Billy Boyd, professional hobbit and The Lord of the Rings star, is recalling his days at printing college. One day the teacher looked up and asked the class, "Where’s Billy?" to which the would-be actor replied, "I’m here." Sure enough, there was Billy, all 5ft 7in of him, with his undeniably pixie-esque features and tufty hair. "Oh, Billy," sighed the teacher, "some days you’re here and I don’t even know you are." [More]

Tucked away in North Oxford lies a small, nondescript pub that has become an informal pilgrimage site for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, the British professor of literature who wrote "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." [More]

It was a moment any actor would savour with pride. After 18 months filming in the wilds of New Zealand, Elijah Wood returned to Los Angeles with the world at his feet. Global fame beckoned for the little-known actor who was about to become a big star with the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. [More]

Are there conclusions to be drawn from the year in movies? Other than that you should never underestimate a determined Greek-American woman? Yes, and it's this: The disjunction between commerce and quality is gaping ever wider. Of 2002's top moneymakers - which include ''Spider-Man,'' ''XXX,'' and the latest salvos in the ''Star Wars,'' ''Harry Potter,'' and ''Austin Powers'' series - only ''The Two Towers'' will make it onto the year-end lists of most film lovers. [More]

Take a look at the Foxtrot comic from this weekend, seems Jason has tree envy! [More]

Elvasdottir sent in a report about an appearance of LoTR cast members on CNN en Espanol. Viggo Mortensen, in particular gave a fine interview. This report is in both English and Spanish. [More]

So what exactly is going on with McKellen as Dumbledore. First we report that Ian will not play him, then the Sun 'reports' that he will...and now this from McKellen's own people, and our good friends at McKellen.com. Take a look! [More]

Moviegoers who flocked last week to ''The Two Towers,'' the second installment of the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, saw stunning cinematography and eye-catching epic battle scenes. [More]

Lady Kenobi writes: Read the funniest thing in this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly. From their columnist Joel Stein: "I called Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Dungeons & Dragons, and asked them to send an expert to run a game for me. Then I asked all my friends if they'd like to play. When that didn't go so well, I called the man who made it acceptable to take the threat of orcs seriously, Elijah Wood. Actors, as it turns out, have quite bit of free time." Read on for goblin housekeepers, anger management issues and of course videogames and collectible toys.

Not sick of Towers reviews yet? Then head on over to check out Anwyn's comments, more positive than last year's, at Green Books! [More]

Never underestimate a hobbit. Elijah Wood, along with a few swashbuckling buddies, has taken over the box office: ''Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' grossed more than $100 million in its first five days of release and snagged Golden Globes nominations for Best Picture and Best Director (Peter Jackson). Not bad for a 21-year-old former child star. EW.com talked to Wood about elfin superstardom, his hunk costar Viggo Mortensen, and why his ''LOTR'' journey warranted a painful, and permanent, souvenir. [More]

Readers might like to know that the EWTN news program (oin Global Catholic Network) that featured The Lord of the Rings and a special interview with Peter Jackson and LoTR cast members is now available for download in RealAudio format. Thanks to Rob for the link. [More]

Matthew writes: Thought your fans might be interested in knowing the top ten theatres' boxoffice last weekend. TTT was the top draw in all 10 theatres with 7 out of 10 theatres being Canadian. The top theatre was Paramounts' Famous Players theatre in downtown Montreal followed by Toronto and New York. [More]

It is not just Lord Of The Rings that is ushering in a golden age of Kiwi cinema. Everywhere you look, New Zealanders are taking over Tinseltown. [More]

Perry writes: I'm the publicity guy for TruthQuest at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. We're hosting a special event on Friday Evening January 10, where a professor from Wheaton College and a 'pagan' Tolkien afficionado will face off on the subject of whether there is hidden Christianity in Lord Of The Rings and The Two Towers. As you know, Tolkien was Roman Catholic, and some believe that his Christian worldview influences his work. [More]

Jeff writes: action-figure.com has some pictures of new figures due out in July 03. Includes Sam with climbing action, Helms Deep Legolas on a shield with wheels, Theoden in armor, Gimli, twilight Frodo, Gollum with Electronic Sound Rock Base and Boromir with a battle attack action. [More]

elvedar sends along this screengrab from TTT featuring Peter Jackson's 2.2 second cameo in TTT! Take a look! [More]

