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June 28, 2000 - July 04, 2000

News for Jul. 04, 2000

Web Watch: Stuff.co.nz

7/04/00, 10:22 pm EST - Xoanon

Elf-speak a tongue-twister for Cate

Hollywood star Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) found one thing tough while in Wellington filming The Lord Of The Rings last month - speaking Elvish. [More]

LOTR Board Game Confirmed!

7/04/00, 12:18 pm EST - Xoanon

Rumors of the LOTR Board Game have recently poped up at DragonCon this past week-end. TheOneRing.net can now confirm that there WILL be a LOTR board game designed by Reiner Knizia! [More]

Cast Watch: Lee on TMN

7/04/00, 11:43 am EST - Xoanon

You can catch Christopher Lee (Saruman) in 'The Oblong Box' on TMN. [More]

News for Jul. 03, 2000

Cast News: Sean Bean talks LOTR

7/03/00, 9:34 pm EST - Xoanon

The Scottish 'Sunday Post' Newspaper has an interview with Sean Bean (Boromir). In it they ask about being away from his family while shooting the LOTR films:

Sean is currently in New Zealand, making three films back to back, with big names such as Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler and Christopher Lee.

“I’m over there on my own right now but I’ll be bringing the family across when we get a break.

“I do miss them, but I’ve always been away for parts of the year. I’ve got used to it and I tend to just focus on what I’m doing, get it done and come home.”

Thanks to Nona for the tip!

Our favorite spider is IN

7/03/00, 4:01 pm EST - Corvar

One of the questions asked numerous times at Dragon*Con was whether Shelob would make it into the movies or go the way of Tom. While I did not have a definative answer at the convention, my gut feeling said yes. The E Online Insider backs me up on this in his most recent Ask the Insider.

Specifically the Insider says, "The Shelob scenes haven't been filmed yet, but the last time I talked to Sean Astin (Sam), he said he was looking forward to those. Shelob will be computer-generated, probably with some miniatures edited in."

Source: E Online

Listen to Dragon*Con 2000's Tolkien Track

7/03/00, 3:45 pm EST - Corvar

If you could not make it to Atlanta for Dragon*Con, you can at least hear portions of the Tolkien Track. Tolkien Online had the oportunity to record some portions of the Dragon*Con 2000 track and share those recordings with the internet. You can find the recording's at the Tolkien Online Dragon*Con 2000 reports page.

Glass Hammer is back in the studio

7/03/00, 1:15 pm EST - Corvar

Glass Hammer has long been known as a progressive rock band who loves the works of the Inklings. In the past, they recorded and released albums such as:

Journey of the Dunadan an epic concept story based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings stories.

Perelandra based loosely on C.S. Lewis's Narnia and "fairy tales for adults" series.

Glass Hammer is back in the studios recording another album inspired by Tolkien, namely their interpretation of what you would hear in the Prancing Pony, Green Dragon, and any other inn or tavern of Middle Earth.

You can find out more about Glass Hammer at their website http://www.glasshammer.com. And expect more news on their upcoming releases this fall.

LOTR Trailer: November

7/03/00, 11:21 am EST - Xoanon

Since we posted the news on a possible November theatre trailer for LOTR, spies in the american movie business have been sending me emails saying we've hit the nail on the head. It looks very possible that there will be a LOTR trailer attached to some New Line film coming out in November. And all fingers seem to point to the Adam Sandler film 'Little Nicky', which comes out November 10th. Yet that is still a RUMOR Any other thoughts?

News for Jul. 02, 2000

LOTR Game Rumor

7/02/00, 9:35 pm EST - Corvar

Among the many interesting conversations I had at Dragon*Con, I heard that there is a Lord of the Rings board game under development. While this is completely unconfirmed, I was told the designer of this new game was Reiner Knizia. You can see some of Reiner's previous work at the ReinerSpiel page.




Update: You can read slightly more about this game at:
BoardGames.about.com. So I guess this is out of the rumour stage. ;) There is a link on that page to where there was once a picture and description of the game, but alas the information has been removed. If anyone can read German and find where on that site the info is please let me know.

News for Jul. 01, 2000

LOTR Trailer: November

7/01/00, 6:24 pm EST - Calisuri

Just a real quick note from DragonCon 2000.

A lot gets talked about in the hallways at this convention, and guess what we just learned! The theatrical Lord of the Rings movie trailer will be seen November 2000 in theaters nationwide. While we have yet to confirm this, we believe it comes from a reliable source.

Check back later for a complete DragonCon Report.

July 1st Hall of Fire!

7/01/00, 12:06 pm EST - Xoanon

Hammer and tongs, the Hall of Fire is at it again!

