LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Ian McKellen, Aaron Eckhart, Brittany Murphy and Nick Nolte are in negotiations for the indie drama "Never Was." The project marks the directorial debut of writer Joshua Michael Stern, and is headed for a September shoot in Vancouver. [More]

Paul writes: There's an NZ 48hr film BLOODY GOOD MATES that parodies the story of how Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor got together. It features Philippa Boyens (Queen of the Geeks!) son Calum as a 'jogger'. Andrew Beattie (a prosthetics stalwart who was with Weta for five years) providing a dead ringer impersonation of Mr Peter Jackson himself. Andrew also did all of the splatter FX in the film. Richard Taylor is played by Steven Grey - a well known kiwi movie critic. (Language/Content Warning) [More]

Deni sends along more info on the interesting 'Wellington 48 hour film project', the finals of which were this saturday. He/She/It/They also give us the latest news regarding the goings on in Miramar, Stone Street and Park Road Post. [More]

Halfdan Hansen, part of the team that made the real One Rings writes: We've just been told by the BBC that they are running a short news clip featuring our workshop in Nelson including an interview with Thorkild. It is being shown today on BBC World at 05:00 June 30th London Time and 21:00 Los Angeles Time tonight June 29. I’m going to try to get a video clip and permission to view or link to it from them too but this might not be possible.

Brian Sibley, dramatist of BBC Radio's The Lord of the Rings and author of the books on the making of the film trilogy has launched his official web site with background information of his various projects past and present - including those with a familiar Ring to them! - and albums of photographs of New York, Venice --- and Wellington, Middle-earth. [BrianSibley.com]

From MTV.com: When it was announced that Jack Black would be starring in the new remake of "King Kong," a lot of people wondered: He's not going all serious-actor guy, is he? "There are some funny things about my character but, yeah, it is a different thing for me," Black revealed backstage at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards. [More]

In the same way we're keeping an eye on the Narnia films, we're following the "His Dark Materials" film project because we know it's of interest to many LOTR readers. Yesterday, industry insiders leaked news that Tom Stoppard's script for "The Golden Compass" had been "junked," and director Chris Weitz ["About a Boy"] was tipped to take over on the writing. Industry sources described him as a "huge dork-level fan of the books [who] wants to do them justice." He's won praise for his understanding and direction of the boy character in "About a Boy." The ability to write convincingly about teenagers would be an advantage in "The Golden Compass."

Some of Hollywood's brightest young things, hand-picked by director Peter Jackson, are expected to be among the first student intake at Massey University's new School of Film. The university has just received $750,000 from Wellington City Council to help with start-up costs. The school, due to open next year, aims to become one of the top film schools in the southern hemisphere. Massey deputy vice-chancellor Ken Heskin said it would be an "elite" institution catering for students who wanted to make their mark internationally. [More]

djdeathskiss writes: Just thought I'd pass on these scans of an interview with Karl Urban in the August issue of Alternative Press Magazine. [More]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has extended invitations to join the organization to 127 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves in the field of theatrical motion pictures. Viggo Mortensen is one of the lucky 127! [More]

As a member of the Houston Symphony Chorus, Katia Baizan has sung in Russian, German, English, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, French and Italian. But she has never sung in Elvish — until now. [More]

New Zealand Post are to release a lavish selection of stamps, miniature sheets, postcards and a booklet on 7th July to mark the country’s contribution to the Lord of the Rings movies. [More]

Sarah writes: I was looking through my company's intranet the other day, looking at upcoming DVD street dates, when lo and behold, it had a street date of December 14 listed for the ROTK:EE. Now, the title has not been catalogued yet, so things could still change, but it's the first time I've seen an actual date listed for it. [Pre-Order]

Things are gearing up for another big fantasy-project currently underway in New Zealand. Monday June 28th was the first day of filming for The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. New additions to the cast include British comedienne Dawn French (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Scottish actor James Cosmo (Troy) and Rupert Everett who can currently be heard in Shrek 2 directed by, indeed, LWW-director Andrew Adamson. Reports on the first day can be read here or here, with the latter link even providing the first footage from the set! Screencaps of said caps can be found here, and if you don't want to click all those different links: everything is pretty much summarized here!

