July 2000 Update

Greetings and well met!

This Calisuri coming to live from TheOneRing.net studios right here, in middle earth

Stay tuned for this edition of the Lord of the Rings movie brief, July 2000

Even though it's winter in New Zealand, Lord of the Rings movie action is heating up! July 24th saw the resumption of principal photography on the North Island, which will wrap up in weeks. Thereafter filming is rumored to be returning to the South Island for two months. Possible locations include Lake Clearwater and the Mount Cook and Twizel regions. It looks like up to 100 New Zealand military troops will be used in large battle scenes where a small army of over six hundred cast,crew, extras, and horses will be assembled.

Other on-location news:

Kevin Conway will not be participating in the Trilogy as Theoden due scheduling demands.

Peter Jackson has a new right-hand man, Geoff Murphy, director of Free Jack and a host of other films. New Zealand born Murphy will take the helm as second unit director as filming resumes.

The news spins around the globe as well. It looks like New Line will release the first in-theaters LotR movie trailer this November; sources point to the Kevin Costner Cuban missile crisis film Thirteen Days as the feature accompanying the trailer ; )

A lucky few witnessed the first large screen public viewing of movie footage this past month. Folks who attended DragonCon in Atlanta or ComicCon in San Diego were fortunate to see actual film footage in promotional presentations. Included were huge battle scenes done with MASSIVE graphics technology, shots of Gimli, Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Arwen, and others, and even a glimpse of Gollum! The word from witnesses is that this footage is jaw-dropping, eye-popping, and brain-tinglingly incredible. According to many a self-professed Tolkien fan, the look and feel is making dreams come true.

French film magazine Mad Movies became the first to dedicate its cover page to the Lord of the Rings movie with an image of Boromir, played by Sean Bean. New Line promotional films and paraphernalia have also started to trickle out, one item being a large booklet with six beautiful production images from the official site. And just recently, MSN.com featured an extensive LotR movie article on their front page.

Finally, New Line Cinema announced that Toy Biz, a division of Marvel Enterprises, Inc., has been granted the rights to produce a host of movie-related merchandise. Included in the list are "action figures and accessories, dolls, radio control, remote control and infrared toy products, collectible marbles and eccessories, electronic and non-electronic plush, flying toys and LCD watches..." Does this mean we'll be seeing a Tickle Me Gollum soon?

It looks like a composer has been selected for the Lord of the Rings score!  According to sources Howard Shore is wrapping up talks to compose the soundtrack of all three films. Previous film work includes 'The Silence of the Lambs', 'Big', 'Philadelphia', 'Mrs. Doubtfire', 'Ed Wood' and 'Seven'.

For the latest Lord of the Rings movie news and rumors, come visit TheOneRing.net, Middle-earth's premier source!