A little while back I asked all of you to send me a picture of your mug with your FOTR DVD. Below you can see the fuits of your labour! Behold TheOneRing.net fan DVD Desktop theme! [More]

Tim Minear, the executive producer of Buffy spin-off show Angel, headlined by David Boreanaz, has revealed that Sean Astin is not only a huge fan of a show but that "it looks like he might be directing an episode for us this year". Though Minear made this claim in a situation where he didn't feel he had to guard his words, the chances of Astin directing an Angel episode look very good at this point.

Billy Boyd contemplates the outcome of a TORN encounter in LA

TORN Exclusive!! In part II of our interview with the FOTR stars in Hollywood (Check out part I here) last spring we bring you Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan! Billy and Dom (along with Sean Bean, Sean Astin and Orlando Bloom) were interviewed by our very own Quickbeam at the Beverly Hills Hotel in LA on Oscar Weekend. Take a look! [More]

Each week, I scour Ebay looking for the hot Tolkien items up for sale. I post the most interesting here for you to bid on! [More]

Take a look and see just when you can see your fasvorite LOTR star on the small screen this week! [More]

Publisher Houghton Mifflin just announced publication dates and released the cover art for their upcoming LOTR publishing run. [More]

122 Days....2928 hours...175680 minutes!!! Someone end the torture!!!

See you in line...

Hollywood hunks Orlando Bloom and Heath Ledger have left studio bosses fuming, after growing beards for their new movie. [More]

Now that the FOTR DVD has been released and the rest (real?) world is getting into the film, we'll all have to deal with hearing this conversation somewhere in the near future....get used to it. [More]

PerilousHobbit sends in a report on what TechTV (TV for nerds) had to say about the FOTR and TTT games coming out soon! [More]

Ellen sends along this link to a netscape article about our very own Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) being one of Australia's 'Hotties' [More]

Ringer Spy Katia sends along the cover to the latest issue of 'MovieBox' magazine, with our FOTR poster on the cover! [More]

LAO writes: I just saw an article in the Wall Street Journal about some scuffling between Miramax and Dreamworks over their new DiCaprio films both coming out on Christmas, and saw the following regarding some of "Gangs of New York" difficulties. [More]

WorldCon 2002 is in San Jose, California this year. There's a lot there to attract LOTR fans - the film is competing for a Hugo award, there's a whole lot of great panel discussions, and there's a workshop on LOTR costuming....[More]

Looking for ways to passt the time til December? Debbie's "Waiting for Frodo" comic strip has started up again..[More]

News from Diamond Took: "Here in the UK, Saturday's edition of The Daily Telegraph newspaper carried a small item regarding the Countryside Alliance's Liberty and Livelihood protest. "With plans to light bonfires across the country on the night of September 22, organisers are now bidding to pull off a major logistical feat. Everyone who organises a bonfire will also have the chance to be part of the rocket relay. The idea is that rockets will be let off in sequence, starting in Scotland and going across the country." What a way to celebrate Bilbo and Frodo's birthdays!

The devastatingly handsome dwarf John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) has been confirmed to attend Ring*Con 2002 in Bonn, Germany this november! For those that want more information on this very cool event or still have to sign up, like me, head over to RingCon.de!

The VCD and DVD are both already on sale in Malaysia since 6th August, according to Selena. "I bought the VCD which includes a guide to the characters of Middle-Earth and six lovely colour prints of Gandalf, Saruman, Legolas, Arwen, Aragorn and Frodo and also a small booklet of discount vouchers. Both the VCD and DVD are selling like hotcakes. Hehe!"

And in Mexico, "Hi, im JCMor from Mexico City, i would like you to know that LOTR DVD has finally arrived in Mexico in blockbuster."

