Another chance to see your favorite LOTR stars on the small screen! [More]

Check out this weeks crop of very cool Tolken related Ebay items! [More]

From: Ryan

I frequent a movie-review site called rottentomatoes.com and it is always wonderful. I just saw that they have a page rating the newest trailers for upcoming movies. Guess what? Our little FOTR is the ONLY movie trailer that the guy gave all five stars (the best rating) to, even beyond Apocalypse Now Redux! [More]

From: Derceto

While none of the two trailers have been shown in theaters here, Kinowelt Hungary (the hungarian distributor of FOTR) intend to release the film on the 19th of december. More precisely, they said they want to start showing the film before US theaters do on the very same day, Hungary is in CET-zone. It's not official, but they were pretty sure about it.

From: Stuart

Hollywood one-one-one did a short insert on the upcoming movies this evening. Several comments were passed about how unusual it was for the show to run an slot on a movie only coming onto circuit in December, but that it looked like "one of the greatest stories ever told" could well turn into "one of the greatest movies ever made". [More]

We here at TORN have just learned of the passing of Brother Theodore, one of the finest dark comedians in history, and also, the talented man who did the voice of Gollum in Rankin-Bass' 1978 animated production of [The Hobbit]. He died April 5th, 2001 at the ripe age of 94. [More]

From: Max Castle

Hey there - not sure if you're still posting notices about the LoTR trailer being seen in theatres, but I can report that it's finally here on the east coast of Canada - saw it attached to "Atlantis: The Lost Empire".

From: Druid64

At the Westbank Palace Theatre in New Orleans, I just saw the second FOTR trailer in front of Tomb Raider.

Ringer Spy Bruce S sends along word of coverage of the Cannes festivities in the latest issue of 'The Advocate'. [More]

Jay has another explanation for why LOTR hasn't caught on in Japan - apparently it's nothing to do with the translation being a problem. [More]

The FOTR Trailer was deemed a "must download" by the editors of FilePlanet, and is included on this month's Editor's Choice CD. You can see it here

Thanks to Ringer spy FlammaAmoris

Ringer Spy CC sends along a copy of Barrie Osborne's nomination paper for his Carleton College Distinguished Achievement Award! Check it out!

Barrie Osborne has been in the film industry for over 30 years and has been involved in the production of over 30 films. [More]

From: Darth Nazgul

I just came from the cinema Kolosej in Slovenia. They are showing the first FOTR trailer in front of Dungeons & Dragons. I am not sure for other movies, as the woman at the information box didn't even know they are showing the trailer.

TheOneRing.net Community Member Dagorhir.org is holding its Ragnarok War this weekend! [More]

Cooper from Mediatrinity, which specializes in high-end flash movies, sent along this great LOTR Flash trailer, using sound and imagery from the trailers already released. It's really great! I love the use of text! [More]

United Airlines in-flight magazine (Red Dwarf comes to mind when I say 'in-flight Magazines') has a small article on LOTR. The article is in the July issue, if you happen to be on a UA flight sometime soon, check out the article!

BBC News have a fantastic little tribute on their site, recapping the acting career of Christopher Lee. Once you read it, you can understand why the man deserves the C.B.E title. There's also a quote from the man himself here on how happy he is to become the third member in his family to receive the award. [More]

Christopher Lee (Saruman) was named amongst the Queen's birthday honors list, and has had the title of Commander of the British Empire (C.B.E) bestowed upon him. Lee joins Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Ian Holm as an honored cast member of the Lord of the Rings. [More]

Thanks to David K for the link.

Check out iFilm.com's Trailer Hook-up page for a listing of the best and worst trailers currently in theaters. Guess what trailer is listed as one of the Best? You got it. Our very own Fellowship of the Ring trailer which premiered with 'Pearl Harbor' just a few short weeks ago. Follow the links to get to the how and why it is one of the best. [More]

Thanks to Pierre for the heads up!

From: Terri

The unabridged audiobook version of Lord of The Rings is moving up the most-requested list at recordedbooks.com. The Fellowship of The Ring is at #2, The Two Towers is at #9 and Return of the King is at #10.

My sister acutally helped out with this one. Access Hollywood spotlighted LOTR in their 'Staggering Stat' segment. They mentioned how much money the LOTR production generated for the NZ economy.

From: Iarwain Ben-adar

I was watching the Starz movie channel's movie series "Starz! Movie News" today when to my surprise I saw a segment on the LOTR movie. They had cast interviews with Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Liv Tyler (Arwen), and an interview with Peter Jackson, and the first teaser trailer! I was very excited to see this and I think that they are still airing it this week (though I'm not sure) On the Starz movie channel.

