Go back to Main News Archives


October 31, 2004 - November 06, 2004

News for Nov. 06, 2004

WB offers 'Lord of Rings' for sweeps

11/06/04, 5:47 pm EST - Xoanon

This first weekend of television sweeps month has a real old-fashioned feel about it. In the old days, before reality television, networks tried to attract viewers with blockbuster movies, star-studded cast reunions, gimmicky crossover episodes and holiday specials. And that's exactly what's happening Sunday. [More]

News for Nov. 05, 2004

Hall Of Fire Special Chat With Anne Petty!

11/05/04, 11:33 pm EST - Demosthenes

Calling all scholars and students of Tolkien, fantasy, mythology and anyone interested in creative writing! Hall of Fire staff are delighted to announce that author Anne Petty will be our special guest during our scheduled HoF chat on Sunday, November 7 at 2:00 P.M. EST.

Ms Petty will be sharing her views on Tolkien as a myth-based writer, as well as ideas for those writing their own mythopoeic fiction. She will also be answering our questions on Tolkien, mythology and creative writing, especially creating characters and world-building. All are welcome to join us on the day, or if you'd like to submit your question in advance you can do that too! [More]

Elijah Wood Confirmed for ORC!

11/05/04, 8:10 pm EST - Xoanon

Elijah Wood has signed on for the One Ring Celebration!! The One Ring Celebration (or ORC for short) will be held in Pasadena, California from January 14th-16th, 2005. Elijah will be on hand to sign autographs, meet fans and much more! Wood joins Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Bruce Hopkins, John Rhys-Davies, Charles Ross, the bands Emerald Rose, & World Without Sundays! Tickets are on sale now! [One Ring Celebration]

'Rings' cast duped by obsessed admirers

11/05/04, 7:55 pm EST - Xoanon

Obsessed Lord of the Rings fans, a woman posing as a man, and a fake charity - just when you thought the sideshows surrounding the movie trilogy could not get stranger, they become truly weird. New Zealand actors and star Sean Astin were unwittingly drawn into a bizarre con based around the LOTR and the eccentric online world it spawned. [More]

Order "When A Fan Hits The Sh**" from turondo.com today!

GAMING: LOTR: The Third Age Review

11/05/04, 7:39 pm EST - Xoanon

The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy has proved to be fertile source material for video game adaptations, spawning hack-and-slash action adventures as well as a soon-to-be-released real-time strategy title. The Third Age, however, is a turn-based, console-style role-playing game that takes a slightly different path from its film-faithful cousins. Instead of featuring the original cast of characters and following their journey as it was laid out in the films and novels, The Third Age introduces a new cross-cultural group of travelers as they put their own stamp on the history of Middle-earth. While there are some rough edges, the result is mostly a nice little role-playing jaunt into the world of Tolkien. [More] [Gaming Havens]

Stars make charity Christmas cards

11/05/04, 7:34 pm EST - Xoanon

EastEnders star Pam St Clement, Ewan McGregor, Sir Ian McKellen and Jamie Oliver are among the stars who have created Christmas cards for charity. The one-off, hand-drawn cards, have been created by figures from the worlds of sport, film and entertainment and will go under the hammer to raise cash for cot death research. [More]

His own private Ohio

11/05/04, 7:32 pm EST - Xoanon

From The Boston Herald: Viggo Mortensen didn't want to miss out on Election Day while filming his latest flick, ``The History of Violence,'' in Canada so he staged a polling station on the set. People maggie reports that the ``Lord of the Rings'' hottie rigged up a mock voting booth and producer Chris Burns used his dog, Rosie, to monitor the voters. Not surprisingly, cast and crew voted for John Kerry though the write-in candidate, Rosie the canine, made a strong showing in second place. Have these people never heard of absentee ballots?