Peter Jackson, the New Zealand director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, almost begs to be described as a hobbit. His hair is like untrimmed shrubbery and he is barefoot despite the frigid temperature of an unheated Manhattan hotel room. [More]

Ro alerted us to the astounding news that a handwritten manuscript of Beowulf was found buried in a box of JRR Tolkien's papers that are housed in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England by Michael Drout, assistant professor of English at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. [More] Update: Read the full story here. [More]

Bilbofett writes: They say Christmas day is one of the biggest days for movies, and I believe it. At the Cinemark in Victorville CA (USA), every single showing of LOTR:TTT was sold out in the morning. At one of the later showings, they overbooked the seating by 200! [More]

Southern Californian newspaper The Orange County Register lists its top 10 films of the year. The Two Towers sneaks in as its number one choice. [More]

I've received a few e-mails about Tolkien TV popping up across the next couple days, so I thought I might repost the week's Tolkien TV guide with a few additions. Australian readers might be interested in the Master of Middle Earth repeat tomorrow morning on cable. [More]

Rasputin the Evil Balrog writes: We held a raffle opening night of The Two Towers in Austin, Texas to benefit the local Food Bank. The Austin Chronicle ran an article about it, including a picture of TORn regulars Light of Earendil (on left), Belladonna Took's daughter, Emily, and Rasputin the Evil Balrog (with wings!) [More]

The comic strip shoe, a continuing legacy of the late Jeff MacNelly and the silly folks at 'Shoe' have a LOTR themed cartoon from Friday, take a look! [More]

Rosie writes: On the latest episode of the BBCAmerica show, "Talking Movies", the host, Tom Brook, gave a countdown of his best movies of 2002. He rated The Two Towers as #1! He wasn't immensely impressed with FOTR last year, but apparently he liked TTT very much. [More]

ephor writes: I just want to report in on the chaos and rabid enthusiasm we are experiencing down here in Brisbane, Austraila, with LOTR:TTT. I had bought tickets in advance for the first session at 9:50am, and my friend and I arrived at the cinema at 8:40am, well in advance we thought to be able to line up and get the seats we wanted. When we got to the cinema, there was already a lineup outside and it didn't open until 9am. [More]

Glaurung writes: Well, its been a pretty busy Lord Of The Rings Day for yours truly. I took the Lynx ferry from Picton to Wellington and hooked up with my good buddy Big Geoff before heading to the Te Papa museum. As far as museums go Te Papa is on the cutting edge and a Lord Of The Rings exhibition makes a must see attraction. [More]

Darth-Bobo writes: TTT is the biggest opening Israel has ever seen. 73,910 viewers have watched it during it's first 3 days run, which passed the 72,000 record made last year by Harry Potter 1. Last year, Fellowship of the Ring was seen by over 100,000 viewers and The Two Towers is expected to rise above that figure.

Hot off the heels of those production stills from LOTR comes these screen grabs from Hamish Towgood. They show Andy Serkis and the actor playing Deagol (I know SOMEONE knows who this guy is...email us!). Take a look! [More]

Mary r writes: Sean Astin (Sam) will be on 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' on January 3rd & 'The Caroline Rhea Show' on January 15th. Check your local listings!

Ringer Spy Kristoffer sends us these two great pics that will either be seen in the TTT Extended Edition DVD or Return of the King! Take a look at Smeagol with Deagol, and the other picture is Smeagol at about the 1/2 way point in his 500 years under the mountains. !!Spoilers!! [More]

Hobbit Angel writes: I just got my copy of Seventeen (February 2003) yesterday and Orlando Bloom (Legolas) is in the It Stars section. [More]

Emre The Sorcerer writes: TT, which opened on December 20th in Turkey, has made the best foreign movie opening. The previous record holder was FOTR with 272.715 admissions.

Thanks to Kereah and others who wrote in with a correction: That lovely violin-like thing that plays Rohan theme as the camera pans over the roofs of Edoras, is s actually a Norweigan fiddle called the hardinger. It is played by Dermot Crehan."
Which reminds me....whaddya all think of the Horn of Helm's Deep??? Wow, I want THAT!!!

