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The season's two biggest franchises have more in common than bazillions in ticket sales: Wizards, elves, trolls, and animated trees crop up in ''The Lord of the Rings'' and the two ''Harry Potter'' movies. ''Rings'' director Peter Jackson moved a jumbo spider -- not unlike the one in ''The Chamber of Secrets'' -- from ''The Two Towers,'' the second in J.R.R. Tolkien's series, to next Christmas' ''Return of the King.'' [More]

(yawn...-Xo)

Most people don't need a map to know that Middle-earth isn't anywhere near Iraq. Or North Korea for that matter. But "Lord of the Rings" star Viggo Mortensen felt the need to remind people of that salient geographical fact a few weeks back when he appeared on "The Charlie Rose Show" in a homemade T-shirt that read "No More Blood for Oil." Apparently, Mortensen was mortified at hearing people projecting simplistic, post-Sept. 11 analogies onto J.R.R. Tolkien's mythical universe of hobbits, orcs and hirsute sorcerers. [More]

Once upon a time, if you liked a movie and wanted a piece of the action to take home with you, you went to McDonald's and got a plastic figurine in your $3 Happy Meal. Not anymore. Instead, how about a $500 glass hobbit jar actually used on the set of "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy? [More]

Last week I said even experienced critics should consider themselves students. They always should be learning, re-evaluating. So this week I'm backing up that statement by engaging in some reconsideration. [More]

Aileen writes: TTT broke box office records here in Manila, Philippines and grossed more than 12M Pesos (around $260,000) in its first day of opening yesterday, January 11. It has been rated GP and distributed through Pioneer films. Its original opening date of January 4 has been moved to January 11.

Tina writes: TTT premiered in our country yesterday.Not even knee-deep snow and a forecast blizzard could stop thousands from gathering at the biggest movie theater in the city ;) Afterwards all one could hear were endless debates over the changes in the movie or expressions of sheer awe.

FOTR has just won best Motion Picture of the year at the 29th annual People's Choice Awards on CBS!

Tied alongside Spiderman, LOTR:FOTR was chosen as favorite motion picture by the PCA. Sean Astin once again appeared live from Vancouver to accept the second award. Congrats once again!

FOTR has just won best Dramatic Motion Picture of the year at the 29th annual People's Choice Awards on CBS!

Sean Astin and daughter were live from Vancouver BC to accept the award on behalf of everyone! Congrats!

Twice as many DVD players were sold in the UK in 2002 compared with 2001. This surge was boosted by the popularity of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. [More]

Be sure to catch the 29th annual People's Choice Awards tonight on CBS at 9PM EST. FOTR is nominated for Favorite Motion Picture & Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture. Due to FOTR being released in mid December 2001, it is only eligible for winning this year, even with TTT out. Catch that tonight! [PCA's]

IGN talks to Richard Taylor about that Legolas mounting shot from the TTT warg battle sequence, take a look! [More]

Green Book writer Turgon writes: Translator Henry Wickens has informed me that his translation of The Hobbit into Luxembourgish ("Lëtzebuergesch"--the language used in Luxembourg), "Den Hobbit," was launched on 13 December 2002, and is now available from the publisher, Editions Op der Lay, Esch-sur-Sûre, Luxembourg for 19.90 euros. The publisher's website is at webplaza.pt.lu with a Hobbit page. See also the translator's website at den-hobbit.com

Christi writes: We will be playing "Symphonic Suite from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" at our concert in American Fork, Utah, on Feb. 24. [More]

File this one away in the hopefull-rumor department; Jen writes: Yesterday an exec at AMC theaters said that the posters for The Return of the King would be arriving in March!!