Winning The War Of Independents

11/05/04, 7:28 pm EST - Xoanon

Would you work for $864 a week? Movie stars Liv Tyler and Casey Affleck recently did--as did director Steve Buscemi--in the forthcoming independent film Lonesome Jim, 90 minutes long and shot in only 18 days for under $500,000. More From Sam Whitmore Attribute the madness to digital technology, which continues to transform how actors, producers and distributors do their jobs. [More]

Red Carpet Tour Report

11/05/04, 11:00 am EST - Xoanon

Catriona writes: I wondered if visitors to TORN would be interested in a brief note on my recent visit to New Zealand courtesy of Red Carpet Tours? The first and unexpected event was at the first night dinner when Tehanu turned up with her husband and regailed us with stories of her 'spying' etc. It was great to finally meet her as I had been reading all about her escapades online for a long time! [More]

Wellywood Premiere Makes VH1 List

11/05/04, 10:47 am EST - Xoanon

Wellington Premiere Pictures - Peter Jackson Elizabeth T writes: I just thought you might like to know that The Return of the King Premiere in New Zealand made VH1's list of Greatest Red Carpet moments. I believe it ranked number 46 on the list. They're replaying the countdown tonight on VH1 if anyone wants to see it.

50th Anniversary Map Problem? SOLVED!

11/05/04, 10:38 am EST - Xoanon

FredO writes: Last year TORN was really helpful in publishing a detailed explanation on how to remove the Gollum statue from the TT:EE gift set. This year I’m facing a difficulty that I think many of your readers may also be facing: how do you remove the maps from the brand new 50th Anniversary edition of LOTR? They seem to be implanted in a way that makes removal either damaging to the maps or the book. I can see now way of opening the maps inside the book easily either. So is there any possibility that you folks have or know of a solution?

If you know of a good solution send it along!

UPDATE Many people have written in with ideas! Take a look! [More]

Patty Duke on mend after heart op

11/05/04, 10:34 am EST - Xoanon

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) -- Oscar-winner (and Sean Astin's mom) Patty Duke had single bypass surgery Wednesday and was in fair condition, officials said. The 57-year-old actress was in the intensive care unit at the North Idaho Heart Center. "Her husband said everything went well," said Kootenai Medical Center spokeswoman Teri Farr. The centre is part of the medical facility. [More]

Weta: rendering Lord of the Rings

11/05/04, 10:33 am EST - Xoanon

Special effects are now a central part of the moviemaking process. But as audiences demand more, effects houses are being forced to ramp up their processing power like never before. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films are packed with epic battles. Behind the scenes, however, another struggle was going on. As each movie in the trilogy went into production, visual effects studio Weta Digital scrambled to add the processing power needed to render an increasing number of computationally intensive special effects shots. [More]

New David Salo Book

11/05/04, 10:30 am EST - Xoanon

David Salo writes: My new book "A Gateway to Sindarin" has been published and is now available. From the website blurb: "A Gateway to Sindarin... covers the grammar, morphology, and history of the language. Supplemental material includes a vocabulary, Sindarin names, a glossary of terms, and an annotated list of works relevant to Sindarin." My own remarks: "This book is the outcome of eight years of work and represents my effort to comprehensively cover the known facts (and some conjecture) about Sindarin. It by no means represents the last word on the subject, but will, I hope, become a foundation -- however imperfect -- on which future studies of Sindarin can be built."

Buy your copy of "A Gateway to Sindarin" on Amazon.com today!

News for Nov. 04, 2004

New from Green Books: Ostadan Visits Wolvercote

11/04/04, 8:51 pm EST - weetanya

TORn Staffer Ostadan has updated the Legends and Lore section of Green Books with a story about his recent pilgrimage to Tolkien's grave: "It seemed to me the very distillation of what being a 'Tolkien fan' represents..." You can find it here in TORn's [Green Books]

Elfenomeno.com Relaunches

11/04/04, 7:30 pm EST - Xoanon

Leandro writes: elfenomeno.com has been rebuilt. Now the website presents a new Tolkien Encyclopedia, with new data from the books and the films. I'm sorry but I cannot write a notice by now... but we wanted you (all TORn people) to know anyway. Thank you again for sharing all your time and your work with Tolkien fans. [More]

Attention Ringers & Horror Fans!