Lessa writes: The British magazine Arena (men's style & fashion) has three covers this month: Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood & Ian McKellen


Anyone with scans, send them along!

frodo's girl writes: I had the pleasure of attending several events at Te Papa this past week. The first one was a black tie dinner for the embassy trust on the 17th. the members got to see the new LotR exhibit before it opened and have a delectable dinner catered by Te Papa's own Icon restaurant. [More]

From Timothy: "Here's a little gem...Guy Keleny of the UK's Independent on a few things,including....how far IS it to Mordor, exactly?" [More]

Glendalf has one answer to that question, with his link to a 'real' Mordor in Australia. [More]

More news has come in from Japan that suggests that the translations are undergoing a pretty rigorous cross-checking by different people, although the main translator remains the same - a few people wrote in her defence. We also heard of some pretty funny things in the Greek translations. [More]

New Line exec Mark Ordesky was standing at Sydney harbor when he learned of the Globe noms for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." "Between opening day grosses and the Golden Globes, this is really exciting," he said. [More]

Nim, Bad, and Lila all write: The Two Towers line party at the Coronet Theater in San Francisco was one of Special Magnificence! [More]

Vince "Thenamir" Smith writes: Attached are pictures from the Houston Line Party! What a blast! We had nearly three THOUSAND people show up for the opening. [More]

Elijah Wood has signed to to star in the film 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' with Jim Carrey. Kirsten Dunst and Kate Winslet will also appear in the surreal comedy. [More]

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] (Warning, the article contains strong language.)

The Miami Herald takes an inside look at Towers. Among other things, it reveals how some of the incredible stunts of Legolas the elf were engineered. Thanks to Ringer Fan Altaira for the link. [More]

Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore arrives in London on February 9 to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the UK première of his Fellowship of the Ring for Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Classic FM has five pairs of tickets to give away to the event. [More]

Faithful Ringer Ataahua emailed saying, The New Zealand Herald, NZ's premier daily newspaper, has announced its top 20 films of 2002 - and has put TTT at only number 11. [More]

Shawna adds to Simon's list of the themes or leitmotifs in the Rings soundtracks so far. [More] A few people have written in to say that the fiddle we hear in the Rohan theme is a Hardanger fiddle.

After protests by Japanese fans about the inaccurate subtitles in FOTR , word came that TTT was going to use a different translator. Now the Japanese distributor is denying this, and the Japanse fans fear another botched translation. [More]

TTT opened in Australia on the 26th, and smashed box office records. [More] Thanks to Deegan for the link.

Sir Ian McKellen's updated his E-post page, where he answers questions from his fans. [More]

CBS News talks about the actors who play Eowyn and Eomer. They'll be on the Early Show on Friday. [More]

The Tolkien Society is planning a special gathering to see TTT at a theatre in Kent on January 3. [More]

Lottelita sends in her report from the west coast! Take a look! [More]

Tigerlily Gamgee sends in her report from Chicago, take a look at all the great costumes! [More]

Ringer Spy Al sends in these pics from the Odeon in Leicester Square, all dolled up for TTT! [More]

Featuring some great images of the incredible Serkis at work as well as a great Gollum spoiler confirmation... if you can read Sweedish! [More]

Ringer Spy Kailin sends along these great pics from the Los Angeles premiere of TTT! Take a look at these pics of Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, JRD, Karl Urban, and more! [More]

Ringer Kailin let us know that Apple.com now hosts BB's Master and Commander: Far Side of the World trailer. [More]

IMDB is saying that Sir Ian McKellan will play the role of Albus Dumbledore in The Prisoner of Azkaban. [More]

Ringer Spy Mystk sends along these scans from the December issue of Parade Magazine with our very own Elijah Wood (Frodo). [More]

If you like playing Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon, you have a new star to work with! Looks like Lee is more prolific according to some. Thanks PD for this cool article: [More]

More awesome offerings from the weaponsmiths at UC: The newest blades I've seen include Aragorn's Ranger Sword, Arwen's Sword Hadhafang, An Uruk-Hai Scimitar, The Limited Shards of Narsil set, and the first scabbard available from UC for Sting. Thanks to Ringer Fingolfin for the news.

ViggoLvr also sends in a great link to an interview with LotR producer Barrie Osborne over at Widescreenreview.com. More wonderful insight into the production of the epic! [More]

This fascinating article at The American Society of Cinematographers not only overviews TTT but has wonderful depth in its interview with Oscar winner Andrew Lesnie and our favorite filmmaker PJ. Thanks to ViggoLvr for the link! Article includes some excellent images and loads of spoilers. [More]

Brad Dourif [Grima Wormtongue] is interviewed on the NZ Herald website. [More] Thanks to Ataahua for the link.