Jatamansi discovered this brief, but interesting editorial about the political reasons Tolkien might not survive as an academic at today's universities. It also briefly mentions the influence his writings have had on medieval studies. [More]

Roll out the pollsters. "2003 is finally upon us, so which of this year's titles is the one that gives you reason to live?" Scroll to the bottom to find the poll, and thanbks to Gandalf Stormcrow for the link. [More]

The Two Towers should be viewed not as a separate movie or typical sequel but as the "To be continued" of a single cultural event whose opening salvo was The Fellowship of the Ring. [More]

Ever wanted to get your hands on the bow Legolas uses to smite those pesky orcs in Moria? Well Russell Barton from StickStone.com set out to mix his love of bow-making with his love of Tolkien's Middle-earth and bring the fans a replica of that very bow. Take a read through our interview with Russell as we discover just what goes into crafting such a pivotal piece in Legolas' arsenal. [More]

Joey writes: I noticed that recently there were complaints from the Japanese worrying about the quality of the subtitles. Well, I can understand their worries as the quality of the subtitles in Hong Kong is not very good either. [More]

Rookan sends us this image of New Line's bid for Peter Jackson's Oscar win. Take a look!

In a TV interview in Paris last month, Peter Jackson, director of "Lord of the Rings," dropped a bombshell on Japan's movie industry. Tokyo Confidential surveys popular vernacular magazines -- often "salacious, libelous and utterly unreliable" -- to discover what the Japanese are "really thinking." He said he had received a flood of complaints from Japanese fans of his film over serious problems in the translation of its Japanese subtitles. [More]

Belmont University students will be graded on their knowledge of Middle-earth this semester when Dr. Amy Sturgis begins teaching a class exclusively on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. [More]

Peregrine writes: The article is from "The University of Waterloo Magazine", Winter 2003. The university is in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. [More]

Think of them as supersized grandchildren of the CD or as genetically enhanced offspring of the DVD. In a few years, for just a few hundred dollars, consumers will start snapping up next-generation digital recording systems that will employ exotic blue-violet lasers to etch 13 hours of video--more than six full-length movies--onto disks the size of standard music CDs. [More]

Perhaps it's no surprise that Sean Astin grew up to be a furry-footed Hobbit, considering that his parents are cultish pop culture icons themselves. Astin's mother is Patty Duke, once known as America's kookiest clone. [More]

Recent internet rumors hitting our mailboxes have Billy Boyd recently married, nothing can be further from the turth, here is what our sources very close to Billy tell us: I can confirm that Billy has not ever been married, Ever. Nor does he have any kids. Nor is he planning to give up acting for his music.

McKellen is currently at the heart of one of the most successful and critically acclaimed movie franchises of all time. He’s become a pop icon, thanks to his turn as the wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the second installment of which—The Two Towers— opened in theaters last month and is still doing a brisk business. [More]

No single character from Two Towers has caused more controversy than the writing of Faramir. Some people have been outraged enough to brand it "character assassination". Keeping in mind that there's much more of Faramir to come in RoTK, what do we think so far? The Movie Characterisation of Faramir. Success or Failure? [More]

Women are flocking to heroic epics - Times of London tries to explain why. Not sure if many of our longtime female readers of Tolkien would agree with these conclusions, though. Thanks to Ringer Spy Arwenelf for the link. [More]

NB: For anyone wishing to comment on this article, The Times does have an e-mail address at the very bottom that you can write to. Much more effective than writing to me!

After the best crop of holiday movies in recent memory, many of the year’s Academy Award races are wide open. David Ansen of MSNBC offers his early forecast on the likely nominees. [More]

And there the resemblance ends? "A memorable scene in Wagner shows Siegfried filing the shards of his father's sword into dust, and casting a new sword out of the filings. That, more or less, is what Tolkien accomplished with the elements of Wagner's story. Wagner will still haunt the stages of opera houses, but audiences will see him through Tolkien's eyes." [More]

Here's some snippets from a couple of articles written by Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey where he talks about The Two Towers. [More]

Anyone tuned into Access Hollywood today would have seen the small preview for their upcoming Tuesday (January 14) show featuring TTT special effects. It is certainly not to be missed!

