According to website Music from the Movies, Howard Shore will continue to work for director Peter Jackson after completion of LoTR. Music from the Movies reports Howard as saying: "Peter has asked me to work with him on 'King Kong' and I am looking forward to our further collaboration". Thanks to Ringer Spy Arwenelf for the tip.

Last night I was lucky enough to attend a banquet given for about 180 Japanese LOTR fans who were here to tour the LOTR locations with Red Carpet They were treated to a terrific queston and answer session with actors John Leigh [Hama] and Stephen Ure [Grishnakh] Then, to their lasting delight and amazement, the guest of honour Craig Parker [Haldir] came in and entertained them for an hour. It was a fantastic evening. [More]

Ringer Spy Tar Ancalimë sent us a full list of LoTR locations a couple of weeks ago from a map compiled by the NZ Film Commision. Now, we have the entire map for your viewing pleasure, painstakingly scanned and pieced together. [More] Ancalimë also writes that the New Zealand Film Comission site, has a special feature for LoTR you might like to check out. You can find a version of this map on "locations" section. [More]

Last December, Pavement Magazine put together a giant 42-page special feature chockers with interviews with Peter Jackson, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom and Miranda Otto (to name a few) to coincide with the debut of the Two Towers. It slipped under our noses. So now, several months later - and courtesy of Ringer Spy Alquawen, here it is for your enjoyment. [More]

Today, May 25th is Ian McKellen's (Gandalf) birthday! Sir Ian was born on May 25th 1939 in Lancashire, England, that makes him 64 today! Happy Birthday Ian!

Ringer Spy Mornel dropped us a line about this recent picture of Frodo and Sam at the crossroads on the way to Minas Morgul. It's from the Maxim Magazine set that was published a week or so ago. [More] Spoilers!

We reported the success of Andy Serkis and Lord of the Rings at the Saturn Awards the other day, but here's a couple of in-depth stories from Reuters and Cinescape.com that include a few quotes from Serkis himself. [More] [More]

Thanks to Ringer Tom for the heads up. The latest 'Big Nate' comic strip features a good ole Gollum reference. [More]

According to his official website, Bruce Hopkins (Gamling), has won an award from the Paris Film Festival for Best Actor in a Short Film: Henchman. Congrats Bruce! [More]

If you're not afraid of plot spoilers, check out these superb high-resolution RoTK images that Ringer Spy Bellerophon sent to us! They are the same images we posted from the Official Site last week, but much, much larger and with far greater detail. Enjoy!
[More] Huge Spoilers!

Word just came in that the PC and GameBoy Advance versions of Sierra's The Hobbit are now available for pre-order! [PC Version] [GameBoy Version]

Want to know more about what The Hobbit has to offer? Take a read through our interview with Chuck Lupher, Lead Designer on the game! [More]

This month, Greg Wright's column examines the concept of mercy as it relates to Gollum in the films so far. [More] Thanks to Benjamin for the link.

WeeTanya writes: A trailer from his DVD "The Making of a Legend" can now be downloaded at his official site. [More]

We HAVE THE DATE! TVNZ just announced that the World Premiere of Return of the King will take place in Wellington, New Zealand, on DECEMBER 1st. [More]

LOTR fans are an imaginative and crafty lot! Here's this site that has cute little tapestry pins on LOTR themes. [More]

Bruce Hopkins (Gamling) has won an award for his role in a short film. He also recently painted a Gamling figurine that will be auctioned for the Kevin Smith Fund charity at the TORn booth at LA Games Day event next weekend. [More]

Update: TORn's Gaming Havens staff organised the painting session, check out these pictures of Bruce in action with the brush. [More]

Diamond Took writes in about the LOTR Noble Collection catalog. "It has most of the stuff we have seen on the 'Net, with a few extra goodies, including extended jewelry lines (including ROTK jewelry that has not yet been seen in the films), some home decorations a la Middle-earth, and some interesting statuary. There are swords, letter openers, staffs, the ultimate chess set, and more. Keep an eye on your mailboxes!"

