Sideshow/Weta Collectibles staff writer, Larry Curtis takes a look at where 'The Lord of the Rings' fits in the big picture of fantasy in both film and popular culture. While looking at the fantasy legacy and stigmas that LOTR had inherited, he thinks it is just the start of a new season of fantasy. [More]

Ok, this has *very* little (next to nil) to do with LOTR, but... if you're planning on travelling to NZ any time in the future, perhaps this information will come in handy. At the very least, an interesting read. [More]

Well, not quite. But you find the most interesting people learning Tolkien's languages. This reporter from the Albuquerque Tribune reports on his/her excursion into Elvish. [More]

McKellen Receives his Honoury Degree at Leeds

Lord Bragg presents the honorary doctorate to Sir Ian McKellen

Sir Ian McKellen was awarded an honourary degree at Leeds University on April 29th. Here are a collection of images from that night. Thanks to Richard Moran, Simon Lewis & wiffyboy [More]

A freighter that most landlubbers would not look at twice (But TORN discovered more than 2 months ago -Xo) is getting an overhaul befitting a movie star in Wellington. The Manuia is gradually being transformed as part of a remake of King Kong into director Peter Jackson's version of the SS Venture, immortalised in the original 1933 film as the ship that took the great ape from Skull Island to New York. But while it is some of the first evidence that production of the remake draws closer, those even remotely connected to the ship's modifications at its berth at Miramar wharf are tight-lipped. [More]

Sheila Johnston writes: We're in the non-smoking Four Seasons Hotel, in the non-smoking city of Los Angeles, in the smoke-free nation of the US of A, and Elijah Wood is puffing on a funny-smelling cigarette. "These are infused with cloves, so they're sweeter," says naughty little Elijah, in explanation, if not exactly as an apology. A healthy smoking option, then? "No - they burn hotter, so they're worse for your lungs. But they do have less nicotine." [More]

The Dukes cinema in Lancaster, UK are showing The Lord of the Rings trilogy all day today. They named the event appropriately enough, Lordathon. [More]

The NW Tolkien Society is pleased to announce the addition of Weta to their list of special guests at TolCon. Greg Tozer, a talented sculptor and onset technician from Weta Workshop will be participating in workshops and panels, lending his expertise to the artshow as a judge, and will be bringing with him props from the films as well as a special donation of a collectible signed by the sculptor and Richard Taylor to the Charity Auction benefiting People for Puget Sound. [More]

Whether you like the three Lord of the Rings films, or not there is little doubt that they are a triumph for technology. Running the huge technological resources behind the films was Weta Digital, a firm formed by Rings director Peter Jackson and others in 1993 to do the effects for the Heavenly Creatures movie. [More]

He is best known for creating a fantasy world populated by hobbits, elves and orcs, but movie director Peter Jackson now wants to save what he considers a precious part of the real world. Jackson has joined Kapiti and Pukerua Bay environmental groups to oppose a property development on Paekakariki Hill. [More]

Ringer Spy Indy3 sends along this new card posted online at Decipher.com. It features Denethor! Extended Edition Spoilers! [More]

Andy Serkis told SCI FI Wire that his next project will be the supernatural suspense thriller Blessed. "It's a modern-day retelling of the Rosemary's Baby story," Serkis said in an interview. [More]

Throughout the years TheOneRing.net has released all manner of promotional items: stress balls, t-shirts, baseball caps, bookmarks and more. Now we are hopefully going to repay a few of you for supporting our site through the years!

We are teaming up with Sideshow/Weta Collectibles to giveaway a SOLD OUT 3/4 Scale Gollum head, a set of the highly prized Series 1 Miniature Helms, and some of our brand new TORn items. Check out the contest-home for more!

And, if you haven't got merchandise to wear for the photo, go here and buy some! Thanks for supporting TORN!

