Arlymir writes: Sean Bean (or rather his voice) is starring in "Pride" on A&E. It premiered last night, but I'm sure they will repeat it sometime this month. It's about a pride of lions, using real footage of lions, with their mouths digitally altered to make it look like they're talking. [Local Listings]

The folks from McKellen.com write: Ian McKellen has updated his website with several new features, including an E-Post about LOTR. [More]

Tinkerbell sends along this great report from the recent Elf Fantasy Fair in Holland. Take a look at all her amazing photos and movies! Don't mind the radioactive pink...get some shades. [More]

The folks from eadt.co.uk write: Due to filming commitments for the third Lord of the Rings film, Sir Ian missed his sister's funeral, but will appear in An Evening to Remember at the village hall in November in her memory. [More]

Sala Baker at the recent Ring*Con

Hollywood, CA -- June 21, 2004 Actor Sala Baker has signed on to appear in the upcoming feature documentary, Ringers: Lord of the Fans. Mr. Baker gained worldwide fame for playing the Dark Lord Sauron in The Fellowship of the Ring and the Man Flesh Uruk in The Two Towers as well as doing stunt work for all three movies. Mr. Baker has also assisted in the production of fellow "Rings" Trilogy cast member Sean Astin's film, The Long and Short of It. [More] [Ringers Website]

Lord Of The Rings star Billy Boyd was at this year's glitzy Oscars ceremony to see the Hollywood fantasy epic scoop an incredible 11 awards. But yesterday, the 35-year-old from Glasgow said he felt humbled to be named as Our Entertaining Hero. He said: 'I feel a bit of a cheat when there's people doing something that really matters. [More]

Matt in Minneapolis writes: Twice a year, The TOP500 project makes a list of the sites operating the 500 most powerful computer systems. In November 2003, WETA Digital's computer clusters ranked 44th and 48th in the world. By June 2004, they already slipped to 77th and 80th. Disney, MPC, Sony, Media & Entertainment, and Digital Media Company were on the list, (but I couldn't find ILM). [More]

NEW YORK - "The Lord of the Rings" star Liv Tyler is pregnant with her first child, People magazine says. Tyler, the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, is married to rock singer Royston Langdon, of the band Spacehog. [More]

Thingo Baggins writes: The science teachers at the school where I work got the March April 2004 issue of 'howstuffworks' 'express' magazine. The cover has our own Gollum on it and there is a great article on his creation. [More]

Tony writes: In case you haven't heard, Peter Jackson is seen in the preview of the Star Wars special edition dvd collection. The preview can be seen at this link on Amazon.com. [More]

The American business magazine detailed the director's earnings in its annual Top 100 Celebrity List. Jackson's ranking – based on earnings, media attention and influence – jumped from No. 27 last year to No. 12, due to the success of the Oscar-winning The Return of the King. [More]

Congratulations to our three winners in the 'World of Ringers' contest! Follow the link for the results and winners. [Click Here]

We know a lot of you are curious about the Narnia films, and since they're being made in my town, I hear some things...I heard over the weekend that shooting was scheduled to begin on Monday (yesterday), but no word on whether it did. Weather in Auckland is currently awful (thundery showers, strong winds, 12C) so any location shooting seems unlikely.

UPDATE - the folks at Narniafans.com and Narniaweb.com say it starts on the 28th, so I may have mishead my sources.

Forbes Magazine reports how Peter Jackson is ploughing some of his LOTR earnings straight back into improvements for his studios at Miramar in Wellington. [More]

Today is your last chance to pick up a LOTR related poster over at AllPosters.com for $1.98! [More]

Ataahua writes: Tonight Channel One in New Zealand broadcast a televised IQ test, and the guest audience comprised seven groups: models, cricket supporters, people aged 60 and older, taxi drivers, real estate agents, celebrities, and Tolkien fans (including our own Delyth!). One Tolkien fan had his torso body-painted as an Elf warrior of the First Age, which took him four hours to prepare, while another had worked on all three films as an extra and stand-in. [More]

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The chance to appear for a fleeting moment in a Cameron Crowe film generated enough buzz to attract hundreds to a recent casting call in Kentucky. As many as 1,300 people showed up at a Lexington hotel Saturday in hopes of landing roles as extras in Crowe's new movie, "Elizabethtown," starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. [More]