11/04/04, 7:23 pm EST - Xoanon

Hannah writes: In order to raise money for an upcoming film production, a producer is auctioning off a chance to be made up and photographed as virtually any fantasy / sf character you can imagine. Zombies, aliens, elves, vampires, faeries... the sky is the limit! This is your chance to be immortalized as your favorite character from fantasy literature or film, either for your own enjoyment or as an ideal and imaginative gift for that special someone. [More]

Dialogue Coach Andrew Jack Website Online

11/04/04, 12:55 pm EST - Xoanon

Our good pal Keith Stern writes: Your readers may be interested in some material we've just posted to the website for Andrew Jack. Andrew of course was dialect/dialogue coach for LOTR and there's a link on this page to a very interesting document "Accent Rationale" which explains some of the basic thoughts they had about pronunciation. Also some info about TROY elsewhere on the site including a shot of Orlando
Bloom and Andrew. [More]

Royd Tolkien Confirmed for ORC!

11/04/04, 12:52 pm EST - Xoanon

Tolkien's great-grandson Royd Tolkien will be a guest at the One Ring Celebration in January, 2005! Royd joins Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Brad Dourif, Bruce Hopkins, John Rhys-Davies, Charles Ross, the bands Emerald Rose, & World Without Sundays! Tickets are on sale now! [More]

News for Nov. 03, 2004

More Ring*Con 2004 Seattle Images

11/03/04, 9:34 pm EST - Xoanon

More Ring*Con 2004 Images Cat writes: I though you might be interested in the pics from RingCon, Seattle. Folks had a total blast. The whole weekend was a party. On Saturday night, they practically danced the floor apart. Hoards of costumes. Everyone was changing many times a day. [More]

See LOTR Movie Horses

11/03/04, 9:20 pm EST - Xoanon

Karen Mason writes: I just wanted to let you know of our new venture 'Lord of the Rings Movie Horses NZ'. We are based in New Zealand on the picturesque Kapiti Coast and offer a unique opportunity to watch a live performance featuring horses and riders from the LOTR movies. With hero horses such as Florian ('Asfaloth') and Gandalf's cart pony, not to mention Liv Tyler's riding double and Gandalf's cart double this is a not to be missed event for LOTR fans. There are plenty of photo opportunities and a chance to talk to the riders after the performance. Our first public show is on the 17th of November with a further performance on the 15th of December. We also do smaller more exclusive displays which have been a great hit with LOTR fans. [More]

More Information on Sharif/Noble Fight

11/03/04, 9:09 pm EST - Xoanon

Egyptian actor Omar Sharif reportedly rammed a table lamp into his fellow actor, Lord of the Rings star John Noble's face after the two got into a violent argument at the Umaid Bhavan Palace in Jodhpur recently. The two actors, who are shooting in the desert city for the movie 'One Night With the King,' which also stars acting legend Peter O Toole, were reportedly quite drunk when an argument turned into a fist fight following which Sharif hit Noble with the lamp. [More]

LOTR License Plates

11/03/04, 4:17 pm EST - Tehanu

Here's something for Kiwi LOTR fans....it looks like there's some LOTR-themed car license plates up for sale on Plates.co.nz. Search under "LOTR" and a number of options are offered. Time to start hinting to your nearest and dearest about what you want for Christmas? (NB. you can't legally put these on your car outside of New Zealand)

Narnia News: LOTR's Sandro Kopp to play Centaur

11/03/04, 4:08 pm EST - Tehanu

The handsome elf extra is to play a centaur in "The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe." Thanks to Leo for the news. [More]

One Ring Celebration - Ticket Details

11/03/04, 1:08 pm EST - Xoanon

We've updated the One Ring Celebration page with a breakdown on the teired tickets available to purchase. Follow the link for more info! [More]

Astin's Mom Scheduled for Bypass Surgery

11/03/04, 12:45 pm EST - Xoanon

Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke Pearce, 57, is scheduled to undergo single bypass surgery on Wednesday. Pearce, the honorary chairwoman for Kootenai Medical Center Foundation's 2004 Festival of Trees, will have the surgery at Kootenai Medical Center. [More]

Our best wishes go out to Patty Duke, and all of Sean Astin's family!

TORN-Sibs Tree Planting Update

11/03/04, 12:42 pm EST - Xoanon

TON-Sibs Tree Planting Update WhiteAslan writes: This is the end of a project that was started more than seven months ago. Not long after the announcement of ROTK’s nominations for 11 Oscars, members of TORN’s discussion boards decided to have 11 trees planted to say “thank you” to Tolkien, PJ, and the cast & crew of the films. On September 2, a lovely spring day in New Zealand, the trees were planted by the Wellington City Council, along with two Kiwi TORNsibs, Estelwyn and Delyth. Two months later, I’ve received the certificate commemorating the planting. I just wanted to share it with everyone at TORN before it’s sent back to New Zealand, to Peter Jackson. Thanks to everyone who made this possible!!