Ringer spy Simon has been thinking about how the music in the films represents the characters and ideas in it. [More]

Can't get enough? Comingsoon.net has some words from Elijah and PJ on ROTK. [More] Thanks to Charles for the link.

The official site, LordoftheRings.net, has updated with a great new video about the Arms and Armor in The Two Towers! It features short interviews with Richard Taylor, John Howe and John Rhys-Davies and has some nice clips from the movie itself! [More]

Tired of all the Holiday cheer? Knee deep in wrapping paper and turkey leftovers? Well stay tuned this Friday at 7pm for 'JRR Tolkien: Master of the Rings' on Space: The Imagination Station (Canadian Sci-Fi channel). Check your local listings!

Well, after getting to watch everyone else gloat for a week, Towers finally opened in Australia about 12 hours ago. Fighting queues of humanity is not my thing, but I'd guess it's set to smash the Boxing Day record that FoTR set last year. Oh, and here's some stories from Australia's three largest papers for you to enjoy. [More [More] [More]

...in the midst of all the LotR mishugas? Check out the dish at STUFF from Davinia Thornley's study of 20 locals: [More]

In this fantastic interview by Melissa J. Perenson at Scifi.net our favorite hero doesn't tell all, but he tells lots! Thanks to Ringer Sirelle for the link. [More]

Well... the first time paid for all, but it's never to early to talk ROTK. Thanks to our friends at Comingsoon.net and Ringer CP for the heads up on this Chicago Sun-Times article: [More]

"The best thrill ride at theaters all year..." says MSN Entertainment's Dave McCoy. Thanks to Jacklyn for this one. [More]

And head over to Ebay where you can get a first edition LotR for a mere US $19,995.00! Thanks to Ringer chinaski for the info. I think I'll call my bank to discuss that mortgage refinancing...

Lewman from TBHL (the home of the official Peter Jackson fan club) writes: "At TBHL we always believe it is better to give than recieve. So that's why, after many years of waiitng ... we have finally got you all A NEW MESSAGE BOARD!" [More]

From everybody here at TheOneRing.net, we wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas this year and all the best during the festive holiday!

Then check out this great interview with PJ and Philippa! ..."this is really where being a filmmaker differs from being a writer..." [More]

If you know your Tolkien you know that language was one of The Professor's chief passions at heart. Staffers Arathorn and Starlady point us to two fascinating articles along these lines at The University of Texas at Austin ala grad student Fred Hoyt: [More] and More]

Ringer Fan Bricklayer has put together this partial guide to Tolkien/LoTR TV in the USA over the Christmas period. [More]

Brandon writes: Thought you might like to know that Yahoo! Movies has a special about The Two Towers on their site. It clocks in at over 10 minutes long. All of the clips are ones that have been seen before, but it did include some new interviews with Peter Jackson and the rest of the cast. [More]

TORN community site AlleycatScratch provides patterns and information for people who want to make costumes. You can see for yourself the impressive results in these pictures taken from many lineparties around the country. [More]

If you haven't been to the Barliman's chatroom today's a great day to try us out! I was hanging around when I got this private message from one of our hard working ops: maegwen: I have a killer Howard Shore interview! [More Shore]

I thought this was a nice little light hearted story to post on Christmas Eve, take a look at this blurb from the UK's Sunday Telegraph. [More]

Sequel 37% higher than 'Fellowship,' breaks records. The second outing of the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy towered above o'seas B.O. competish during its debut. Current worldwide B.O. champ "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" has already shown serious foreign legs in its first five days, grossing $88 million, or 16% of the foreign cume for "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." [More]

Pat writes: Every week on the Late Show webpage people can email in suggestions for a given top ten topic. This week the topic is "Top Ten Things That Suck About Being a Hobbit." At the end of the week ten suggestions will be chosen and posted on the webpage. [More]

Well, the characterisation of Faramir in The Two Towers certainly has caused some contention. But, do you really understand the nature of Faramir son of Denethor? TORn discussion board regular NZ Strider presented this interesting analysis on our boards yesterday. [More]
Updated!

