More]

Media Watch: McKellen in Biography Magazine

5/12/03, 1:26 pm EST - Xoanon

Melilot sends along this article from the May issue of Biography Magazine, take a look! [More]

Yes, Another Collectormania Report

5/12/03, 1:14 pm EST - Xoanon

We need more of these like we need slow painful torture, but what the hay...here are some Dominic Monaghan pics from the UK con thanks to m4sure. [More]

Otto Attends Aussie TV Award Show

5/12/03, 1:06 pm EST - Xoanon

Jess writes: Miranda Otto (Eowyn) appeared at the Aussie television awards, the Logies, on Sunday night.Her husband Peter O'Brien picked up the gong for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. In his acceptance speech he thanked his "beautiful wife Miranda."

Those Paths Of The Dead Spoilers

5/12/03, 8:34 am EST - Demosthenes

The other day, we reported some spoilers about Paths of the Dead taken from EA's forthcoming Return of the King game. Slowly but surely, evidence has mounted that - regardless of the game plot - these spoilers seem increasingly unlikely to affect the film at all. Here's another nail in the coffin. [More] Spoilers!

Hopeful Rohirrim Measure Up

5/12/03, 5:05 am EST - Demosthenes

The folks at Antipodean Viggophile let us know Stuff.co.nz has a report on the RoTK casting session over the weekend. Apparently, almost 1,000 people travelled from all over New Zealand - and all over the world – to Upper Hutt to see if they could be a part of celluloid history. [More]

Councillor: NZ Govt Should Do More

5/12/03, 4:53 am EST - Demosthenes

TORn Staffer Maegwen spotted this story on Stuff.co.nz. Apparently, one Wellington councillor says the NZ Government should be digging deeper into its coffers to help promote New Zealand in the build-up to the world premiere of The Return of the King. [More]

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