News for Nov. 02, 2004

Ring*Con 2004: Can It Get Any Better?

11/02/04, 7:22 pm EST - leo

Another year down the road and another Ring*Con come and gone. For the third year running, fans and guests from some 30 countries over the world gathered in Bonn, Germany for what is know to be Europe's biggest Lord of the Rings-convention. And like any good 'sequel' it delivered on everything it should have: it was bigger, drew more visitors, got the big-name actors and was (in my humble opinion) better as well. [Full Report!]


LOTR Art Exhibit in Utah

11/02/04, 6:15 pm EST - Xoanon

From Deseret News: Movie magic is the theme this month at the Woodbury Art Museum in Orem's University Mall with "LOTR" fantasy art by the Hildebrandt brothers and "Favorite Flix" by the Society of Illustrators. Both exhibits will be on display from Nov. 5-23, with a free opening reception for the public on Friday from 6 to 8:30PM. The museum, sponsored by Utah Valley State College, is free and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Wednesday from 10AM to 8PM Call 426-6199 for information.

RingCon 2004 Germany Reports

11/02/04, 6:05 pm EST - Xoanon

Tinuvielas writes: RingCon 2004 in Bonn, Germany is once again over and the 3000-odd fans have left Europe’s largest Fanstasy and LotR-convention with the usual feeling of melancholy, discarding their often elaborate robes, ears and wigs and discussing in trams and trains on their way home. [More]

You can also take a look at Irascian's report from the same Con! [More]

New Return of the King screenshots

11/02/04, 1:11 pm EST - Xoanon

From DVDtown: Today - We have put ten completely new screenshots online from the upcoming Extended Edition of "Return of the King." Remember the place you saw these first and enjoy! [More]

LOTR Fanclub Calls it Quits

11/02/04, 1:09 pm EST - Xoanon

Announcement from Decipher and New Line Cinema: The Lord of the Rings Fan Club Official Movie Magazine will be ending in December 2004 with the final issue #18 shipping to members in December. However, the LOTR community and the message boards will continue for as long as the community is active. Decipher's and New Line's ability to keep the magazine going has come to an end now that the movies are over because of non-movie publishing conflicts. With the movie trilogy and the cast and crew moving on to other projects, it has also become increasingly difficult to obtain quality interviews and produce good content for our readers. [more]

Bruised egos as celebs hit back

11/02/04, 1:07 pm EST - Xoanon

From Hello Magazine: Tempers flared in the world of celebrity as stars lost their cool on opposite sides of the world over recent days. Police in Ireland are hoping to interview glamorous royal Zara Phillips, after she witnessed a fracas involving soccer star Stan Collymore in Dublin. And movie veteran Omar Sharif is in hot water after allegedly attacking Lord Of The Rings star John Noble. [More]

ROTK Still Winning Awards

11/02/04, 1:05 pm EST - Xoanon

Maryann writes: I just thought that you might like to know that Return of the King won The Jameson People's Choice Award for Best International Film at the Irish Film and Television Awards which aired on TV here last night. [More]

Nasmith Checks In with TORN

11/02/04, 1:03 pm EST - Xoanon

Ted Nasmith himself sent in this reply to not a hobbit's report on the new Silmarillion booksigning event: "I've just had the pleasure of reading the news piece written by not a hobbit. Her sentiments and observations are much appreciated, but I thought I should correct one or two factual errors. {I don’t blame her for the confusion, as the matter of bringing the illustrated Silmarillion out is a rather involved tale.}" [More]

News for Nov. 01, 2004

One Ring Celebration Tickets On Sale Now!

11/01/04, 8:24 pm EST - Xoanon

What do Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Brad Dourif, Bruce Hopkins, John Rhys-Davies, Charles Ross, the bands Emerald Rose, & World Without Sundays have in common? They will all be guests at our first Convention! The One Ring Celebration will be held in Pasadena, California this January 14th to 16th, 2005. Tickets are on sale now! Stop by and say "hi!" [More]

More LOTR Minimates!!

