Don't know if you heard about this. Not that it has to do with upcoming movies, but in todays Kansas City (in the fyi section) there is an article about Summer reading. It gives a list of fantasy books good for reading, and mentions J.R.R.T. at the end.

Escapes into other fantastic worlds

The Hobbit and The Lord of theRings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit tells how Bilbo Baggins leaves his
sleepy home in the Shire to have adventures with a wizard and band of dwarfs. He then finds a magic ring that can make him disappear.

In the three books of The Lord of the Rings, readers find out that Bilbo's ring is actually much more powerful. Bilbo's nephew Frodo, along with a wizard named Gandalf and other helpers, must find a way to destroy the ring, or it will fall into the hands of its evil maker, Sauron.

-John Mark Eberhart, The Star

Max wanted the Ring...

From: Matt

I don't know if any of you know who DC Talk is, but some of you or your readers may be interested to know that Kevin Max, one of the lead singers of the band, had tried out for the part of Frodo before Elijah Wood had gotten the part.

How do I know this you ask? (sure..-Xo) well I was on his site at www.kevinmax.com and I sent him an e-mail to see if he knew about the LOTR movies (I knew that he was a fan of Medieval fiction) and as it turns out he is a huge J.R.R.T. fan and had actually tried out for the part.

Now if you are still with me, you are likely a Mozilla user, and you know what I mean by a Sidebar. If you would like TheOneRing.net news in your Mozilla sidebar you can visit my Mozilla Sidebar Installer to install TheOneRing.net news in your sidebar.

Note: These scripts can be used to display any RSS Source in your Mozilla Sidebar. If you are interested in getting a copy of the scripts stop over to my Mozilla Software page.

Harry Knowles over at AICN has confirmed reports about a possible fall or X-Mas LOTR Trailer in theatres. The toss up was between the Adam Sandler 'Little Nicky' comedy or the Kevin Costner 'Thirteen Days' Cuban missile drama, it seems the later has won the argument. So now we have a new item to mark down on our calendars, 163 Days to go until the December 20th release of 'Thirteen Days' in theatres...that's 3912 hours...234720 minutes....14083200 seconds...I've got a pocket scrabble set we can play with to pass the time...

More news as I get confirmation.

I went to Wal-Mart last night to pick up a picture frame and was surprised to see the Harry Potter Books and the LOTR books (paperback, but not the single-volume) displayed together near the entrance. No one coming into the store could possibly miss it. Of course, a lot more of the Potter books were gone than the Rings books. But maybe the excitement kids have for Harry Potter will translate into many of them picking up The Fellowship of the Ring and, of course, having their parents take them to the movie next year!

If this arrangement is found at all Wal-Marts in North America, there could be a whole new group of Frodo fans getting excited for Dec. 2001.

The latest Empire Magazine (with John Cusack on the cover) - The Fellowship Of The Ring is listed as the number one film in the top twenty "in production". [More]

Thanks flair15! :)

Throughout the history of Tolkien's world, the use of what we call magic was a regular practice for both the side of Good as well as Evil. Spells are woven and cast, swords glow blue when enemies are close at hand, Sauron hurls fire from Orthanc, Burt the Troll's handbag talks, rings lend their wearers special abilities and powers... From palantiri to the rods of the five wizards, what is it all about? Elves don't prefer the word 'magic,' so what is it exactly?

In addition to this, we'll share our favorite magic moments. What is yours: the mirror of Galadriel, Luthien casting her spell on Morgoth, Bilbo's vanishing act, Gandalf encountering the winged Nazgul, or perhaps something else?

Time: Saturday, July 8, 5:30 EDT [10:30 GMT]
Place: #thehalloffire chatroom on TheOneRing.net server [More]

The infamous graffiti scrawl that began appearing on subway walls and bumper stickers in the late '60s, at the height of mania over J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, could start popping up again. [More]

Holm Sweet Holm

The cool guys over at 'Cinescape' Magazine have a few things to say about LOTR. Calling the LOTR 'the first film series that could truly rival the Star Wars saga in terms of scope and vision'. Check it out in the latest issue of Cinescape (July/August 2000).

The latest issue of UK Movie Mag 'Starburst' has a small tidbit on LOTR. Click on the image to enlarge.

The excitement continues to mount!!!!! Thanks Shok!

Radio New Zealand has a documentary on Sunday mornings (8:05 a.m.) called "Insight", which discusses New Zealand issues. Next Sunday (9 July) the topic will be the impact of the filming of LOTR on the NZ economy.

Xoanon Note: Any intrepid fan who could get me a tape of that show will be forever on my x-mas card list. :)

Update: Never before has it been so easy to win Xoanon's love and get on his X-mas card list. You can purchase copies of on air material at Radio NZ in their Replay Radio section. We will likely have more indepth coverage of what aired early next week, so you may want to hold onto your pocketbooks until then. (Corvar)

In taking on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, director Peter Jackson and his crew dare to tackle one of the most beloved works of fantasy fiction in history. Naturally, that leads to some pressure, especially from the legions of Tolkien fans, who want to see the books translated accurately to the screen. According to actor Brad Dourif, who portrays Grima Wormtongue in the film, Ring fans shouldn't worry about the accuracy of the upcoming films--the work is in good hands. [More]

The good folks at Ancanar.com send in news that they've updated a few sections on the site. Find out all about the indie film 'Ancanar' on the site [More]

Food for thought: While this year's Con was absolutely amazing, just imagine what next years will be like! DragonCon 2001, Tolkien fandom rules supreme!

Ringer Spy Humphrey sends in these pics from Lyall Bay, which was recently privy to some filming involving Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) as well as others. [More]