I WON'T SEE "CHICAGO." There, I said it. I'm sure it's a wonderful movie. John Podhoretz says so. Everyone says so. And besides, it stars Renée Zellweger, who will always be dear to my heart because she was a scrappy point guard in high school. But "Chicago" is going to win the Oscar for Best Picture and once again Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" is going to be overlooked. We can all see it coming. [More]

An exhibition based on The Lord of the Rings films is pulling record crowds at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa in Wellington. [More]

The folks from ANCANAR write: This is the first real glimpse that audiences will get to see of the independent fantasy production, which began shooting back in the Fall of 2000. Ancanar.com, the award-winning official site, has released a number of Quicktime specials, interviews, stills and interactive features since the site's launch, and today marks a special occasion for all of us. [More]

Update: It seems we 'TORNed' the Ancanar site...it seems down for the count...Sorry guys!

GreyLady writes: I was in Wal-Mart yesterday and found TTT Valentine Cards. There are 30 foil cards per pack and feature Sam, Frodo, Merry & Pippin, Aragorn, Eowyn, Treebeard, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf the White and the Three Hunters with Gandalf the White.

(Nothing says love like Treebeard! -Xo)

Harry who? Frodo's quest fast becoming geekdom's uber-myth. It's Christmas Eve in Towson. On York Road, people pound the pavement, going in and out of stores, looking for that one perfect present that has proven elusive. [More]

The weather outside is not particularly frightful, but Edmontonians still like to be inside this time of year. North American box office receipts for last weekend have once again pinpointed this city's remarkable love affair with the movies. This time in particular, the movie of the moment is The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. [More]

Elijah Wood strolls through a Hollywood theater complex, a bag of CDs in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He sits at an outdoor table and orders coffee. And matches. Wood smokes a lot. In a couple of hours, he sucks on six or seven cigs as though they supply oxygen. [More]

LONDON - Prince Charles took a bus ride Thursday through a gentle green valley said to have been the inspiration for Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. [More]

belethdelothiel, Eärendil The Mariner, grammaboodawg write: Late in November, the TORnsibs on the Movie and Main Discussion Boards gathered together and created what started out as a Christmas Card and a Letter for Peter Jackson and everyone who contributed to the production of The Lord of the Rings film(s). The Card quickly became a full-size poster! [More]

I've read a ton of negative reviews on TTT and FOTR, some people are more than happy to tell me how they don't like the films. Most of them make valid arguments and I am more than happy to listen and debate with them. This article however, written by Tribune staff reporter Patrick T. Reardon, seems to have been written only to get a rise out of people...the tone is slightly mocking in its attitude, Reardon is looking for some attention with this piece. [More]

via_hobbit writes: This is from the January edition of Empire magazine (UK) and it features a little bit about RotK: "This is it. The grand finale, the showdown, the big finish to one of the most adored movie trilogies since the original series of Star Wars films. [More]

VARIETY takes a look at Viggo Mortensen as a part of their exhaustive updates today to the Award Central supplementary section of the publication. Mortensen is described as a romantic hero reminiscent of Mel Gibson's BRAVEHEART. [More]

Ross writes: Today is the national premiere of the TTT in Bulgaria, although there were several pre-premiere releases in the bigger cities of the country a week ago.

You've written your Ringer Review, posted multiple times on discussion boards across the internet, and maybe even ventured into the depths of Usenet if you're really geeky. What's left? Try writing to USA Today with your opinion. Thanks to Jon for the link. [More]

Third Coast International Audio Festival is featuring a LoTR documentary - A Long-Expected Party - until January 20th. Produced by Radio New Zealand's Camilla Maling, it explores the creation of the world of the Lord of the Rings through the eyes of the New Zealanders whose "good old kiwi ingenuity" on the film set brought Middle Earth to life. (Requires Real Player) [More]

Jason Averett at Entertainment Weekly dropped us a line with the inside scoop on the forthcoming Oscar race edition of EW. [More]

Tickets have been on sale for a little under 24 hours and we have sold half of them! If you are waiting to see if there are any Oscar Nominations in February, you might be too late! Check out our Oscar Party section and if you decide to join us, be sure to read the ordering instructions. [More]

The man who plays Gollum in The Two Towers, Andy Serkis, is a good actor, perhaps a great one. Anyone who saw his performance as pigeon-like choreographer John D'Auban in Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy knows Serkis is a delightfully physical performer, a man capable of dominating a scene even when he is thrust into the background. [More]

Note the opposing article below.