If you could learn any Middle-earth skill, what would it be? Stealth, from Hobbits? Making elven cloaks? Ring forging (ok maybe not ring forging ;) )? How to make lembas? Chat at 5:30 EST. [more]

Cast News: Liv Tyler's B-Day!

7/01/00, 12:04 pm EST - Xoanon


Today, July 1st is Liv Tyler's (Arwen) Birthday. Liv was born on 1 July 1977 in Portland, Maine. That makes her 23 today! Happy Birthday Liv!

Marvel's LOTR Press Release

7/01/00, 3:53 am EST - Tookish

Marvel rather unceremoniously announced their work on New Line's LOTR action figures, read it here. [More]

DragonCon 2000

7/01/00, 2:40 am EST - Calisuri

Check out the great fun Corvar, Calisuri and Jincey are having at this year's largest fan convention: DragonCon 2000! Eomer and Grima make an appearance! [first report]

Web Watch: Counteraction.co.nz

7/01/00, 12:41 am EST - Xoanon

From: Andre & Nicky

You may not have seen a story about LOTR filming on Mt Ruapehu run on the front cover of the June issue of CounterAction magazine. This publication is distributed to 20,000 retail business managers throughout New Zealand, and is on sale nationally. It features a photo of Peter Jackson on the mountain, and gives some interesting background information about the impact of the filming on businesses in the Mt Ruapehu area,

This story is now online at the CounterAction website. Point your web browser at counteraction.co.nz [More]

Media Watch: French Primere/Total Film (UPDATED)

7/01/00, 12:37 am EST - Xoanon

Winona Kent, from The Compleat Sean Bean sends in info on two magazines covering LOTR:

French Premiere Magazine (as distinct from the North American and British versions) for May/June has 4 little thumbnail color pix from LOTR on page 176: Elijah Wood as Frodo. Sean as Boromir with the ring. The Ringwraiths. Liv Tyler as Arwen.

There is a website at www.premiere.fr but I'm not sure if the article is online there or not.

The French title for LOTR is Le Seigneur des anneaux.

As well as a little article about LOTR from Total Film, a UK film magazine, August 2000 issue. [More]

UPDATE

Ringer Spy Colleen gives us the skinny on French Primere's Website:

Here's a link to one of two pages showing the latest movie posters. [link 1] [link 2]

There is also a page from which to download the Apple preview, which has some thumbnails of three of the images from the original version of the official site.

Web Watch: E! Online

7/01/00, 12:27 am EST - Xoanon

E! Online managed to get an interview with Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) read on!

Cate Blanchett sits in her trailer, studying her scripts for the day's filming.

She has just 10 days in New Zealand to wrap her scenes as Elf Queen Galadriel--a small but pivotal part in Lord of the Rings (and one of only three major female characters in the trilogy)--and she's cramming hard before the afternoon cameras roll. [More]

News for Jun. 30, 2000

Busch-Man Reveals all!!

6/30/00, 11:16 am EST - Xoanon

Ringer Spy Busch-Man sends in his review of the SIX Minute footage seen at ShoWEST! [More]

!!!Spoilers!!!

Media Watch: Empire Magazine

6/30/00, 11:02 am EST - Xoanon

From: Grishnakh

Just got the latest edition of Empire magazine in the post this morning and lo! LOTR gets a mention. Empire is the UK's premier film magazine but last month's issue featured a top twenty most eagerly awaited films that omitted LOTR from the list completely. I think the fans must have complained because this month it's back in AT NUMBER ONE! I've scanned the article and attached it to this email.

BTW LOTR beat the following for the top slot: the Harry Potter film (18th), A.I. (7th), Matrix 2 and 3 (5th) and Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2nd). Not much competition then. [View the article]

Cast Watch: Cate, Ian and Sean on TV

6/30/00, 10:38 am EST - Xoanon

You can catch Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) in 'Pushing Tin' on Cinemax. [More]

You can catch Ian McKellen (Gandalf) in 'Gods and Monsters' on TMN. [More]

You can see Sean Bean (Boromir) in 'Ronin' on Showtime.

News for Jun. 29, 2000

NZ and local area, the 'IT' spot

6/29/00, 9:14 pm EST - Xoanon

All obvious jokes aside, Entertainment Weekly has listed the Pacific Rim the 'IT' spot, for movie making that is. Citing 'The Beach', 'M:I2', 'Moulin Rouge', and our 'LOTR' as being filmed in and around the Rim (why they left out Star Wars is beyond me). Check it out in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (with good old Canadian boy Hayden 'Anakin Skywalker' Christensen on the cover), or click here.