Press release: Serious Feedback Welcomed!
Serious invite all Lord of the Rings fans to email them to say what they would like to see on the official The Return Of The King CD Cardz that will be produced this Fall. So if you have specific ideas about which characters you would like to see selected and what content should be included, please send an email to ROTKfeedback@serioususa.com Please note your email will not be replied to, but will be read, considered... and greatly appreciated. Deadline for suggestions is Friday 30th May.

PippinSkywalker sends us this short article on Stuff.co.nz that talks about how Richard Taylor went from being 'not good enough to get into Polytech' to where he is now. [More]

Don't forget to order your Tickets for Games Day LA! Not only will TheOneRing.net be on hand, we're also working on some very exciting surprises for those who make the trip to Ontario California this May 31st. Join us for TheOneRing.net's History of Gaming Seminar at 4:30, and stop by our booth and meet with special guests throughout the day! [More] [Buy Tickets]

Still haven't picked up your copy of 'The People's Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien?' Maybe this will help you make up your mind. Amazon.com has posted some reviews from Tolkien fans, like you, who couldn't put it down. [More]

Think you can't afford items from Sideshow/Weta Collectibles? Well, here's your chance! Sideshow/Weta has just split their three series of 4 helms into individual items! So instead of buying a set for $100, you can now purchase each individually for $25. From Isildur's Helm to Gandalf's hat, their collection of helms crosses all aspects of the film. [More]

The valar, the angelic powers of the world who entered Ea to fulfill the vision of Illuvatar. There they made the lands, the seas and the stars. They made the sun and the moon, and fought Melkor for the mastery of the earth. And above all; they made the lands habitable for the children of Illuvatar. But with the coming of elves and men their guardianship was wrought with troubles, and their actions were often strangely inadequate and unperceptive.[More]

Barrie Osborne at the TTT Premiere in LA

Producer mastermind Barrie Osborne shares a few fireside stories with Quickbeam and Asfaloth on the red carpet premiere of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in Los Angeles. Barrie had a hand as directing for the second unit of the production and he tells us his experiences with the cast and crew. He also sends out a warm greeting to TORN and all her loving fans! Also be on the lookout for that quick-witted Dwarf to make an appearance! Produced by Asfaloth [More]

Mattforce sends along these snippets gleamed from the Official LOTR Magazine's latest issue! What's in..what's out who will we see in the TTT: Extended Edition?! And what real life spider is Shelob based on?! Take a look! !!!Possible Spoilers!!! [More]

Sapo writes: I want to remind you all that on 22 May 2003 the Classical BRIT Awards are taking place in London, and Howard Shore is one of the nominees for best contemporary music. Arvö Part, John Williams and LOTR composer Howard Shore are up for The Contemporary Music Award. [More]

In a move sure to delight UK LOTR fans, MR sends along this quote from Head of Operations at the National Science Museum in London Catherine Pochin: 'NMSI are considering a Lord of the Rings Exhibition along with other exhibitions for Autumn this year. We will make public our exhibition programme as soon as possible.' Check out the NSM website for possible updates soon. [More]

Meanwhile Lisa sends along this report from the NZ Herald stating that the opening at the Science Museum in London is set for September 16, and then on to Boston, Singapore, and Sydney. Could this be the beginning of a LOTR exhibit world tour?

News from Neena Kalyani Vemuri: "I thought that it may interest those who frequent your site that the "Popular Culture and Philosophy" series headed by William Irwin will be publishing its fifth volume, "The Lord of The Rings and Philosophy", edited by Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson, in August of 2003. There are a few articles which mention this (albeit briefly) here and here. You can preorder it through Barnes and Noble here."

