The BIG news has finally hit. A Ringer Spy who was recently in the New York offices of New Line Cinema has reported that they clearly saw 'The Hobbit' on the film schedule for 2007. Here's what the spy had to say:

"Please leave my email anonymous as I have some very exciting news to report. I was in New Line's NY offices to discuss upcoming projects when I clearly saw something very intriguing on a year planner. 'The Hobbit' was clearly marked on what looked like July 2007. I couldn't exactly take a moment to investigate the calendar with my audience in the room, but it definitely said 'The Hobbit'. Lets hope this is a PJ project!"

The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is to remake classic British war film The Dam Busters, he has told film industry trade paper Screen Daily. Jackson will produce the movie, with King Kong animator Christian Rivers in the director's chair. Jackson said it would be "as authentic as possible and as close to the spirit of the original as possible". The 1954 film told the true story of how Britain developed bouncing bombs to destroy German dams in World War II. Mel Gibson was going to direct and possibly act in it Peter Jackson Jackson says he first saw the film as a child and "really loved it". [More]

A huge thank you to the Ringers who responded to our Sideshow Gift Card post yesterday. Here's what we have confirmed: Only the FOTR DVD contains the card (at an avg of $18 per DVD, not a bad deal!); each card is worth either $25 or $50 for an in-stock purchase at SideshowCollectibles.com; All copies of FOTR seem to have the card, even from big-box stores. Thanks again to all the Ringers who helped us figure out the promotion. LOTR In-Stock Items

Ramen, Community Relations Specialist for The Lord of the Rings Online writes: We've posted the first in our series of Alpha Journals today, containing the first impressions of some of our LOTRO Alpha Program participants: We simply couldn't wait any longer to bring you Thursday's update, so we decided to post it today. Take a look at some of the first impressions of LOTRO from members of our Alpha Program! [More]

TORN Staffer MrCere writes: DragonCon in Atlanta starts this weekend and as it has been for several years now, TheOneRing.net will be in the house! I will be at a fan table in the basement of the Marriott where we will be selling our new, but as yet unrevealed t-shirts. (Hint: it has a reference to elves from another currently popular fictional universe). But besides supporting the not-for-profit TORn, every Lord of the Rings fan should come by the table and pick up a gift card from Sideshow Collectibles while supplies last. Each person attending the show can claim a card until my supply runs out and each card is worth between $10 and $100 on Sideshow's in-stock supply. This includes several very cool Lord of the Ring items. [More]

MADRID (AFP) - Spanish novelist Arturo Perez Reverte lauded the film adaptation of the exploits of his hero, Captain Diego Alatriste, by director Agustin Diaz Yanes in "Alatriste," which debuts on Spanish screens this week. "I liked it very much, as it is fearsome, pitiless and heroic -- as was my story," Perez Reverte told a pre-screening gathering in Madrid. Alatriste, played in the film by US actor Viggo Mortensen, 47 of "Lord of the Rings" fame, is a unscrupulous 17th century adventurer in the movie, set in Spain's "golden age" under King Philip IV which coincided with the emergence of artistic giants such as Velasquez and the development of the "New World." [More]

Brad Dourif's run as the 'Doc Cochran' on HBO's Deadwood has come to a disappointing end - as the 'Wormtongue' actor did not even apear in Sunday's series finale. If you are like me, Deadwood was one of the highlights of TV for the past three years, but HBO has decided to cancel the series for suspect reasons. Lets hope Dourif's character gets an appropriate storyline end when HBO shows two feature movies slated for next year. [Contact HBO]

If you haven't already picked up your Special Edition LOTR DVD set...what are you waiting for? How about a free $25 or $50 gift card to purchase Sideshow/Weta stuff at SideshowCollectibles.com? We've been getting some reports from Ringers across the country that select sets have a card included with them. We suspect this is another situation where big-box stores like Wal-mart or Target remove the cards, but not-so-big-box stores like Best Buy leave them in. If you got one, drop us a line and tell us where at spymaster@theonering.net. If you did get one, here's a link to Sideshow's listing of in-stock LOTR Items. LOTR In-Stock Items

TheOtherSting sends this along: The final Toronto performance of THE LORD OF THE RINGS will be this Sunday, Sept. 3... and that's it; there will be no more; don't believe your friends who've told you it will be held over; this is your last chance. And you can take that chance with tickets for a mere $20! That's right; we're extending the $20 offer into the final week of the show. It's first-come, first-served for $20 tickets for Aug. 29 to Sept. 3, all performances! Seating is limited, so hurry! [More]

Orlando Bloom is slated to be a guest on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' tonight on NBC. He is there to promote the much-delayed release of his latest film 'Haven'. The Tonight show airs on NBC at 11:35PM EST.