Media Watch: Dragão Brasil

6/29/00, 7:03 pm EST - Xoanon

From: Guizos

The RPG brazilian magazine called 'Dragão Brasil' published a great report about The Lord of The Rings production. The report brings lots of pics from the net preview and 4 pages talking about the movie details. Special effects, cast and some cool information about Tolkien's life, the books, and his influences in the RPG history.

There is only one problem: 'Dragão Brasil's June edition, with Lord of The Rings report, is sold out in almost every place. The fans will have to fight to buy it.

To view the articles, click here.

Media Watch: 3D World

6/29/00, 3:30 pm EST - Xoanon

The new U.K. magazine '3D World' has a small section on The Lord of the Rings, entitled; "ROSAS HEADS SOUTH"

"Talented animator Carlos Rosas, lead animator on Walking With Dinosaurs, has left Framestore for a new life in New Zealand. He's joined WETA Ltd to work on the digital effects and 3D animation in the company's huge cinema production, The Lord of the Rings."

Rosas has also worked on Leonardo DiCaprio's 'The Beach' and 'Jason and the Argonauts'. Read more about him here.

Thanks to Dominic for the article.

Cast Watch: Viggo, Bean and Hill on MAX

6/29/00, 11:51 am EST - Xoanon

You can catch Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) on 'A Perfect Murder' on Cinemax. [More]

You can see Sean Bean (Boromir) in 'Airborne' on Cinemax. [More]

You can catch Bernard Hill (Theoden) in 'True Crime' on Cinemax. [More]

New LOTR cartoon contest

6/29/00, 1:15 am EST - Xoanon

From: John Cook

The good folks at ToonZone send along the following:

We're running a new Lord of the Rings cartoon punchline contest this week. This one features caricatures of Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas as they meet Gandalf the White for the first time! Check it out and submit your own punchlines for Gandalf here.

News for Jun. 28, 2000

June is Green and So are Our Books

6/28/00, 11:19 pm EST - Quickbeam

Greetings, Quickbeam here.

Well, you know what they say, "Better late than never" You'll certainly forgive our tardiness when you see our big old update for Green Books so come on down:

  1. Who was the Mouth of Sauron?
  2. How can you cut off an invisible finger?
  3. What was behind Faramir's dreams?
  4. How the heck did Glamdring end up in a Troll's cave?
  5. Why did Celeborn stay behind?
  6. Why weren't the Valar more involved against Sauron?

All these and more can be found here.

If it's good summer reading you crave, then my friend look no further. Join us as we explore the WORDS and WORLD of Tolkien.

Much too hasty,

Quickbeam

Media Watch: Vogue Magazine

6/28/00, 6:45 pm EST - Xoanon

The latest issue of Vogue has an article and full spread pics of Cate Blanchett (Galadriel). While the article only mentions LOTR in one brief paragraph, it is an informative piece. You can get a good look into the Aussie who will play our Elven Queen. [More]

Did we tell you who Morwen was? (UPDATED)

6/28/00, 5:20 pm EST - Tehanu

Who's that character Morwen that ex-Shortland St. star Robyn Malcolm is going to play?
According to Saint of Killers:
"...it's mentioned in the appendix A, section Two "The House of Eorl". It says "....but Eowyn was slender and tall, with a grace and pride that came to her out of the South from Morwen of Lossarnach, whom the Rohirrim had called Steelsheen." pg. 437 of the Ballantine paperback edition.
I also found an entry in the Tolkien Encyclopedia which says that she wedded Thengel of Rohan, and it was the first union of Dunedain and Rohirrim.
Morwen bore him Theoden and Theodwyn, among others.
Thanks, Saint. You're a saint!

Mormegil pointed this out, though....
"If it is indeed Theoden's mother who will be in the film she would be 97 years old. This seems a little silly as Theoden himself is supposedly to old to even leave his throne room. The most likely answer is that the Morwen character is someone who was named after the now dead queen.

Just a thought..."

Tolkien Society comments on that rather unimpressive article we ran from the UK News.

6/28/00, 5:15 pm EST - Tehanu

Ian Collier of the Tolkien society wrote to us and to AICN to set the record straight about their attitude towards the movies. That article seems to have caused offence all round. (more)

Galadriel Action Figure from Toy Vault

6/28/00, 11:40 am EST - Xoanon

The good folks at Toy Vault have sent me a CD full of great images of their latest creation: The Galadriel action figure. [More]

Cast Watch: Astin and Weaving on MAX

6/28/00, 11:20 am EST - Xoanon

You can catch Hugo Weaving (Elrond) in 'Bedrooms and Hallways' on Cinemax. [More]

You can catch Sean Astin (Sam) in 'Toy Soldiers' on Cinemax. [More]


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