The New Line store is offline until June 28th. Why? You're guess is as good as ours, but I have a feeling the success of the LOTR products was a little more then they could handle! Thanks to Ringer staff Thorongil and Jincey for making the discovery.

Word comes today that Fellowship of the Ring will be released on December 21^st 2001 in Brazil! This is good news for the folks in Brazil who thought they would have to wait much longer for the first installment of the films.

Thanks to Jean-Vitor and LegolasBh for the tip!

Today I went to check on the results of the recent 'What is the best Trilogy' poll and found it was gone! So I emailed the nice folks at DTS Records and got the scoop. John wrote me back with the good news. We won, and won by a large margin! *flex* Oh yeah! Thanks to the Star Wars folks and TheForce.net for 'trying.' heh

Gross-out films: love them or hate them? That is what's being put to vote over at FilmFour.com. Why does that interest us you ask? Because Peter Jackson's Bad Taste is being heralded as one of the reasons why you should love them. And well, who are we to argue? [More]

By Kim Griggs Wired.com

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- If you don't receive an invitation to the premiere, then the place to be for die-hard Lord of the Rings fans on Dec. 19 will be in a movie theater in New Zealand. [More]

LOTR producer and all around nice guy Barrie Osbourne has left New Zealand, if only for a little while. Osbourne is flying to Carleton College in Northfield Minnesota to receive a 'Distinguished Allumni Award'. The ceremony will take place tomorrow, congrats Barrie!

By Tom Shippey

I first met J.R.R. Tolkien shortly before he died, in the autumn of 1972. I had just been appointed to a job teaching Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, and the then senior professor, Tolkien's successor Norman Davis, took me to dinner with him at Merton College. [More]

Check out the latest Japanese NEWSWEEK for an article titled "A Glimpse of the Ring," written by Naomi Saeki. [More]

By: Liz Smith

'IT IS better to appear in hell than in the newspapers," goes the Spanish proverb. Oh, I don't know about that. Well, there will be plenty in the newspapers, because it's not the Russians who are coming, it's the Arizonian! Ready to hustle and drum up votes for the darling quasi-Republican NYC mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg is the maverick Sen. John McCain. It will happen soon. [More]

Check out the latest Hobbit paperback from Borders.com. [More]

Weta, the special effects workshop for the 'Rings,' has updated its website and it's quite stunning. Check out the photo of the staff picnic surrounding one of their creations, the collapsed oliphaunt and its seige-tower. Lots of closeups of actors, and their 'Merchandise' section is informative and looks gorgeous with all the artwork. [More]

Check out the new version of the Weta logo - mixed into the new "x-ray-look" weta (an insect) is the outline of a man in a recliner seat. Guesses, anyone?

It's finally finished: Songs about Rangers and Elven princesses, dwarf heroes, trolls and ringwraiths! [More]

We've got confirmation from Roadshow, the NZ film distributors, that they're planning to open 'The Fellowship of the Rings' in NZ on the 19th. The thing is......due to the international dateline being where it is, that means that NZ audiences could see the movies before anyone else in the world, aside from the Hollywood premieres! Well, I'm happy!! : D

Editorial cartoonist 'Aislin' from the Montreal Gazette (nice city, that) uses one of the most widely seen images from our LOTR films to poke fun at one of Canada's political parties. Check it out. [More]

Thanks to Mark J for the tip!

From: Curtmudgeon

I don't know if you'd want to mention it on your site or not, but A Common Reader is reissuing 'Bored of the Rings' by the editors of The Harvard Lampoon. Just think how many of today's Tolkien fans are unacquainted with this masterpiece of lampoonery (and buffoonery)! [More]

For more Tolkien Silliness, check out Tookish's Tolkien Humor Page!

Ringer Spy Elrohir, an insider from the Bruckheimer camp sheds some light Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) and her possible involvement in 'Chasing the Dragon'. [More]

Some good news for Tolkien Fans in Eastern Canada: The Atlantic Theatre Festival in Wolfville, Nova Scotia is presenting a production of "The Hobbit" beginning in July 2001. Website for the Atlantic Theatre Festival.

Thanks to conal donovan for the tip!