A few people wrote in to say that they'd heard the Moria soundtrack used [rather bizarrely, it seems] on TV as background to a televangelism programme. [More]

A humorous look at the dilemma, from the Deseret News....[More]

Sideshow/Weta Collectibles announced today that the much anticipated Balrog Figure will go on pre-sale this coming Monday, Aug 19th. Check out the 3d turnaround of the figure and some highly detailed close-ups of the base. We'll announce it as soon as it goes on sale this coming Monday. [More]

Instead of one of the numerous fan sites on the web doing it first, Sir Ian McKellen's website has unveiled the first image of him as Magento in X2. Posted in his most recent X2 mailbag, the image shows Magneto in the plastic prison he was incarcerated in at the end of X-Men. [More]

Two more reports from the talk held in Melbourne a few days ago - apparently a really interesting and informative session. [More]

A few days ago the DVD hadn't arrived in Thailand yet, but there's good reports about the VCD version. And in Singapore, the LOTR Visual Companions will arrive in November. [More]

News from Sir Doris: The Australian version of 60 Minutes will be running a story on Sir Ian Mckellan this Sunday the 18th of August at 7:30pm.

Take a look at this comic on myextralife.com, be sure NOT to try this the next time you get pulled over! [More]

Ringer Spy PB sends along this magazine article about the FOTR DVD. [More]

AICN has a great little scoop from one of the many folks currently working in London on the TTT score, take a look and learn how the film (may) open! (language warning) !!Spoilers!! [More]

Many months ago we brought news that the 4-minute long TTT preview attached to the end of FoTR was floating around the internet. Mostly, the quality was less than all of us would hope for. War of the Ring recently unearthed a quality version for us all to enjoy. Thanks to Fraggle for the link, and the usual spoilers warning applies! [link removed sort of by War of the Ring's request]

I received a few e-mails overnight from people having trouble viewing this file. You need the div-x codec, which is available (free!) at Divx.com.

Peter Jackson's effects house, Weta Digital, has signed with Ohio Edit, New York, for its first commercial representation in the USA. [More]

We've set up a new page here at TheOneRing.net for folks interested in seeing what the schedule looks like for the 'JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth' Fan Track sessions at this year's [Dragon*Con]. Dragon*Con, America's largest fan run sci-fi/fantasy convention, will be held in lovely (albeit rather warm) Atlanta, GA August 30-September 2, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis and Hyatt Regency. [News] [Schedule]

LONDON: Fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings continues to cast a spell on readers, with a guide to the classic story entering the British bestseller list at number one. [More]

Games Workshop continues to keep gamers on their toes with these two new scenarios for the Lord of the Rings table top game. What if Aragorn hadn't met up with the Hobbits in Bree? What perils did Boromir face on his journy to Rivendell? Well now is your chance to play out these new scenarios! [More]

AC writes: A brief review of Viggo Mortensen's (Aragorn) recent exhibit at the Robert Mann gallery in NYC appears in the recent issue of "The New Yorker" under Photography. [More]

Fans who are trying to avoid spoilers have some difficult questions to ask themselves: Can I resist knowing the running time for The Two Towers and in particular the battle at Helm's Deep? Can I resist knowing to what extent the Ents appear The Two Towers and in what capacity? If you can, ignore this story. For those of that are only human, get ready for some news that'll put a smile on your face. !!!SPOILERS!!! [More]

Brandon Gray
Boxofficemojo.com

The rentals stats for LOTR's first week on home video are in. People may have been so busy buying LOTR, that it didn't break any rentals records. The epic fantasy minted $6.02 million in DVD rentals and $6.79 million in VHS rentals top both charts for the week ending August 11. By comparison, Harry Potter did $5.34 million on DVD and $7.41 million on VHS in its first week. [More]

Asarina sends word of new American Library Association posters, this time featuring the Ringwraiths. [More]

"Tonight I was browsing the curriculum at Rice University in Houston and found two very interesting courses taught by Tolkien scholar Dr. Jane Chance (Professor of English and Medieval Studies).

For Undergrads:English 318 Tolkien

For Continuing Ed.: Behind the Film
Thought the undergrad Syllabus might be of special interest!" Thanks to Entwistle for that!

Jude Fisher's Guide to the FOTR movie is the bestselling book in Britain right now. [More]

Here's a great report from Matt who attended the presentation in Melbourne by Andrew Lesnie, LOTR's Director of Photography. Lesnie dropped some hints about the running time of TTT, but it contradicted a report we'd heard from Weta's director Richard Taylor at ComiCon...Read on...[More]

Shawna writes: ToyWiz has the new TTT Topps cards available for preorder. They say they'll be shipping at the end of the month! [More]

I was checking the LOTR official Japanese site and turns out that they are getting a 'degipack'(digital pack?!) with a book case on it, on both DVDs (the regular and extended one). The DVDs will be released in Japan on October 2nd and December 4th.

