Earlier this morning I was allowed access to the coolest place on earth, WETA Workshop. Located in a non-descript area of Wellington near the airport, this small groupings of offices and warehouses has produced some of the best practical and special effects seen in this century (and the last one too). Not only that, but it is also a digial studio, miniatures unit, production facility and more. If you've seen, held, or heard anything from Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Narnia and a few other films in the last few years, chances are it was made here. [More]

Walden Media – one of the two film companies which made the first Narnia movie – is looking at building a state-of-the-art film studio in Auckland, according to an Internet site for film news. During a behind-the-scenes video shoot by Television New Zealand for the new film, Bridge to Terabithia, actors and crew mentioned the undisclosed Auckland studio might be used for the Prince Caspian sequel from Disney and Walden Media. "We're in that exploratory stage of conversation. . .we're talking about sizeable films because we have six more of the Narnia films plus many others," said a Walden executive Cary Granat, according to a Narnia fan website, Narniaweb.com. [More]

Shane Rangi, the stuntman/actor who played several characters in the Rings-trilogy and was recently spotted in as General Otmin in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, will be amongst this years guests at the Elf Fantasy Fair. Other guests include cartographer Daniel Reeve and fantasyauthors Stan Nicholls, Tad Williams and Cate Tiernan. The event, which draws some 20.000 visitors to The Netherlands each year, will be held on the 22nd and 23rd of April. Head over to their website for more information! [ElfFantasy.nl]

Liam Neeson is slated to be a guest on 'The View' tomorrow (April 5th). Check local listings or watch this space for the video!

The beloved C.S. Lewis adventure fantasy, about a quartet of English children who pass through the wardrobe of a an English manor during World War II and emerge in a land of magic and danger, comes to the big screen in the hit film from Disney. Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell play the brothers and sisters whose appearance holds the key in the war between the forces of dark, led by the icy White Witch (Tilda Swinton) and the armies of light, led by the lion Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson). James McAvoy plays the gentle Mr. Tumnus, the Faun, and Jim Broadbent is the kindly Professor Kirke, and Ray Winstone, Dawn French and Rupert Everett contribute voices to the magical creatures in Narnia. Andrew Adamson directs. Also available in Full Screen edition and 2-Disc Special Edition (see Special Editions and Box Sets). Details: Color, 135 mins, Disney, Widescreen anamorphic, 2.35:1. Supplements: Kid and director commentary by stars Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell with director Andrew Adamson; Filmmaker commentary by director Andrew Adamson, production designer Roger Ford and producer Mark Johnson; Bloopers of Narnia; Discover Narnia Fun Facts. Audio: English (DTS 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French and Spanish. Commentary by filmmakers and Commentary by Kids & director Andrew Adamson. Optional Spanish and French subtitles. [More]

Chris writes: Dr. Thomas Shippey will deliver the lecture "Narnia and Middle-Earth: Seventy Years on and Still Accelerating" at Marymount University, in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday, April 5, 2006. Join us at 7 PM in the Reinsch Library for the talk, reception to follow. [marymount.edu]

This week's most satisfying DVD is the two-disc "The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (Disney, $35). The moralistic fantasy adventure based on the beloved C.S. Lewis book outpaced "King Kong," taking in nearly $300 million in the U.S. alone. The first disc includes kid-friendly commentary with director Andrew Adamson and his four young stars, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell. There's also technical commentary with Adamson, producer Mark Johnson and production designer Roger Ford, a blooper reel and fun Narnia pop-up facts. [More]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has outsold Toy Story 2 to become Disney's biggest UK box office hit. The film has just overtaken its closest competitor, taking $44.4 million compared to the animated sequel's £44.3 million. Announcing the news, Disney Home Video said it also expects strong sales of the DVD, which is set for release on April 3. [More]

The young stars of the Chronicles of Narnia have launched the film on DVD. County Hall in London was transformed into a snowy kingdom and the children were joined by a life-size ice sculpture of Aslan the Lion. William Moseley, 18, Anna Popplewell, 17, Skandar Keynes, 14, and Georgie Henley, 10, have become Hollywood stars thanks to their performance as the Pevensie children in the adaptation of the CS Lewis classic. [More]

I will be heading to New Zealand next month for a 10-day vacation in and around Wellington. Ubisoft, makers of “Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie” headed a contest a while back where the winners receive an all-expense paid trip to Wellington to visit the WETA studios, and I’ll be escorting them!

My journey begins on April 6th and I arrive on the 8th (the 7th will magically disappear from my calendar thanks to the wonder of crossing a ton of time zones), I have a few things already planned, my wife and I want to take some city and LOTR location tours, and we plan on seeing some friends I have made over the years while working on Lord of the Rings, King Kong and Narnia websites. Of course I also want to do some lounging about in the pre-fall goodness that is Wellywood. I will be shooting some video to be featured on the site, so keep an eye out for those!

I plan on having a ton of photos and goodies to show you from my trip, and if you know of any cool places to visit in the area, drop me a line!