Following up on Sean Astin seeing 'Orange' back on Thursday - I caught the fantastic advert in question before a screening of the equally LoTR-spoofing Shrek 2 yesterday; In case you were wondering what all the fuss is about, the advert can be found online at visit4info.com [More]. In other news, did anyone else notice Shrek & co passing through Lorien and Caradhras en route to Far Far Away? Or perhaps I was imagining it...

djdeathskiss writes: I just got back from seeing Sean Astin at the Origins Gaming convention in Columbus, Ohio. Forgive any typos or other mistakes; I got up at 4am this morning to make the 4 hour drive from Michigan, and am a 'bit' tired. [More]

From the Official Site: Episode III continues to gain momentum as the May 19, 2005 date looms ever nearer. The next big milestone has been scheduled -- the round of additional photography (also known as "pick ups") that fills in the missing pieces of the current edit of the picture. Starting August 23 and running through September 4, Director George Lucas will again roll cameras on Episode III, this time in the UK. Among the cast members slated to work in that period are Silas Carson, Hayden Christensen, Anthony Daniels, Samuel L. Jackson, Ian McDiarmid and our own Christopher Lee. [More]

Fellow Montrealer Anya writes: One of the old Odeon complexes (6900 Decarie Blvd., Decarie Square) was recently transformed into what is now called "Dollar Cinema". They show second run movies and they only charge $1 admission. Snacks are also $1. Currently they happen to be showing ROTK (among other things). See you there!

They made their names as the liveliest hobbits in The Lord Of The Rings but now the men who played Merry and Pippin are planning to make a different kind of buddy movie together. Billy Boyd, one of Scotland’s most acclaimed stage and screen actors, and the other British “hobbit” star, Dominic Monaghan, have linked up with a leading Scottish playwright to write a buddy movie. The two actors, who met on the set of Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning film trilogy, formed such a strong personal fellowship that they want to play themselves in a comedy about two inept Brits on a road trip around America. [More]

The trailer for the latest Sean Bean movie 'National Treasure' has been posted online. Take a look at this Indiana Jones/Tom Raider type film yourself! [More]

It is the Fourth Age in Middle Earth and the race of Men have clearly taken the lead in returning ME to peace. The Dwarves had participated in the War of the Ring but what then becomes of this hardy race? What is left of their old kingdoms under the mountains? [More]

Our very own Turgon writes: I was watching DirecTV tonight, and they are advertising for their pay-per-view channels The Return of the King (and I quote): "Featuring bonus footage not seen in theaters". If TORn's reported on this, I've missed it. Any idea what they mean?-- I suspect it isn't new scenes per se, but probably something behind the scenes...?

UPDATE: Darthpip writes: The bonus footage that DirectTV will be showing is the documentary 'A Directors Journey: A Quest Fufilled' I'm pretty sure that it's on the Freeview channel, too. This goes directly along with their showing of RotK on Pay-Per-View.

Anna Slack On Behalf of the Cambridge Tolkien Society writes: The morning of June 19th found a motley crew arrayed about the outside of Borders, Cambridge. They wore matching black t-shirts with a fetching design and a slogan that had been raising eyebrows all over the university city of Cambridge for weeks. Burdened with boxes of food, various odd implements for creating sound effects and, of course, the Ring of Power, they set up camp for what was to be a long and extraordinary day. [More]

West of the Moon sent me a message that the website chartattack.com lists Elijah Wood as a special guest on Much Music's 'Nard Wars'. The show airs this Saturday at 4pm, though I was unable to find anything on the Much Music website.