Thanks to Elenah for that!

Ringer Spy Ian has his report, filled with pictures, up on his website. Check it out here!

From RevolutionSF.com: To coincide with the release of the first LOTR DVD, we've published new excerpts from two more chapters of "Lord of the Rings: The Novelization," by Alan Kevin. [More]

Kelly writes: According to Variety, "Try 17" will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (Sept. 5-14), as one of 16 films on the "Discovery" panel. Our lucky Canadian friends can sneak a peek at Elijah Wood's (Frodo) most recent work, and hopefully report back a good review.

Mighty forces were brought onstage for the stirring world premiere of Howard Shore's concert version of his score for "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." The Pacific Chorale supplied 96 grown-up voices and the Paulist Choristers of California another 24 young ones, including several boy sopranos. [More]

The SFX Reader's awards are in, and LOTR wins for Best Picture! Take a look at the other categories we won. [More]

Its been a long time since we've had a chance to swamp any polls...but the wait is over! Ringer fan Hula-Lady sends us word that the August issue of Biography Magazine has a poll for readers to vote for their favorite movie from the top 100 films. Guess what movie is on the list? Go forth and vote! [More]

Ringer Spy Greenwood Hobbit attended some sort of Lord of the Rings inspired performance during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and here's her report! [More]

Finally YES YES YES!!! The answer to so many questions about Tolkien's languages! This is an online dictionary primarily concerned with listing Tolkien's words and tracing their origins - their etymology. Excellent links to other Tolkien language sites are given, for those wanting to do further research. [More] Thanks to Corsair9 for the link.

Well, apparently the folks over at the Boston Globe online didn't take the entire story behind the extended November dvd release too well, judging by their article today:

According to J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, whoever possesses the One True Ring will be drawn to the dark side and, among other things, be consumed by greed. Obviously New Line -- still drooling over the success of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," the first of its three "Rings" movies -- has fallen under the spell of Dark Lord Sauron and the Ruling Ring... [More]

I see Tehanu has posted about a Sept 22nd picnic in San Francisco...Well, Los Angeles Ringer fans are also holding a Picnic on Bilbo's Birthday. Details for LA Ringers will be coming shortly, but we encourage all Tolkien fans worldwide to celebrate Sept 22nd locally. Organize and plan events using our 'line party' database and get to know your neighbors (and fellow TORn addicts) today! [More]

The last San Francisco Lembas Bake-off and picnic was such a success that we want to do it again - on Bilbo's birthday! So, Bay Area LOTR fans, reserve September 22 and email platypus94121@yahoo.com to get on the list of invites.

The results are in from the readers' poll held by European magazine SFX, and LOTR scored VERY highly. [More]

Take a listen to Hollywoodvideo.com's '60 Second LOTR'. This radio ad is GOLD! Hilarious stuff! Thanks to BeastyBunny for the link! [More] [Mirror]

The show is on again today, and the topic this time is Wizards. You can listen to it on air or online. There's only one more show after this, so don't miss out. [More]

Check out funtocollect.com for some TTT toy coolness! (and to the NON-Ringer webmaster of that site, it's TWO Towers...not TWIN Towers...you'd better change that URL quick! -Xo) UPDATE: Thanks to what must have been constant nagging, funtocollect.com has changed the URL of that page from twintowers.html to twotowers.html..nerds of the internet unite!! !!Spoilers!! [More]

Topps proudly presents The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Movie Cards, based on the second blockbuster movie in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. [More]

Unless you've been trapped on the Icebay of Forochel for the past half a century, you've seen a part of J.R.R. Tolkien -- and not just because of those opulent trailers for New Line's ''Lord of the Rings'' movie trilogy. The man is everywhere. ''When you inhale air, it's made up of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and other elements,'' says Phish drummer Jon Fishman, who, naturally, played in a high school band called Frodo. ''Tolkien is part of the molecules you breathe in your artistic surroundings, whether or not you've actually ever read Tolkien.'' [More]

