With all our thoughts on DragonCon, movies, video games, stars, red carpets and Hollywood hoopla, we can tend to forget the English Professor who took a blank sheet of paper and wrote 'In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit...' Those were the words that started an adventure which has lasted over 1/2 a century and captured the minds and hearts of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Today, the 2nd of September, marks the death JRR Tolkien. We'd like to thank you, Professor, for everything.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began...

There has been so much going on at this year's DragonCon, we are going to have to wait until Monday to give you the full details. I can tell you this...TheOneRing.net's presentation of "Lord of the Rings: Secrets Revealed" so packed a room that the Fire Marshal closed it. With a capacity crowd of 3000, we showed them the cast, locations, trailers and some cool exclusive stuff. Everyone loved it. The biggest cheers were for the casting of Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Christopher Lee (Saruman), John Rhys-Davies (Gimli), and Brad Dourif (Wormtongue).

Now if you didn't get to DragonCon, you still have a day (today) to come by and visit TheOneRing.net booth. We'll be playing parts of the presentation all day along with the trailers.

But if you are no where near Atlanta, get down to Philadelphia for another exclusive presentation at this year's WorldCon! It's happening today at 5 pm, and it's the same presentation from Atlanta... so don't miss it! [More]

Music from Denmark, Russia, and Finland (where they REALLY know how to pronounce Elvish...) [More]

Ringer Spy Morgoth1970 comes through again with some great pics! Sam, Merry and Pippin by a campfire, Bilbo's Birthday party, and what is apparently a scene from Weathertop! Check them out! !Spoilers! [More]

Ringer Spy Lotho Sackville-Baggins sends along these great scans from Heritage Magazine. [More]

This is great, really gets me pumped to see these two great actors together in a scene...Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Christopher Lee (Saruman) together in one pic! Take a look!! Thanks to Morgoth1970 for sending this in. [More]

Ringer Spy etched chaos sends along these scans from Total Film Magazine. [More]

Ringer Spy Brian sends along news about the Topps' LOTR Trading Cards. [More]

Ringer Spy Kaplan sends along news of some phone cards available in France. [More]

Out rolls August, in rolls September and with it a new set of Hall of Fire topics! With 3 months plus to go until the films, it's fitting that the beginning of this month coincides with the theme of this weekend's discussion: the beginning of the Fellowship's journey. The Hall of Fire staff invite you to join us for three great discussions on Book II, Chapter III - The Ring Goes South. [More]

Access Hollywood mentioned LOTR on today's 'Staggering Stat' section. They mentioned the LOTR budget at a staggering 270 Million dollars...

The September edition of E!Online's LOTR reports focusses on the casting process, both for the main roles and the 4000 extras. [More]

Thanks to ryanp for the scan!

Today's new Entertainment Weekly has a short blurb about LOTR in the Books section.

German site Der Herre der Ringe have some great images of on-site shooting including the fields of Rohan scanned from German film magazine Cinema. [More]

ShowbizIreland is exclusively reporting that Cate Blanchett has been casted as the main role of murdered Irish journalist Veronica Guerin in the upcoming film Chasing the Dragon. Cate will be visiting Dublin in two weeks to check out the proposed sites of shooting, which will begin in February 2002. [More]

ShowbizIreland have joined the current trend of the media by reporting that there will no doubt be a battle between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. The article also mentions the brief spell of Irishman Stuart Townsend as Aragorn, who coincidentally has had his latest movie Queen of the Damned pushed back to 2002 due to the recent tragic death of Aaliyah. [More]

From: Gothmog and Wife

The October 2001 issue of the UK edition of Total Film Magazine has not only a four page article on the first part of the LOTR trilogy (including an interview with Peter Jackson) but a free double sided poster! One side is of the hobbits together, the other is of Arwen wielding her sword. The article is part of the mag's preview special section for 2002. Lots of nice pics of the cast, including one at the council of Elrond I certainly haven't seen. Fabulous stuff!

Anyone with a scanner, send the article along!