Okay, so it seems our friends at TheForce.net, the best Star Wars site out there, have caught wind of our little poll manipulation. Star Wars is steadily gaining on LOTR for the 'best trilogy' poll. (ps - yes, we know LOTR is not officially a trilogy) So what are we Tolkien fans going to do about it? Fight! Nothing like a little healthy competition to brighten our day at work. Don't let the Dark Side win! (This coming from a guy with a UZTHE4Z license plate! heh) [VOTE!]

We reported a few months back here that Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) was one of the actors being considered to play murdered Irish news investigator, Veronica Guerin in the film Chasing The Dragon. Well, FilmFour.Com is reporting that Cate is now in talks with the films producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, and director, Joel Schumacher. She should begin shooting in Dublin early next year. [More]

The latest newsletter is away! Do you want to receive our weekly newsletter? Packed with tons of info to keep you up to date on the latest? Plus filled with exclusives from time to time! Join the crowd of almost 4000 mailing list Ringers! Sign up now! [More]

Reprint from Jubilee Magazine
By Roberto Rivera

"I heard about people who were really worried they might die, they were taking precautions so they wouldn’t get run over by a truck before ‘Episode I’ came out. It’s this huge motivating factor to stay alive." —Star Wars fan Eric Cline, quoted in New Times Los Angeles. [More]

Well, of sorts anyway, check out what Derek has to say:

I just picked up a new CD, The Nothing Venture by Five O'Clock People. One of the tracks entitled "So Far Gone" includes this line: "Now Frodo finds the strength to face his fears and solo goes." I haven't quite figured out the song to understand the reference, but it's a decent song anyway.

From: omringaren

Here's a translation of an interesting reference to FOTR in an article about upcoming movies in Sweden this Christmas. [More]

Yesterday I posted a link to a webpoll which asked the question, 'What is the best Trilogy?' Options in the poll include Alien, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. Well, up until we posted the link, Star Wars was winning with 64% of the vote. Guess what. LOTR is now winning with 72% of the votes. Maybe its time to get a new shirt, our fandom muscle seems to be getting bigger! [More]

The New Line 'Lord of the Rings' store is now selling official "Frodo Lives" bookmarks! Get 6 for 9 bucks. I have a feeling I might need to get a second job to start paying for these collectibles. I mean, after all, we have to have it...my precious... (note to VISA, please increase my credit limit?) [More]

A trusted spy brings word of New Line's plans for the new FOTR trailer at your local cinemas, as well as word of the possiblity of 2 new trailers this fall! [More]

The news for Tolkien fans isn't so good in Croatia and Peru. [More]

The release date for 'The Fellowship of the Ring' has been moved forwards to.....December 19th!!
Scoop carries the story. [More]

From: Ross

I was watching FOX and Friends this morning and I saw a little segment on new candy things coming out. And they mentioned LOTR candy!! On the table was an assortment of Harry Potter candy(including a couldron and some of the candies they ate on teh way to Hogwarts in the first book). But in the middle there was this tall tube of something with a Figure of Gandalf on the Top!! They paned away to quickly so I couldn't see what it was. It was also partially obscured by some Harry Potter Stuff.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gandalf the Wizard and Frodo the Hobbit invaded New York from Middle Earth Wednesday to kick-off a six-month countdown for the first ``Lord of the Rings'' movie. [More]

Thanks to SK for the tip!

Okay, yet another poll to swamp. This time it asks, "What is the Best Trilogy?" Thanks to ringer Estel42 for the tip! [More]

From: Ryan

You've probably received this news already, but it is worth a shot. E! News Daily just showed a slightly abridged version of the trailer on tv. It is over now but this particular show will repeat (here in America anyways) tomorrow morning and tomorrow, early afternoon. I am going to tape it tomorrow when it repeats in the afternoon. They didn't really cut a whole lot out except the very end with Aragorn/Frodo. They also tightened up Moria.

Ringer Spy Arcaist sends along word of having seen the new FOTR trailer on a German movie show 'Zelluloid'. [More]

Get to it! My birthday is just over a month away!! [More]

Twelve years ago, travelling through the remote countryside of New Zealand's south island, I was struck by the sentiment of having been there before. It was autumn, and yellow meadows running over steep hills were stippled here and there by slender, vertical golden trees. Steeple-like mountains dusted with snow rose in the distance. There was little sign of human habitation. [More]

Wow! We've got a TON of movies you can check out with your favorite LOTR stars this week! [More]

Yahoo! News have one of their reporters recapping the first day of the New York Licensing Show 2001 and she managed to talk to New Line's Vice President of Licensing & Merchandising, David Imhoff who revealed some of his thoughts on marketing the films. [More]