Empire Magazine is celebrating their 15th anniversary this month. Gollum shows us where he likes to catch up with Empire when at home! Thanks to Ringer Spy Colagreenleaf for the rather disturbing image! [More]

The Company ride on the eagles' backs over the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo is very glad when he is finally deposited back on the ground. When the eagles depart, Gandalf leads them to the house of one of his friends from whom he intends to procure some assistance. This friend is however something of an original and steps must be taken to ensure that the Company will be welcomed to the house of Beorn.[More]

From Empire Online comes confirmation that an extended box-set of Howard Shore's LOTR soundtracks will be headed our way next year. "Shore plans to release a suitably epic nine-disc set of his most famous work. And, just as the two-disc DVDs pale in comparison to the Extended Editions, so too will the CDs." Also hinted at are plans to include footage from Shore's symphonic tour on the extended DVDs AND a possible CD release of the show! [More]

Sideshow/Weta has announced in their latest newsletter that their most recent statue, the Newborn Uruk-hai, is going to be limited to only 500 pieces worldwide, and that there are only 50 pieces remaining to be sold. They have also posted new pics of their Prince Isildur polystone bust. [Newborn Statue] [Isildur Bust]

Well, its April 30th and Master Replicas, true to their word, have posted their first series of LOTR electronic replicas for pre-sale!. Included in this first series are Sting, the Light of Earendil, Gandalf's Staff and The One Ring. [More]

Where to from here? Now that our long days of anticipation are over (bar the Extended Edition DVD), what are we going to do with ourselves? It's something I've been thinking about a lot since last December. [More]

ROTK hits store shelves on May 25th

Since the announcement of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’s May 25 DVD release date, fans have been speculating about details of the content, the packaging and when the Special Extended Edition will hit shelves. Matt Lasorsa, New Line Home Entertainment’s senior vice president of marketing, offers some insight into the much anticipated home video release in an informative Q&A. [More]

Got more questions that need answering?! Send them along and we'll make sure that Matt answers them!

Wellington's special effects house Weta, used to working with big-name Hollywood stars on The Lord of the Rings, is now mixing it with royalty. For the past week the son and daughter-in-law of Prince Chatri Chalem Yukol of Thailand and five technicians from the prince's film production company have been learning the tricks of the trade from Weta's experts. [More]

If you weren't aware, there is a new set of collectibles about to be release from Master Replicas. These items a direct replicas from the film and include an electronic component to simulate the special effects from the films. According a recent newsletter from the company, we should see some images of these collectibles very shortly! Follow the link for details. (PS - Master Replicas has already earned themselves quite a following with the Star Trek and Star Wars lines. Lets hope they can do LOTR justice!) [More]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - With the home video release of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" set for May 25, New Line Cinema is launching a new round in its extensive "Rings" franchise licensing program, which the studio says has generated more than $750 million in retail sales worldwide. [More]

Marie writes: Sean Astin will be one of the Grand Marshals of the Apple Blossom Festival, in Winchester, VA. He will be commentating on the parade along with Loni Anderson The festival runs Apr. 28-May 2 this year. Sean will also be signing autographs this Friday from 10-11am, at the local movie theatre. [More]

The ever creative John Cook writes: I've posted a new Lord of the Rings cartoon looking at the corrupting effect the One Ring had on Frodo. Check it out here!

Sheildmaiden writes: "I dont know if you guys have picked this up yet, but Viggo fans may want to know that Hidalgo is opening in Israel under the title "Yom Shel Aish", or "Fire's Day". I dont know where they got that title from, but as far as I know its the same movie."

Update. Tarin writes: Hidalgo is actually called "Yam Shel Esh" in Israel which means "Sea Of Fire", which as I understand is the name of the competition in the movie.

Debra writes: "Hi. I have tickets to see Howard Shore in Atlanta on June 5 and was checking the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra website today to see if the show I'm attending is sold out. I noticed that they've just added a fourth concert date for Thursday, June 3. For those of us in the southeastern US, this is our only chance to see this concert. Its my understanding that tickets are going very fast. Thanks." [More]

Bbaggins writes: Just wanted to inform you that tonight on Jeopardy one of the Daily Double questions was about Tolkien. The question was under the category "Authors' Middle Names" and the clue was something like: This author has the middle names Ronald and Reuel. The lady wagered $2000 and thankfully got it right.