Andy Serkis, a 38 year-old British stage veteran, provides the voice for Gollum, the former possessor of Frodo's magic ring who was corrupted by its power. The Gollum that appears onscreen, however, is an entirely computer-generated character that was modeled on Serkis' actual movements. [More]

Lord of the Rings star Billy Boyd quit Middle Earth to return to his Glasgow roots today. The actor, who plays Pippin in the smash-hit trilogy, was guest of honour at a new exhibition celebrating the history of Easterhouse. [More]

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - It's definitely the year of the digital character as a cast of computer-generated beings are featured prominently in the seven pictures tapped to compete in February for the visual f/x Oscar nomination. [More]

The South Pacific island country, where "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy was filmed, is reaping the benefits of two blockbuster hits as tourists flock to New Zealand for a quest of their own. [More]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Jan. 8, 2003)--While the Ring may have the power to move heaven and hell and corrupt even the purest hobbit's heart, Weta Digital summoned up a different kind of power-the visual supercomputing and asset management power of SGI (NYSE: SGI)-to deliver the much-anticipated second film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Two Towers. [More]

Todd writes: The Academy announced the seven finalists in the Visual effects and Sound Editing categories today. The Two Towers made the cut in both cases. Academy branch members will review the seven nominees and whittle them down to a final three nominees, which will be announced along with the regular nominations on February 11th. Biggest surprise is the lack of a sound editing nomination for Attack of the Clones. [More]

PippinRulesOK1 writes: "Sneak" magazine (7-13 January) has a two page spread of photos of the hobbits buying computer equipment in New York and Dom's birthday party in Paris, which also includes Andy Serkis, Bernard Hill and Liv Tyler. January 2003 "J17" magazine has a lovely full page photo of Elijah Wood who appears to be trying to shake off his boyish look and appear like Aragorn by narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips.

Anyone with scans, send them along!

Without digital technology, there's no way a visually convincing film version of The Lord of the Rings—like the one we now have—could ever have been made. [More]

Source: MSN.com

Platty writes: Just thought all Australian PJ fans would like to know that his rarely seen mockumentary "Forgotten Silver" will screen on TV station SBS this Saturday night at 12.55 am.

Not only that, but no other then the charming Sarah McLeod (Rosie Cotton) has a small part in this 'film', so try and catch it if you can!

Now, with veteran actor Viggo Mortensen's starring role in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, it is time for everyone to take notice. [More]

Thanks to hobbitgirl11 for the link!

Cinescape.com has a short article online in which Andy Serkis (Gollum) comments on a scene from The Two Towers that got cut and will probably appear in Return of the King. Paul sent in the link.. [More]

This story still isn't over, apparently: I've received a lot of emails telling me that the explanation the Japanese distributors offered about their subtitling process is not as good or new as they implied. The Japanese LOTR fan base may not be large [yet!] but they are discerning. What they've seen so far in the TTT trailer has alarmed them, as already it appears no better than the weirdly-subtitled FOTR. [More]

Jeremy sent us links to some sites that tell us more about the beautiful instrument that plays the main Rohan theme. Various people have corrected my correction of the spelling: according to Norwegians and folk music specialists, it IS called 'Hardanger fiddle,' but is mis-spelled on the TTT soundtrack CD. [More]

Tom Shippey, one of the foremost Tolkien scholars in the world today, wrote a thoughtful article which appears in the National Post. [More] He makes some observations on how the films compare to the books.

Tickets are on sale now! Jump to our 'Two Towers - One Party' website to reserve your attendance at the most glamorous Tolkien event of the year! [More]

Some folks have been emailing asking for an update on ticket sales. In the first half hour, 200 tickets were sold. This night is going to be something special!