11/01/04, 8:19 pm EST - Xoanon

The cool folks from action-figure.com write: Art Asylum had both series of their Lord of the Rings Minimates on display at their showroom at the Fall ToyFair held recently in New York. Series 2 should be out soon (if it's not out already) and consists of the following 2-packs. Gollum & Samwise Gamgee, Boromir & Merry, Pippin & Uruk-Hai, Grishnakh & Orc Scout, & Twilight Frodo & Aragorn (Rivendale[SIC] repaint). [More]

Boyd Charity Auction for Billy's Loons

11/01/04, 8:16 pm EST - Xoanon

The folks from Billy's Loons Charities write: We are auctioning off one of our specially-designed plush Billy's Loons Charities Bears, that was autographed by Billy Boyd, David Wenham, and Dominic Monaghan. The bear was signed by Billy and David at Comic Con 2004 in San Diego, California this past summer. Dom also autographed the bear on May 24, 2004 at his ROTK release/Best Buy signing in West Hollywood. [More]

Viggo Mortensen Attends Rally

11/01/04, 8:09 pm EST - Xoanon

Lilybird writes: I've been a long time follower of the website and I'm a huge fan of LOTR. Thanks to you guys and the news and links you report I was one of the lucky ones to go to Trilogy Tuesday nearly a year ago. [More]

The One Ring Circus needs your video

11/01/04, 7:52 pm EST - weetanya

Attention kindly Ringers: The One Ring Circus (the fabulous cabaret group that took the stage at The Return of the One Party last year) is desperately searching for photos, video, or digital files of their performances at the party or anywhere else. Did anybody capture their performances in photos, video, or video clips on their cameras? The One Ring Circus would be grateful if you would be willing to share them! Please email their Frodo (and archivist) at: [cstaehle@earthlink.net]

50th Anniversary Houghton Mifflin/TORN Contest Winners!

11/01/04, 12:48 pm EST - Xoanon

The folks from Houghton Mifflin write: To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original U.S. publication of The Fellowship of the Ring, bookstores around the country hosted special LOTR events, including trivia games, costume contests, and other activities last week. TORN readers who attended one of the events sent in a report and were eligible to win one of five copies of Houghton Mifflin's spectacular new anniversary edition of The Lord of the Rings! The winners were selected randomly and they are: Dan Funderhide, Tiffany Shiebler, Bill Powers, Amy Smith, and Diane Mayne. Congrats to all! You should be contacted soon!

Buy your copy of LOTR: 50th Anniversary Edition at Amazon.com today!

SFX Magazine Contest

11/01/04, 12:38 pm EST - Xoanon

Ian Berriman form SFX Magazine writes: We are giving away some tickets to a screening of all three Lord Of The Rings films at the bfi in London, and I thought your UK readers might be interested. [More]

News for Oct. 31, 2004

PJ, Barrie O & Fran Walsh Win AFI Award

10/31/04, 10:31 am EST - Xoanon

Congrats to Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh for winning the 'Moonlight Projects AFI Award' last night at the Australian Film Institute's award show. [AFI.org.au]

Happy Birthday PJ!!

10/31/04, 10:14 am EST - Xoanon


Today is Peter Jackson's Birthday! Peter was born on Haloween 1961 in Pukerua Bay, New Zealand. That makes him 43 today! Happy Birthday Peter!!

Ted Nasmith Book Tour Austin, TX

10/31/04, 10:11 am EST - Xoanon

In celebration of the Lord of the Rings 50th anniversary, Ted Nasmith presents slides of his paintings from the new edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel to the trilogy. Nasmith was commissioned for twenty-six new paintings. He will be at the Texas Book Festival in Austin, TX today (Oct 31st). Nasmith will be joined by Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey at this event.

Mortensen Surprises At Rally

10/31/04, 10:09 am EST - Xoanon

Melissa writes: I just wanted to let you know that a friend of mine, who knows I am a big LOTR fan, called to say that Viggo made a last-minute surprise appearance at a Michael Moore rally in Columbus, Ohio tonight (October 30th). [More]

Go back to Main News Archives