Somewhat bizarrely, a PhD student at the UK University of Leeds has chosen to express the long and difficult process of writing a PHD with an allegory using LOTR. Laura sent it in to see if someone might find it amusing. I did. [More]

MattForce found a spoiler-ish picture that might be in the TTT Extended edition, and might explain some puzzles about Osgiliath. [It's been noted before that in the film, Frodo and Sam seem to turn up in Osgiliath on the wrong side of the River.] [More]

The NZ Herald added details to RandomHobbit's report on when the LOTR props exhibition would show up in various parts of the world [More] and Merry talks about the things he particularly enjoyed about the exhibition. [More]

Read all about the Saturn Awards at Cinescape [More] TTT won two awards including Best Fantasy Film and Best Supporting Actor (Andy Serkis), who accepted his award in person. Peter Jackson and producer Barrie Osborne accepted their award via a taped message delivered to the audience. Thanks to Hadley for the news.

Sam Myer sent us a link to this interactive map for LOTR fans considering a trip to NZ. There's lots of info, pictures and interviews with cast and crew members. [More] LOTR tourism is finally catching on - this weekend myself and other local Auckland Ringers will catch up with Bruce Hopkins [Gamling the Old] and have dinner with Red Carpet Movie Tours' latest tour, which is a very large group from Japan!

JT sent us this link to a story on Apple about the Shake compositing used for creating Gollum. This could be an old story but still worth a look if you missed it the first time. [More]

Kimi sends us this story from the NZ Herald which is a bit more specific about how PJ is going to help the public become more aware of the need for organ donors. [More]

From ComingSoon: According to Variety, Producer Cary Brokaw has secured financing for a $25 million-$30 million feature version of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. The film is being written and will be directed by Il Postino helmer Michael Radford. Brokaw is in talks with Al Pacino to star as Shylock, as well as Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Joseph Fiennes. Shooting is scheduled to begin Sept. 1 in Venice and Luxembourg.

Translated for us by Thorbjørn Hein: On Sunday December 14, when Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has its galla premiere, the event won´t take place at Imperial (the biggest movie theatre in Denmark) as it usually does. Instead, the galla is taking place in Tivoli (the well-known, 160-years old amusement park/garden in central Copenhagen)! [More]

Arod writes: Last night I went to see a comedy band called Tripod. To my delight, they made 3 LOTR references! The first was a song, "I've been telling you all along, LOTR is cool (on behalf of all the geeks)!". [More]

John Howe sends in the latest Tolkien related items to us from his website: 'Coming Soon': The Art of Travel, by Alain de Botton, American Gods by Neil Gaimon and the Lore of the Unicorn by Odell Shepard. (If I can remember, I'll post the titles of the books I'm currently reading, usually about a dozen at any one time - which may explain why I get lost so easily...). Some more Tolkien illustrations... and, it looks like the documentary is going to happen. At last, a chance to talk about myself! (At least I'm familiar with the subject...). [John-Howe.com]

The Electronic Entertainment Expo has come and gone, but the visions of such amazing games based in Tolkien's Middle-earth will live on! Take a look at the first of our Exclusive Video Interviews straight from the floor at E3. Our first clip is dedicated to The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring which will come out early 2004 for the PC. This interview with Liquid Entertainment President Ed Del Castillo features an exclusive first look at War of the Ring! Check it out! [More] [Gaming Havens]

Andrew sends along a heads up that the latest edition of EMPIRE magazine has a teaser poster featuring Aragorn and Gollum. UPDATE. Thanks to Ringer Spy Rudy, we now have scans from the Magazine! The posters are the same images we have seen in the ROTK Promo Calendar, but there is a lot of other LOTR coverage to sink your teeth into. !!!SPOILERS!!! [More]

BoppinsMom sends in this tidbit: One of the recently asked questions on Jeopardy was a Lord of the Rings question!! The question asked which movie this quote came from: "A wizard is never late Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to." (can you believe it, they thought it was from Harry Potter!!!!)

WETA Workshop is lending their talents to a live action feature film of Neon Genesis Evangelion, AICN reports today. Follow the link for more info! [More]

A semi-quality video of 1 minute 43 seconds of the EA ROTK game has appeared online thanks to the folks at 576.hu. As all of the links we checked out had serious download issues, we've mirrored it for easy downloading!