From: DonQuijote

Having lived in Berlin as an exchange student for a year, I like to keep up with my favorite Bundesliga team, Hertha BSC Berlin. Imagine my surprise when I discovered an article about the Greek defenseman Kostas Konstantinidis (today's evidently his birthday) entitled "1379 Seiten Mittelerde (1379 Pages of Middle Earth)". [More]

In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, war comes to the world of the Hobbits first as a rumour, a distant echo of far-off fighting. Then suddenly the Shire, the cozy and comfortable land of the Hobbits, is engulfed in strife. For fans of Tolkien's great fantasy, the marketing campaign surrounding director Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy resembles warfare in Middle-earth, as once inaudible noises seem to be getting nearer and more ominous. [More]

Thanks to Pascale for the tip!

From: Tom

I just recently became aware of a brief LOTR special on EXTRA that I suppose is part of an upcoming films preview. It will be airing on friday August, 31 7:00pm(EST) on the show EXTRA on NBC.

The Internet Movie Database has a few new names on it's LOTR Cast page. They say that young Taea Hartwell (The Frighteners) will play a child Hobbit, Peter Mackenzie (The In Crowd, Chill Factor) is set to play Elendil. I've also been getting news that Cameron Rhodes (Dark Knight [TV]) will play Farmer Maggot and not Ian Mune as previously thought...are ANY of these casting rumors true? Only time, and a little digging, will tell (I cannot beleive I'm posting casting rumors with a few months left until the film opens, SOMEONE send me a complete cast list!).

I wanted to let you know about a new Sean Bean (Boromir) video/DVD release. It's called "Troubles" and it was first shown on British tv in 1988. It's being released commercially on video and DVD on 02 October 2001 in North America.

From Nona, who is also a published author! Check out her new book 'The Cilla Rose Affair'

Calisuri here...reporting LIVE (well, not really LIVE right this minute) from DragonCon 2001 in Atlanta Georgia.

If you live in the southeast portion of the US, get your Ringer fan behind to Atlanta this weekend! We are showing a one hour presentation on the movies with exclusive images and 'other things' that we can't show online! John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) being here isn't too bad either!!! The big show is at 4pm on Saturday followed by JRD at 5pm. The Tolkien Track is up and running and has some exciting events this year. Check out Decipher's talk on the LOTR card game at 11:30am on both Saturday and Sunday. And there is even something for the kiddies! The Kid Track will be addressing Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit at 1pm on Saturday. There is even a Tolkien LARP happening this weekend. So the moral of the story...get to Atlanta..and fast. And if you do get here, drop by our booth and watch the trailers, check out the shirts and hats, and just hang out! We'll have our first day report online around midnight EST. [DragonCon]

OR...

Get to WorldCon in Philadelphia! Believe it or not, TheOneRing.net staffers Blasm, Nob, and Pippin Took are giving a behind the scenes look at the movies on Sunday at 5pm. Its the same presentation we are showing at DragonCon, so you won't want to miss the exclusive look at some great new stuff. [WorldCon]

If you live on the East Coast of the US...you have NO EXCUSE but to get to one of these events.

Spanish-speaking Ringers might enjoy this report from the monster Tolkien fiesta held by the Asociacion Tolkien Argentina. Great photos of all the usual convention goodies. [More]

Dan Timmons' film company 'Scripts and Scribes' sent us a note to fill us in on the many interesting places and people that will feature in their 'Legacy of "The Lord of the Rings"' documentary. We should have some clips to show you soon here on TORN.[More]

We got this fantastic report from Ringer Spy Healer2B, whose class in Auckland was visited by LOTR producer Barrie Osborne. For anyone wanting to know a little about one of the big names behind the LOTR films, read on! [More]

From: narie

There are 3 pages in the August/September edition of Spain's Cyberpais magazine dedicated to LoTR. While they don't say anything we haven't seen before, it's just nice to note that the article is mentioned in the cover as well. I'll mail you a translation of it soon enough, if you want me to.

Also, the one-volume edition of LoTR is #9 in fiction book sales in Brazil, according to the Brazilian magazine Veja. Fellowship of the Ring itself is at #8.