The South African birthplace of Lord Of The Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien is to be turned into a site of pilgrimage for fans. Hot on the heels of the blockbusting success of the second Rings movie, The Two Towers, the town of Bloemfontein looks set to become a Tolkein tourist trap, despite the writer and academic having left for Britain when still a young boy. [More]

NEW YORK - Take a close look at Eomer's helmet in "The Two Towers" and you can get an idea of the attention to detail the costume designer paid to the uniforms. "On my helmet it says engraved around the rim, 'This helmet belongs to Eomer, son of Eomund, may he ride forth in valor,' written in Rohiric," Urban said. [More]

Many MANY people have written in asking us to post this 'news' article, so here it is, Jar-Jaromir...please stop sending emails about it! I now have an all NEW hatred for this fetid CGI creation! Fans Outraged at New Character in The Return of the King. A recently leaked trailer for The Return of the King has Tolkien fans outraged over the apparent addition of a new character - Jar-Jaromir [More]

Elijah Wood (Frodo) is scheduled to be on Late Night with Conan O'Brien next Friday the 17th. Conan is on NBC at 12:35AM, check your local listings.

Master sends along this amazing scans from the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter, both featuring scenes from TTT. The inside cover features a split image of Andy Serkis and Gollum both before and after the special effects were added.

Lady Luke Skywalker sends us this little bit of coolness from stylechecks.com, you can now order some Hildebrandt checks from their "Collectors Editions" section. Spend money in style!. [More]

Check out our new 'Two Towers - One Party' website! Hopefully it will answer most of your questions and give you a heads up when tickets go on sale tomorrow. [More]

These pictures were posted online yesterday, they were small, grainy and not very detailed. We've gotten our hands on these high resolution pics for you to oogle over! Get a load of these! !!!Heavy Spoilers!!!

Aragorn - Gollum - Gandalf - Arwen - Sam & Frodo

Hey guys, leo here. Over the past two days I have been getting a lot of emails from people who want to know where they can buy the ROTK calendar that features these pictures. Instead of replying to everyone who emailed I will just say here: these calendars are not meant for sale. They are promotional items only which means they are meant for people in the movie business only. To the best of our knowledge there is no place online where you could buy them and we don't have them either (though if someone wants to give me theirs I won't mind, heheh...) Just to clear that up...

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" has sold more tickets through online vendor Fandango than any film in the service's three-year history. Fandango, which is partnered with six big exhibition chains, sold nearly $6 million worth of tickets to "The Two Towers" screenings in the movie's first five days. [More]

Many people have written in to tell us that Howard Shore and Enya were just nominated for 2 Grammys this morning! Take a look! [More]

Every year we get a TON of people making Oscar preditions. People from a to z people have something to say in regards to who will win, and most of them are wrong most of the time (hey, I was going for 'Town and Country' last year!). But the Dallas Fort-Worth Critics have correctly predicted Best Director award since 1999, and this year they chose Peter Jackson for Two Towers! [More]

Fraser sends along the translation to the Maori words at the end of the TTT credits, take a look! [More]

Garfeimao writes: I was able to reduce and scan in the full page ad from the Los Angeles Times New Year's Day newspaper. The style of the ad is similar to the post FOTR poster release of the Gandalf and Frodo poster last year. Even the theme of what they are saying is similar to the them of Gandalf and Frodo's dialogue, which is really nice. I hope they turn this into a poster like last year's poster. [More]

LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- In its search for a new series frontier, HBO is betting on a Western from David Milch. The cable network has picked up Milch's drama pilot "Deadwood" as a series with an order for 13 episodes, including the pilot. The series' ensemble cast also features Brad Dourif and John Hawkes. Gregg Fienberg is co-executive producing. [More]

This Months Issue of Wizard features never before seen images from X-Men 2, including some of Rings star Ian McKellan mastering all things magnetic as Magneto. The article also features info on newcomers to the series Kelly Hu [Lady Deathstrike], Aaron Standford [Pyro], and Alan Cumming [Nightcrawler]. Wizard #137 is on News Stands now and goes for $4.99 US.