Shrek 2, after only one month, has surpassed ROTK's lifetime domestic gross of $377,027,325. [[More]

Turgon writes: UNDERSTANDING THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE BEST OF TOLKIEN CRITICISM, edited by Rose A. Zimbardo and Neil D. Isaacs has just been published by Houghton Mifflin. It contains fifteen essays, most of which are reprinted from either of the two anthologies edited by Zimbardo and Isaacs in 1968 and 1981 repsectively, but there is a brand new essay by Tom Shippey called "Another Road to Middle-earth: Jackson's Movie Trilogy." The full list of contents can be seen on the back cover. [More]

Amka writes: I am the secretary of a new organization in Utah called Into the West. We are excited to present a series of lectures on The Cultural Influences of Tolkien. Our first lecture will be on Thursday, June 24th and is entitled Tolkien Influenced. [More]

It's almost 25 years since the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain - but the first images from a new mini-series are an eerie reminder of the case that shocked a nation. Actor Miranda Otto has achieved a remarkable resemblance to Lindy Chamberlain while Craig McLaughlin plays a buffed-up version of her then-husband, Michael. [More]

Thanks to Feänor and many others who wrote this in: I was at the elf fantasy fair in the netherlands yesterday and the afternoon, Andy serkis wasn't signing anymore because his 3d child was about to be born, so he went immediately to Schiphol airport that was close by and flew to support his wife and to watch his child being born.

We wish Andy, his wife, and lil Serkis all the best!

Hey Christopher Lee fans, live in Portsmouth, Bristol, London, Manchester or Liverpool? Wanna meet him? Click here! [More]

Since New Zealand Director Peter Jackson released the first part of his epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings all these thoughts have become three-dimensional, and the country of New Zealand, where all the filming was undertaken, has been transformed into Middle-earth. [More]

From McKellen.com: "This film begins with Ian backstage on the last night of Dance of Death in the West End. The journey that follows takes us inside his home in London's Docklands; on the set of re-shoots for Lord of the Rings in New Zealand...Airing on ITV in UK Sunday 27 June 2004 at 22:45. [More]

Kat writes: According to their list updated on June 16th, looks like John Noble will be in attendance! [More]

Anita sends in her report from the Elf Fantasy Fair in the Netherlands with Andy Serkis and Craig Parker! [More]

Celevon writes: Orlando Bloom is featured on the cover of the June 24th issue of People Magzine. He tops the list of the magazine's 50 Hottest Bachelors and the 4-page article inside covers his film career and personal life.

Elanor Gardner writes: Entertainment Weekly details some of the added scenes for the EE ROTK DVD this week. They say that there will be 49 minutes of extra footage and 300 new F/X shots. (highlight below for spoilers!) "New scenes include the Nazgul king facing down Gandalf in battle, the Mouth of Sauron taunting the Fellowship at the gates of Mordor, and Aragorn tending to Eowyn in the Houses of Healing. The most anticipated addition is Gandalf's final confrontation with Saruman, a controversial last-minute cut from the film." [More]

Filmmaker Peter Jackson — assiduously disheveled, frequently barefoot and barely 5-and-a-half feet tall — is a giant in Hollywood. But in his native New Zealand he is something even bigger: its newest national hero. That much is clear from the moment you land at the airport in Wellington, where a red carpet is lined with giant golden replicas of the 11 Oscars awarded to Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and a massive model of the film's eerie Golum character peers over the roof of the main terminal. [More]

Sideshow/Weta Collectibles is getting a jump on their exclusive offerings at this year's Comic Con 2004. If you are lucky enough to be attending this year's event, you might want to jump over to SideshowWeta.com and get your pre-order in for the brand new 1/4 Scale Smeagol Bust. This bust is only going to be available for pick-up at the Comic-Con. Folks who won't be able to make it, can sign up for a wait list lottery to take place after the convention. (If you are into Hellboy and Buffy, check out the other 3 exclusives Sideshow is offering!) [More]