We now have that pic from the latest issue of 'Conde Nast Traveler' Magazine. My thanks to Tech for the scan!

From: Ahri

I was in Cleveland State University. I was in a hurry, but I noticed a pink A4 poster that October 5-6 there will be a 24 hour Tolkien Readings Marathon sponsored by New Line Cinema and somebody else in one of the CSU buildings. [More]

NEW YORK (CNNfn) - AOL Time Warner Inc. will be depending on magical powers to save what has been a lackluster year, at best, for its movie studios' box office. [More]

Ringer Spy Finwe from Montreal (good little town) sends along some news regarding the LOTR: FOTR trailer being shown on gigantic IMAX screens. [More]

The 1973 British horror classic The Wicker Man, starring Christopher Lee (Saruman), is being released on DVD in what distributor Anchor Bay Entertainment calls "the rarely seen, uncut edition" lasting 103 minutes. [More]

Pics from the latest David Wenham (Faramir) film 'Dust' can be seen online, take a look at David with his six-shooter. [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Autumn falls. The leaves turn. And one of Hollywood's more forgettable summers of quality-bereft action fare gives way to the season of style and sophistication. [More]

From: Ellid

There's a one page article and photo in the new 'Conde Nast Traveler' of the hobbit actors about to go surfing in Malibu. Quite amusing, since they *still* look like hobbits, only hobbits in neoprene wetsuits. The cover says "Hobbits in Malibu." Looks like the hype is going *way* beyond the genre publications.

From: Lucifer

FOTR's 26 footage will be screened first in Taiwan on September 11. The next two stop in Asia will be Hong Kong and Korea.

They also said New Line Cinema will send 3 technician along with 13 crates of equipment in order to control the quality.

No word on specific places or who is invited..more info when I get it!

For months now we've been searching for a complete cast list to fill our archives (someone out there, send one along!), the best we could do is use the small scraps we've been thrown from time to time. It was a long time ago that the name Sarah Mcleod crossed my desk, and ever since then we've been scrambling to find a REAL image of good old Rosie Cotton herself, and now we have one. Follow the link to see just how lucky Sam Gamgee really is, and we aren't talking Mayoral races here... [More]

As a follow up to the previous post, the new Fellowship of the Ring poster has just been posted on the official site. To check it out in all its glory, just click here.

Head on over to moviefone.com for a new contest where you can win the NEW LOTR: FOTR poster!!! We brought you this poster a while back, you can now win your own!! [More]

J.R.R.Tolkien succeeded both in creating fabulous new worlds and rendering them utterly believable. Reading his trilogy has become a rite of passage for many in several generations. An updated atlas of Middle -Earth provides a definitive guide through hundreds of maps and drawings. [More]

Book Reviewed: 'Atlas of Middle-earth', buy it on Amazon today!

From: Pierre P

Check out IFILM, they have a list of must see movies for the upcoming months. [More]

From: Bob M

My friend was at the Xgames in Philadelphia and they where handing out free LOTR pins. The pins had the picture of Frodo holding the ring on them.

BOX-OFFICE big boys Warner Bros and Twentieth-Century Fox may be slugging it out for the entertainment buck globally, but they will live under one roof here from today.

Both are moving into a 2,000-sq ft office on the fourth floor of Midland House in Middle Road, where Warner was a previous occupant. [More]

Thanks to milaya for the tip!

People kept writing in to recommend The Tolkien Ensemble. Their website looked promising, but there were no soundclips to give you a 'taste'. Now guitarist Caspar Reiff's written to say, "The 2CD box will soon be sold from 320 Borders Books & Music stores in America and Tower Records and Virgin Megastores should sell them too." So now many of you can check them out yourselves!

There's been different versions of a story about Tolkien fans being persecuted in Kazakhstan. People closer to the alleged persecution - including Khazakh 'Tolkienisti' - claim it isn't true. [More]

This week, Ian McKellen is featured in a program airing on U.S. PBS stations called "Changing Stages," a program about 20th-Century English-speaking theater. Sir Ian is interviewed in the first episode (at least), which focuses on Shakesperean stage work.