You can catch our very own Sean Astin (Sam) on 'The Caroline Rhea Show' tomorrow. Check your local listings.

Shanoncia writes: Sympatico today released a list of the Canadian top ten pics for movies, and can you guess what the people chose? [More]

Narya writes: Readers of TheOneRing.Net may be interested to know that Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, has been voted the top DVD of 2002 by readers of the BBC’s teletext service, CEEFAX. [More]

John Cook writes: I've drawn a new Lord of the Rings cartoon parody featuring a caricature of Gollum with Sam and Frodo wondering how an ex-hobbit could end up looking like him! The reader gets to write the answer with the funniest entry voted on by readers in a week's time. [More]

Tanja reports on the first part of Red Carpet's Premiere Tour of New Zealand, which took a group of happy fans to film locations and treated them to a great view of Peter Jackson and the stars as they walked in to the Wellington Premiere. [More]

Anyone notice how much Gamling the Old appears in TTT? Apparently Bruce was called in for what was originally a small role, but they liked his work so much that he kept getting asked back. Now there's an Official Bruce Hopkins Website so you can learn more about him.

The Online Critics Society has awarded TTT with best picture, best director, best editing, best sound, best ensemble, and best visual effects! [More] Official results will be up on their site soon.

Ringer Spy wizardlex sent in a link to pictures from a 2003 calendar of The Return of the King that were originally found at HollywoodDreamsOnline.com. The calendar features some awesomely new pictures from (amongst others) Denethor, Gollum, Frodo in Shelobs Lair, Gandalf and others. The quality of the scans are a bit poor but don't let that stop you! Since we posted the story, HollywoodDreamsOnline.com took down the images. We have now posted them in our spy reports area for your viewing pleasure. !!Spoilers!! [More]

Join TheOneRing.net and hundreds of your closest Tolkien fans as we celebrate The Two Towers on Oscar Night 2003. Tickets for this year's party, appropriately named Two Towers - One Party, will go on sale this coming Wednesday, January 8th. Stay tuned for details and the opening of the party website.

Rumours about Sir Ian McKellen's death are greatly exaggerated — and probably spread by people who don't surf the Internet. If they did, they could go to McKellen's official Web site (http://www.mckellen.com) and get the word about his alleged demise directly from Sir Ian, a.k.a. the wizard Gandalf from The Lord Of The Rings, posted on a page called Rumours False And True. [More]

When the “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” premiéred on 19 December, 2001, sword fans around the world were thrilled to see the amount of work that had gone into the design and making of the swords and other weapons. In this exclusive interview, we’ll hear some behind-the-scenes comments from two of the men responsible for the way the swords turned out: fantasy artist and conceptual designer John Howe and sword-smith Peter Lyon. [More]

Tim writes: The Line Party itself was a grand success with contest prizes totalling over $1000 from local and national sponsors and the party lured over 75 people into its clutches. The Tolkien Trivia contest triumphed in that not a single person was able to get a perfect score, the caption contest left us all in stitches and the costume contest drew over twice the entries as last year. [More]

NEW YORK - Brad Dourif wasn't Director Peter Jackson's first choice to play the villainous Grima Wormtongue in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." [More]

The New Line Auctioning site started a very, very, very cool new auction today; the chance to own your own Hobbit hole! For more information on this item or the other items going that are being auctioned as of today (including a 9-foot statue of Gandalf riding Shadowfax, a Two Towers production slate and an Orc Helmet) check out their site: LordoftheRingsAuction.com and follow the little green Lord of the Rings-banner!

The-Trades.com has compiled the top 100 trailers of 2002, and the trailer for The Two Towers has been placed 15th for the year. You can find the complete list here!

Thanks to Alex for that!

Charisa writes: Er, Gollum *lived* in Alaska. Here's yet another reason to consider Alaska as Middle Earth. This article, "Smeagol's Ghost," is in the current issue of Alaska Magazine. [More]

CNN.com wrote up a story about The Two Towers' succes at the boxoffice lately, the article doesn't really contain any new information but it always nice to read about how well the movie is doing.. [More]