UPDATE New Line has kindly asked us to remove the file as they want the first view of ROTK to be much better quality than this.

WeeTanya writes: Christopher Lee's official site announces that he'll be appearing at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London to kick off the release of Volume I of his DVD. Confusingly enough, the date given by the website is March 31, 2002. In previous posts, they've mentioned May 31, 2003. [More]

Julez writes: I found this story on icLiverpool's site and thought you would be interested. Stunt director Greg Powell has worked on some of the most exciting movies ever made including Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, FOTR and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He's now launched the world's first summer camp dedicated to teaching children how to re-enact their favourite stunts. [More]

Roselyn writes: Aragorn and Gollum have been nominated for the first annual Spacey Awards for best hero and best virtual character respectively. [More]

Ringer 'Bunny of Many Colors' sends along this tidbit concerning the upcoming release of ROTK stamps in New Zealand: It might be of interest to some collectors out there that I received a letter from New Zealand Post today saying that the stamps for Return of the King are being designed and are expected to be released in October. This is two months earlier than the previous two issues, unless I read the letter wrong.

Andy Serkis—who again plays the computer-generated creature Gollum in the upcoming third Lord of the Rings film, The Return of the King—told SCI FI Wire that he's still filming the role. Though principal photography ended two years ago, Serkis is still shooting motion-capture and doing additional voice recording for the CGI creation, the actor said in an interview at the Saturn Awards on May 18, where he was honored as best supporting actor in a film. [More]

David Wenham (Faramir) is soon to become a father following news that his long term partner, Kate Agnew, is expecting the couple's first child later this year. Agnew, a yoga instructor, is understood to be six months pregnant and due in August. [More]

Darcy writes: The 32nd Annual Key Art Awards, which honors those who design the promotional and marketing materials for the motion picture industry, announced their nominees last week. The Two Towers picked up several including Best Action Poster, Special Recognition for Home Video (Fellowship of the Ring Collector’s Gift Set), Special Recognition Audio Visual and Best Internet Website. The awards will be given out on June 20th.

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 15 800 mailing list members! Sign up now! [More]

WeeTanya writes: Christopher Lee's official site has a transcription of the acceptance speech he faxed in to the SFX awards. [More]

Cat writes: A small group of the folks got invited to work the red carpet at the Saturn Awards Sunday night. Here's a pic with Andy Serkis (Gollum). Our folks (left to right): Debbie as Frodo, Tammy as Legolas, Shawna Moore as Arwen. [More]

Trish writes: I went to comic con in Detroit just to see and talk to Bruce Hopkins (Gamling). He was really nice and we talked for about 15 minutes. I asked him if he was going back to do some more shooting with the rest of the cast and he said that he was instructed th grow his beard out and to return to the set in two weeks. He also said that Billy Boyd (Pippin) has seen most of the rough cut of ROTK and that it is unbelievable. [More]

Following up with a report we posted a few weeks ago, Mirando Otto (Eowyn) and her hubby Peter O'Brien attended the Australian Logie Awards. Belinda sends along this photo she spotted recently. [More]

The folks from Phill Terry Promotions write: John Noble (Denethor) is starring in 'The Arabs Mouth' that commences at The Darlinghurst Theatre in Sydney this Thursday. The play is set in a Gothic Mansion in Scotland in 1899 and will be unique in it's visual and sound presentation. Specialist 'Farscape' puppeteer Matt McCoy has created two life size puppets for the show and the set design will be elaborate. A sound specialist has also been recruited to compose the music and sounds. The production will be a different experience for Sydney audiences. [More]

Louise the Ferretlady sends along these photos from the Viggo Mortensen art exhibit in Cuba. [Report] [Photos]

Jennifer sends in these scans from Disney Magazine. One features Orlando Bloom (Legolas) in 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) in 'Hidalgo'. [More]