Since filming went underway in 2000, The Two Towers has seen it's storyline been changed endless times due to necessity, time constraints, negative fan feedback and even by order of New Line. Hence, a huge chunk of material was either unused in the final theatrical cut of the movie or scrapped entirely. Here is just a list of some of the scenes that may or may not feature in The Two Towers Extended Edition next year. UPDATED [More]

If anyone was watching the BBC's National Vote 2002 show tonight, they may have noticed one of the presenters making a brief LotR reference in jest by saying some people were 'bred by Orcs under the tower of the Dark Lord'.

Many of us have already seen The Two Towers, but spare a thought for those poor souls that have to wait weeks and even months to see the latest installment in PJ's trilogy. We have the latest release dates for Bosnia-Herzegowina, Chile and Serbia for those who reside there, along with the latest release dates for everywhere else. [More]

'Eagerly anticipating the sequel to The Fellowship of the Ring, we at Skinema.com wondered whether it would match the heights reached by the first film. We are delighted to announce that "The Two Towers" is "all that," at least with respect to skin conditions. Each of the new characters introduced in this second film could do well to dial 1-800-SKIN-DOC on their elven cellular phone. Take a gander at Two Towers-worth of problem skin...' [More]

Thanks to Vail for the link!

After my previous story about the cameos in The Two Towers, we have received floods of mail about further cameos in the movie spotted by some sharp-eyed Ringers; as Viggo is talking to Hama's son about his blade in Helm's Deep, Viggo's own son is standing at a fire nearby; PJ's children being led into the caverns of Helm's Deep with the Rohan refugees; Alan Lee as a Rohan civilian.

Jedimistress sends us this link to this neat interactive Two Towers Timeline guide for either Frodo's and Sam's journey or Aragorn's, Legolas' , and Gimli's journey, which some dates have photos. [More]

Amazon.com has a Wish List Drive where you can buy a book or toy and have it sent to Today Show Gift Drive Wish List. NBC's Today show is working with over 200 organizations, including local Boys & Girls Clubs and the NYU Medical Center. The Lord of the Rings is on the list of gifts. So if any of yous feel like spending $39 to introduce JRR Tolkien to needy kids and improving their holiday season (or even buying any of the other items), here's the link - thanks to Kate: [More]

DiveTwin writes: Two Chicago Tribune columnists listed their Top 10 list for the year in two
different stories in the Sunday edition of the Tribune; Michael Wilmington has it as the #2 movie of the year, and Mark Caro has LOTR-TTT as the #4 of the year.

Frodo's Girl13 writes: The New Line store has just announced their new LOTR bobblehead dolls.... hey, I don't make 'em, I just report 'em! [More]

Confirmation from Sir Ian that there will be a super-duper DVD made after ROTK comes out, which he HOPES will include the blooper reels, the LOTR parodies like the French and Saunders one, and so on. [More] Thanks to Aisling for the link.

'New Line's sequel fantasy "Lord of the Rings: Two Towers" grossed an estimated $61.5 atop the weekend B.O. for a boffo five-day bow of $101.5. Miramax's historical epic "Gangs of New York," which unspooled with less than half the engagements of "Rings," finished fourth with $9.1 million.' [More]

Thanks to TORn staffer Asfaloth for the info!

Deirdre writes: The Mount Kisco Public Library and the North Castle Public Library will be joining forces for a special celebration of J.R.R. Tolkien's 111th birthday on January 3rd, 2003. [More]

The official Andy Serkis (Gollum) website has added some great new pics of Gollum, take a look! !!!Spoilers!!! [More]

Sylvadoc writes: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers pulverizes all the records of entries in Paris bringing yesterday 13 600 spectators for 29 theaters. By way of comparison, the first opus had brings together 11 715 spectators for 28 theaters and the last Harry Potter had joined together 12 625 for 28 theaters.

Telcontar writes: The Chicago Fellowship has been in the local news lately! We wanted to send on an article from Red Eye newspaper {no, it is not a Mordor publication!}, for which members of our chapter club were interviewed.[More]

Super Spy Peter has sent in some fantastic Quicktime encodes of one of the most recent 30 second tv spots for TTT - this one is another compilation of the more spectacular shots, including quick closeups of Gollum, the charge of the White Rider at Helm's Deep and more. It's all accompanied by Mr Voice bombarding you with snippets of critical acclaim. This probably isn't worth your bandwidth (or ours ;) if you've already seen the film, but for those who haven't and want to be utterly spoiled... [Low] (860KB) [Med] (2.0MB) [High] (4.2MB). Spoilers!