Take a look at one of the new segments from the new LOTR DVD, due out August 29th! These new DVD's will feature a ton of new behind the scenes footage! Take a look at WEATHER

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Pre-Order on Amazon.com
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

Pre-Order on Amazon.ca
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Theatrical and Extended Limited Edition)

Pre-Order on Amazon.co.uk
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

Pre-Order on Amazon.de
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

TheOneRing.net ended our contest for the Sideshow Collectibles Morgul Lord Legendary Scale bust on Thursday and we are proud to announce J. Mayo is our winner! Congrats to Mr. Mayo! And don't forget to support our contest sponsor, Sideshow Collectibles. [SideshowCollectibles.com]

A ton of interesting new films are out on DVD this week. Take an early look on our 'DVD Tuesday' feature...every Monday! Check out some TV goodies like 'Will & Grace: Season 5', 'Survivor Palau', 'Desperate Housewives: Season 2' and 'Arrested Development: Season 3' Series on DVD. Some animated goodies like 'Darkwing Duck', 'South Park: Season 8' and 'Talespin'. New movies out are 'Akeelah and the Bee', 'Lonesome Jim', 'Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World' and a TON more! [More]

Elric writes: I just wanted to let anyone who might be interested know that the Cinemaworld in Melbourne, Florida will be showing all three films in a marathon screening on Sep. 2nd with a 45 minute break in between. The cost is $12.50 per person, or $21.00 with unlimited drink and popcorn refills. One thing though: These are the theatrical versions, and the extended versions. I haven't heard back yet as to why they didn't get the extended versions. [More]

Irascian writes: Joe Letteri, visual effects supervisor on King Kong, will be speaking in The Starr Auditorium at The Tate Modern in London (UK) as part of a series of lectures on digital art. Joe’s lecture will be at 6.30pm on Monday, 25th September. He will be discussing the creation of the Visual FX for Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Joe will show how Weta built 1933 New York City, grew the lush jungles of Skull Island, and brought King Kong to life. Joe has received two academy awards for the visual effects on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. Tickets are £10 (£8 for children and senior citizens) and can be ordered from the Tate ticket office on 020 7887 8888 or online here.

A chance to meet Lord of the Rings star Billy Boyd is being auctioned off for charity. Producers of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Rosslyn Chapel are auctioning 35 pairs of tickets for Tuesday's performance, which it is hoped Boyd will introduce, with the highest bidder meeting the Scots star. Nonsense Room Productions are staging an online auction of the tickets on their website www.nonsenseroom.co.uk, with proceeds going to the Children's Hospice Association Scotland. [More]

Take a look at one of the new segments from the new LOTR DVD, due out August 29th! These new DVD's will feature a ton of new behind the scenes footage! Take a look at SKULLS

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The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

Andrew from adcbooks.co.uk sends this along: The next JRR Tolkien inspired Art Exhibition is being held for 4 days from Saturday 23rd September 2006 at The Redesdale Hall, High Street, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire. The Exhibition will contain the largest ever display of the artwork (including new original pieces and new Limited Edition Prints) of the world renowned Tolkien Illustrator, Ted Nasmith who is in the UK for this exhibition and will be attending throughout. Ted Nasmith’s art can also be seen online at www.adcbooks.co.uk. [More]

Ramen, Community Relations Specialist for The Lord of the Rings Online writes: We've just posted a new Point of Interest on the official LOTRO site, Hobbiton’s famous Party Tree! Bilbo's long-expected party may have passed, but Hobbiton's Party Tree still provides a suitably festive location for gatherings of all sorts. [More]

Maureen writes: I did a quick check in the search feature and don’t see any announcement about several free—and excellent—lectures on features in our favorite books. Kreeft (pronounced Krayft) draws on the works of Lewis and Tolkien together, showing how much in accord they are. I think the fans might appreciate these—and some of Kreeft’s other commentaries. He has a great grasp of mythopeia. [More]

Udi writes: On 24th of August, the second annual Mythopia Convention will take place in Tel-Aviv, Israel. This convention is jointly organized by, the Israeli Tolkien Society, The Israeli His Dark Materials community and the Harry Potter for grownups community. [More]

The folks from The Tolkien Society send us news about Oxonmoot 2006, held in Somerville College, Oxford from Friday September 15th to the 17th. Accommodation and meals available within Somerville College separately. Programme items include Robert Blackham: The Roots of Tolkien’s Middle-earth, An exploration of many of the places which would later appear in Tolkien's writings and how, often by a miracle, many of them survived (e.g. the Shire Country Park), and more! [More]

The folks from Emerald Rose write: Fresh from their rowdy performances at ELF last month, Emerald Rose is hard at work rehearsing for the massive five day party that is DragonCon. The Tolkien track will feature the band performing at the annual Evening at Bree party on Friday night, September 1 at 8 pm, hosted this year by Arms of Middle Earth. The boys in kilts will be joined onstage this year by TORn sib Greendragon, an accomplished opera singer from Boston, for a performance of the LOTR classic 'Into the West'. Her memorable performance of the song at ELF last year in Orlando was a high point in the show, with many fans singing along for the chorus. Greendragon is one of a very few musicians to have joined Emerald Rose onstage for live performance in their ten year career.

While TORn readers will know Emerald Rose from the LOTR Oscar parties and the Ringers soundtrack, a new group of movie fans will be enjoying the band's music with the release of 'Done the Impossible: The Fan's Tale of Firefly and Serenity', a documentary about the Firefly phenomena. Ten instrumental tracks from the band's recent cd 'Archives of Ages to Come' were used in the movie's soundtrack. The band also recorded a new arrangement of Joss Whedon's 'Ballad of Serenity' along with an original filk song 'Big Damn Heroes'. [emeraldrose.com]

Like Sin City before it, The 300 will bring the work of graphic-novel writer and artist Frank Miller to the screen using live actors against a computer-generated background. Shot entirely on a soundstage in Montreal, the film centers on the ancient battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartan soldiers attempted to hold off an invasion by a massive Persian army. For stars Gerard Butler (The Phantom of the Opera) and David Wenham (the last two Lord of the Rings films), the process was a little disorienting, but worth it in the end. [More]