Thanks to Adrahil for that.

Thanks to Lord JubJub for this: "Newsweek has Legolas on page 54. It's talking about the novel-to-movie adaptions that are coming out this fall and winter. LOTR and Harry Potter are the main focus." (Yeah, but when do we see Xoanon's face on the cover of Time? -Tehanu.)

Ovation Theatre Company welcomes you to their original production of J.R.R. Tolkien's THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. This adaptation captures the mystery and excitement of Tolkien's mythopoetic tale of a hero's journey through creative casting and design work, innovative huge puppets and costumes, and fresh new music composed just for this show. [More]

Thanks to S&S for the tip.

Or maybe they're just pandering to our pathetic obsession. Either way, it's fun to check out their frontpage cartoon 'Statshot,' and their horoscope today for Capricorn. [More]

The Official site has a rather unexciting Q&A with the great Elijah Wood (Frodo), don't you wish you were able to ask questions? We KNOW NZ is beautiful, we KNOW PJ is cooler beyond cool, we KNOW you are Frodo Baggins...ah well, let's start a petition to get me in charge of lotr.net...any takers? [More]

Is it really possible that Hollywood only made about four movies this year that weren't aimed at charter members of the Britney Spears fan club? Breathe a sigh of relief, because that's all about to change. About six weeks from now the movie business will perversely screech on the brakes, shift gears and start flooding the marketplace with adult (and I mean this in the best sense) movies. [More]

Thanks to Damon for the tip!

Check out all the latest goodies from eBay..hmmm Xmas is coming soon you know... [More]

Another great chance to see your favorite LOTR stars on the small screen! [More]

The latest Ian Holm (Bilbo) film has changed it's title from 'Napoleon' to 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. shooting in Italy is reportedly complete, look for a possible 2002 release date.

Today, August 28th, is Billy Boyd (Pippin) Birthday! Billy was born on August 28th, 1968 in Glasgow, Scotland. That makes him 33 today! Happy Birthday Billy!

Sir Ian McKellen's posted another entry in his journal on life as Gandalf. This time he talks about the gruelling round of interviews that the LOTR actors went through at Cannes. [More]

You folks out there asking for a downloadable version of our first episode of TORN Digital, your wait is over! You can now download the episode in Windows Media, RealVideo or glorious Quicktime! [More]

A BIG thanks to Sangarunya for this great translation and transcription of this long article, thanks!

We find each other in TreePeople Park in Beverly Hills, exchanges courtesies � in Danish � and sit down on the dust-dry ground beneath the eucalyptus trees. Once in a while a couple of joggers passes by. Some of them turn and jog past us again, and a woman whispers to her co-runner: �My God � it�s Viggo Mortensen.�

And my God. It is Viggo Mortensen. [More]

From: Jim V

Just thought you might be interested in how New Line is promoting the movie at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. [More]

From: Thomas G

The trailer of "The Lord of the rings" is available in France on the CD-Rom given with the French magazine "Cin� Live". It is very interesting for French speakers because the trailer is dubbed in French.

From: DLO

The Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring (O Senhor Dos An�is: Sociedade Do Anel) will be shown here in Brazil with the original sound and subtitles. I think we are the only country that prefers to watch a American movie with subtitles rather than a dubbed one!

Now that's not really true, I know for a fact that in Holland the movie will hit theatres with subtitles too, but it does raise an interesting question for fans from countries that don't have English as their first language; will the movie be dubbed there too or will it be subtitled, and if they'll use subtitles, will they use the original English names for people and places or the translations? If you know how this will be done in your country, please let me know! -leo

THEONERING.NET� IN CONJUNCTION WITH ORPHMEDIA� PRESENT �TORN DIGITAL�

(Middle-earth, August 27, 2001) TheOneRing.net�, the premiere Lord of the rings website, adds another dimension to providing news and information from the land of Middle-earth and beyond with TORN Digital, an internet/video show produced by Orphmedia�, a company on the cutting edge of internet media and broadcasting. [More]