INVENTORY ALERTS!
Sideshow was also kind enough to inform us of about 11 items that are about to sell out from the Lord of the Rings collection. [More]

With the recent release of the Return of the King DVD, many of us have revisited the movie and probably the first two as well. Throughout the trilogy, we pickup certain repeated phrases, visual images, actions or scenes that occur in two or even all three of the films. [More]

My personal punching bag, Sala Baker, will be at Trek Expo in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 18-20. He will be there all three days of the convention. This con has a ton of interesting guests like Brent Spiner, Ron Perlman, Mercedes McNab, Penny Johnson Jerald, Bai Ling, John Glover and more! [More]

As is the case with so many of TORn's contests, the announcement of the winners for the 'World of Ringers' contest will be delayed until Monday (June 21st) due to the overwhelming response!

Just a short reminder for all folks in and around Holland. Andy Serkis, Craig Parker and Jorn and Jarl Benzon will be attending this years Elf Fantasy Fair-convention. The convention starts today and will run for the entire weekend. Read all about it here!

Hobbitt on Holiday writes: The forthcoming issue of Forbes Magazine (July 5 issue) contains a profile of Peter Jackson by writer Brett Pulley. It contains the following anecdote in the first paragraph: "Around town [Wellington] people breathlessly recount the true story of how a fully clothed Paris Hilton accidentally fell into a swimming pool at an Oscar party... [More]

Paul Clemmons Webmaster/Gaming Master for RingCon 5 writes: Halloween Weekend (October 29-31st), is RingCon, the Pacific Northwest's largest LOTR/Fantasy Convention at the SeaTac DoubleTree Inn in Seattle. During this convention, I will be holding a sponsored gaming tournament over the first two days, culminating in a finals showdown on Sunday the 31st between the winners of the preliminary rounds. [More]

Merry in Oz writes: I have just returned from the first LOTR Symphony in Sydney. It was fantastic!! [More]

Sean Astin is slated to be sitting at the table on tonights 'Celebrity Poker Showdown' tonight on Bravo at 9PM est. [More]

LokiNZ sends along this synopsis of a documentary that will be coming up in this year's NZ Film Festival. Two questions, when can I see this...and are we there yet?! [More]

Ringer Joe writes: A new demo video has just been released on the Battle for Middle Earth official site. It’s the one that was showed at the E3 show in LA, and it’s so awesome! [More] [Gaming Havens]

Luna writes: The WB (Warner Brothers) network has gotten a hold of the Lord of the Rings movies and will be airing them in high definition starting this fall. FOTR will be aired in two parts and I suppose the sequels will also air in the same fashion. The airing will commence mid-November.

In 'they'll put anything on TV' news Jeff writes: I just wanted to let you know that Billy Boyd appeared on Bravo channel's "Blow Out," a reality show about hair stylist Jonathan Antonin's (sp?) construction of a new salon. Mr. Boyd made an appearance at Jonathan's grand opening party. [More]

From harktheherald.com: The Associated Students of Utah Valley State College will show all three "Lord of the Rings" movies back to back Monday beginning at 4 p.m. in the UVSC McKay Events Center. The movie marathon is open to the public. Tickets are available at the door. Price for adults is $6, students $5 and free entrance for children 12 years old and younger. For more information, call 721-7262. [More]

Musician Dave Corwin sent along these images from backstage at the MTV Awards last week, take a look at Dom on the red carpet! [More]

The folks at autographmania write: We have just added 2 new guests to the line up of 'Master Of The Rings' convention taking place in Manchester UK over the 22nd to 24th October 2004, they are: JED BROPHY - Sharku & Snaga, plus various other roles & SANDRO KOPP -GIldor, Elf-Lord, plus various other roles. [More]

I'm not sure what to make of this...but I guess you can all check it out for yourselves...and no, they don't refund the valuable minutes of your life back. [More]

Becky, on behalf of the Cambridge Tolkien Society, writes: Just a quick reminder about our forthcoming charity Lord of the Rings reading which will be happening this Saturday in Cambridge, UK. Joining us on the day will be our very special guest, Brian Sibley! We would love to have as many people as possible drop by and say hello to us, so if you could help us in our goal by mentioning us on TOR.n then that would be great! [More]