"My name is Colin Deval, I am the Audio Producer for the Milwaukee Brewers. The music we play is actually a 9:45 mix from multiple selections in the three LOTR scores by Howard Shore. I've put pieces of the following selections into a seemless mix:" [More]

Petra writes: Some info for your listings of convention appearances of LOTR actors. Andy Serkis and Craig Parker have been confirmed as guests at the Elf Fantasy Fair in the Netherlands held on 18, 19 and 20 June 2004. Dutch language site. [More]

Hairul (and other Ringer Spies) wrote: IGN website has just posted their preview of EA's LOTR: The Third Age, with great screenshots accompanying it. Thought you might want to know. [More]

Annalisa writes: Dr. Michael Drout has written in his blog that the first volume of "Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review", the first academic journal ever devoted to Professor Tolkien is now available to order for USD$60. It's edited by Dr. Drout, Douglas Anderson, and Verlyn Flieger, and contains contributions by the editors, Tom Shippey, and several other Tolkien Scholars. This is a big step in advancing Tolkien's place in the academic world! [More]

From 20/20: Deborah Roberts visits famous hobbit Sean Astin and his mother, Patty Duke, and asks some serious questions: Why would a woman whose own childhood was stolen by stardom raise a son to be a star? And Astin talks about his concerns about having a bi-polar mother. This episode airs on May 7th.

The folks from bungie.net write: Recording all of the dialog for Halo 2 can be a tough process. Often times the voice actors spend hours repeating the same lines over and over trying for the perfect take. It's all business inside the sound booth but every once in a while the actors goof up or stray from the script for a good laugh. These clips represent some of those moments. (click on the second file for a familiar voice!) [More]

Shore won this year's Oscars for best score and best song Composer Howard Shore, who created Oscar-winning scores for The Lord of the Rings films, is to be honoured by a US composers' institution on Wednesday. Canadian Shore is receiving a lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (Ascap) in Los Angeles. [More]

toonzone.net reports that the Rankin/Bass 1977 'The Hobbit' and the 1980 'The Return of the King' cartoons will be airing on The Cartoon Network in May. [More]

Ataahua writes: During the weekend the Women in Film and Television World Summit wound up in Auckland, NZ, which was attended by delegates from around the world. At the end of the summit LOTR script writer Fran Walsh and costume designer Ngila Dickson each walked away with an award: Fran with the International Achievement Award for her role in LOTR, and Ngila with the Outstanding Achievement Award.

Faye-Elf writes: I don't know if anyone else has reported this but I saw Elijah Wood filming on location in London yesterday afternoon. [More]

Ian McKellen is set to receive an Honarary degree at Leeds University on April 29th. The ceremony will include the conferment of honorary degrees upon Jack Charlton, Tony Harrison, Dame Julie Higgins, Sir Ken Morrison, Baroness (Usha) Prashar and Professors David Rhodes and Ngugi wa Thiong’o. [More]

From IMDB: British Hollywood star Orlando Bloom was rushed off set amid suspected terror attacks whilst filming Ridley Scott's new film Kingdom Of Heaven. The 27-year-old actor who was shooting in Morocco when he had to be ushered to safety after blasts were heard. An insider says, "We all thought it was a bomb at first, we were terrified. Orlando, director Ridley Scott and the rest of the crew were evacuated immediately." [More]

Elijah Wood has taken the method acting experience a step too far - he decided to take the London Underground in preparation for filming a scene in his new film and ended up arriving late on set. [More]

Samwisesss writes: There is a webstore here in Brazil selling the ROTK DVD with a wood box to keep all three movies and also it cames with three posters (Aragorn, Arwen and Frodo Baggins). [More]

linuxelf writes: Cast member Robyn Malcolm is playing Pauline in the new series called "Serial killers". Starts Friday 30th April at 9:45pm TVOne. [More]

Anna, Hanna and Lise writes: We went to the Scandinavian sci-fi, game and film convention in Malmö, Sweden and we got to meet Billy Boyd both days. Here are the links to our Livejournal-posts. [Report 1] [Report 2]

Violamom writes: I just today received a letter from the Seattle Symphony office announcing the following: '..an additional performance has been added on Thursday, July 15 at 7:30pm due to the demand for these concerts...We eagerly anticipate these concerts and look forward to having you join us in Benaroya Hall. If you have any questions please contact the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office at (206) 215-4747."

Congratulations to Cate Blanchett and husband, screenwriter Andrew Upton, on the birth of their second son, Roman Robert. Thanks to everyone for writing in! [More]

News of a couple of projects from some of the Kiwis involved in LOTR. LOTR co-screenwriter Stephen Sinclair and Stephen Papps are behind a play, Blowing It which is travelling round Europe and Britain at the moment. Here in NZ, John Noble [Denethor] and Jed Brophy [Sharku, Black Rider#2] appear in a locally-made film, "Fracture."