The Great Fan Art Contest 2002 has begun! We have three age divisions with a unique set of prizes for each division. Thanks to the generosity of Sideshow/Weta Collectibles, Houghton Mifflin and Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz), we have some amazing prizes for the winners. Get those creative juices flowing and enter today! [More]

Lao of Gondor brings us another in depth look at the Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game with the first installment of Ring Lore. [More] [Gaming Havens]

Ringer fan Jeff sent us this link to the Houghton Mifflin website where we get a great look at the cover of the upcoming 'The Lord of the Rings Creatures Movie Tie-in' book. It will be available on Dec 6th, but you can pre-order it now at Amazon.com. [More] [Pre-Order]

From: IMDB

Surprising even the most optimistic analysts, LOTR:FOTR sold nearly 2.4 million copies on DVD and VHS in its first week of release in the U.K., wiping out the previous record set by Titanic when it sold 1.8 million copies in its first week of release. At the same time Warner Home Video's German office reported a first-day sale of one million units in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

NEW YORK - One might not think of death as an optimal career move, but for some celebrities, crossing over to the far side doesn't hurt their income in the least. [More]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Film director Peter Jackson called on fellow New Zealanders to donate their kidneys, livers and hearts to those in need. Jackson told New Zealand Woman's Weekly magazine, which hit newsstands Tuesday, he was appalled to discover people were dying because New Zealanders are failing to donate healthy organs. [More]

Christiane writes: Having returned from the Mittelerde-Fest (Middle-earth festival) in Switzerland, I thought I'd send you a short message and some of my pics. [More]

Check out these books from Houghton Mifflin! Two Towers coolness!! [More] [Even More]

bizkitchick writes: In the 'calendar' section of the September issue of YM magazine (the one with Ashanti on the cover), they talk about hobbits on the 22nd of September: It's Hobbit Day. In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, both Frodo and Bilbo Baggins celebrate their birthdays on this date.

The folks over at Universal Interactive were looking for an actor to provide the voice of Sam Gamgee for their upcoming "Fellowship of the Ring" video game. They picked out one of TORN's original Tolkien-maniacs to go into the recording studio! [More]

Sean Bean (Boromir) falls into 'The Big Empty', Marton Csokas (Celeborn) hops onto 'Kangaroo Jack', Brad Dourif (Wormtounge) meets up with 'El Padrino', and both Hugo Weaving (Elrond) and David Wenham (Faramir) find out what comes 'After the Deluge'. Oh My! [More]

Want to know when you can catch some of your favorite LOTR stars on the small screen? Follow this link! [More]

Got a spare 35,000 pounds? Ebay/Sotheby's is auctioning a first edition LOTR set signed by Tolkien himself. As Ringer spy Scott says, 'how to become the alpha geek!' [More]

Chuck writes: In Burbank, a place where I'm sure things both old and foul are abundant, is where I had this encounter. As I navigated toward the exit down the escalator, I spotted this familiar tall, dark man who sported a pair of shades. Is that who I think it is? Is that Lawrence Makoare? Well, there wasn�t much room for doubt since I saw that Gino Acevedo of WETA next to him as well, along with a few female companions. [More]

PVP Online is having a little fun and taking a jab at the boys over at NewLine, take a look! [More]

Take a look at this bit of coolness up for grabs at NewLine Auctions! [More]

Sideshow/Weta Collectibles has updated their LOTR section with a slew of mini announcements. Check out some additional information on the new exclusive product offerings, their Comic Con 2002 report and a sculptor interview with Sacha Lees. [More]

Elenwen writes: Yesterday before the Dodgers game there was an Holywood Star game. I was very surprised to later hear the announcer say that Sean Astin was up next to bat! [More]

The Dodgers site has a video and audio link to the Hollywood Stars Game.Sean is there a teeny tiny bit on video about 26-27 mins in and on the audio talking along with his brother Mackenzie, who also played. [More]

Missed all the news this weekend? Well fear not! Take a look at our weekend round up section to fill you in on all the LOTR goodness from this past weekend! [More]