Joe writes: Finnkino (local chain of theaters) will show all three films at their multiplex Tennispalatsi in Helsinki, Finland on the 28th & 29th of June. The cost is 6 euros per film, hence 18 euros for all three. FOTR begins both days at 13:15. There is a 30 minute pause between each movie. For more information (in Finnish). [More]

TABA writes: The NC Museum of Art in Raleigh will be showing the 3 parts of the trilogy respectively on 3 consecutive nights in their outdoor amphitheatre Aug. 26, 27 & 28. For tickets and information, please visit ncartmuseum.org

Ringer Spy Delenn writes: Ian McKellen will be featured on the BBC's South Bank Show this month. In conjunction with this, the BBC Radio Times published this three page exclusive interview, looking at how things have changed since his previous appearance on the show 20 years ago. [More]

Tickets are still available for Howard Shore's monumental composition The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Six Movements. This performance will feature the Houston Symphony, four singers, the Houston Symphony Chorus, the Houston Children's Chorus, and will be conducted by Alexander Mickelthwate. The two-hour journey into the magical world of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth will be held on July 1 and 2. [More]

Scott writes: Sierra On-line, the company that was originally given the right to make Middle-Earth Online, is no more. Barry Smith, the webcomic artist and former Sierra employee over at www.inktank.com, posted his take, and a link to the news article he got the news from. [More] [Gaming Havens]

They just keep coming. This time one that spoofs the scene where Saruman criticises Gandalf for his 'love of the halfing leaf', with Gandalf supplying the punchline. Check it out here!

ComingSoon.net is reporting today that 'The Pianist'-actor Thomas Kretschmann is the latest addition to PJ's cast for King Kong. Apparently Kretschmann signed up to play the captain of the boat used to transport Kong to civilisation. [More]

Do you live anywhere near Denver? The Denver Film Society is putting on 'Film on the Rocks,' an outdoor concert and film series at the magnificent Red Rocks Amphitheatre.They will be eventually showing LOTR, but for now the society was kind enough to offer Ringer fans the opportunity to FREE (yes, FREE) tickets to their Monday screening of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!' The tickets are free to anyone who mentions Starland when they come to their office in LoDo to pick them up. Maximum 4 tickets per person. People can come up till noon on Monday 6/28. 9AM-5pm M-F only. Tickets are limited so go get them soon! [More]

Unawen writes: The University of Utah Press announced in its fall 2004 catalogue that it will publish "A Gateway to Sindarin" by David Salo (the linguistics expert for the LOTR movies). One reviewer said it will to "put to shame not a few published works on real-world languages," another said it should become the standard reference for learning Sindarin. Amazon.com lists the book as coming out in October with a price of $49.95. [Pre-Order] [TORN's Bookstore]

Nicola writes: The Flaiano Film Festival (June 23rd to July 9th, 2004) at the Massimo Cinema Theatre, Pescara City, Italy, will be holding a LOTR trilogy screening! For just 5 Euro per movie. [More]

The Fellowship Festival signs exclusive agreement with New Line Cinema New Line Cinema joins The Tolkien Society as official supporters of The Fellowship Festival, UK’s premier The Lord of the Rings convention of the year! [More]

Aurélien writes: I am the Organizer of the "Paris Comics Con" which will take place the 11th and 12th of September in Paris France. Three Lord of the Rings Guests will be present, they are; Bruce Hopkins (Gamling), Jorn Benzon (Rumil) & Craig Parker (Haldir). [More]

Crimdac writes: The next episode of the ITV arts program The South Bank Show is devoted to a year in the life of Sir Ian McKellen. It's on next Tuesday (29th June) at 11pm. Sounds very good and has already been picked as a "program of the week" by one UK publication. [More]

Delyth writes: Here is the team photo of the triumphant Tolkien Fans group from Test the Nation. Note the "Elf Guy" in the front row with the fantastic body paint. The guy next to him was the extra in all 3 films, the lady with the harp is the one who played the Rohirric folk song, and I and my friend Amy are sitting next to her, dressed as hobbits. Everyone had a blast on the night, and are still buzzing about it now. They were the most friendly and enthusiastic bunch of people! [More]

From Serkis.com: Lorraine Ashbourne and Andy Serkis proudly announce the birth of their baby boy, Saturday 19th June at 8.05pm in London. The as-yet-unnamed baby is their third child. Lorraine and baby are in good health. [More]

Sarah writes: Orlando Bloom will be featured on the TV Guide Channel's Summer Movie Hunks on Sunday the 29th.

Elijah Wood will be on the Ellen Degeneres show tomorrow June 24th. [Ellen]