The June 4 NZ 'Woman's Day' magazine has a short thing on LOTR with a lot of pics we've seen, but also this one of PJ. From the size of the table he's sitting at -given that he's about 5'3" tall himself, max - he must be in the small set of Bag End. I didn't spot that until I thought 'Funny, I never imagined PJ and Fran having one of those Olde Worlde kitchens with copper pots everywhere.....say, what are those cables doing on the floor there?' [More]

The film versions of the Lord of the Rings' trilogy have pumped about $200m (£138m) into the economy of the New Zealand capital city, where much of it was filmed. [More]

I know we've reported this beofre, but I just love this story. Here it is again, this time from Greek movie magazine 'Cinema'. [More]

TORN Staffer Glaurung sends along an article from the story we've been reporting on about Mark Ordesky and New Line donating money to local NZ schools. [More]

Our own Ian Holm is currently starring in the stage play "The Homecoming" at Dublin's Gate Theater on O'Connell St. for the next 2 weeks! Should be a show you won't want to miss! Thanks to TORN Fan Dave for the tip!

SideShow/WETA Toys has updated their 'Lord of the Rings' section with series two collectibles. We've seen these from promotion scans, but the high quality images we find on the website are just amazing. Boy I wish I had money! !SPOILERS! [More]

It's nothing really groundbreaking, but hey a story is a story.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's website Post-Gazette.com have posted an article on last weekends BookExpo America, where Houghton Mifflin revealed a major campaign in co-operation with New Line to tie in with the first film in December including reprints of the books they first published more than 70 years ago. [More]

After going on sale only a handful of days, New Line's Studio Store has already sold out of the "Frodo Lives" t-shirts. The next batch won't be available until the end of June. We saw this happen before with the Teaser Trailer... is this going to be the trend for any future merchandise too?

The lucky folks at Coming Attractions have picked up a Lord Of The Rings bookmark from the New Line booth at the New York licensing show. It's a nice simple black bookmark with the image of an orc at the top, the familiar catch-phrase "One Ring To Rule Them All" underneath, and the new Lord Of The Rings logo. Hands up, who wants a fellowship collection of bookmarks with each character on it!? [More]

Apparently Robert Shaye's ticket for a rough cut for Fellowship of the Ring didn't come cheap. In a reply to Wellington city council's permission to land Shaye's jet, which would have exceeded noise limits, New Line surprised three Miramar schools with a donation of 5000 kiwi dollars each. For those who don't know, Miramar is the Wellington suburb in which two of the main studios for Lord of the Rings are located. The full story can be read over at Stuff... [More]

from: Stuff.co.nz

New Line Cinema boss Robert Shaye was "thrilled" with the rough cut of the first Lord Of The Rings film, after flying into Wellington from Los Angeles in his private jet last week to check on progress... [More]

I guess we'll lose any fans that are partial to conspiracy theories after they read this one. [More]

Once again, the Spanish Tolkien community gets its act together and offers Tolkien fans the opportunity to gather and celebrate the LOTR trilogy when it opens. [More]

We have an article from Australia talking about the connection between Tolkien and 'geeks,' thanks to ringer spy Paul. [More]

Ringer fan AdmiralHill reports that Slovenian LOTR fans might have to wait a month for the release of Fellowship of the Ring in their local theaters. It looks like we can safely confirm that FOTR will show January 17^nd 2002. You can find the confirmation by following the link. [More]

Grand Toys International today released a press release on their site Grand.com, annoucing that they have been given the license to distribute Toy Biz's Lord Of The Rings action figures in Canada. Grand also distributes X-Men and Spider Man action figures and the best-selling Furby interactive toys. [More]

GameSpy.com has an interview with Brad Dourif, who plays Grima Wormtongue in the new movies, about his role in Myst III. There's also a blurb about the movies, Thanks to Phil for the tip. [More]

FilmFour.com's Coming Soon feature, in which they have a detailed look at an upcoming film, this week focuses on The Fellowship Of The Ring. The article gives a good recap of how the film came to life, the shooting in New Zealand, the cast, Cannes, everything to date. They even refer to us as the primary fan site on the Net! [More]

Pictures from the new Orlando Bloom (Legolas) film 'Blackhawk Down' have appeared online, no Orlando, but they still look good! [More]

There is a small article discussing the New Line and Burger King arrangement at ICV2.com today. The article relates how the 'whopper' (had to use a pun, come on now...heh) deal essentially allows Burger King to have three straight years of promotion. [More]

Thanks to Robin for the tip.

A Malaysian LOTR article at TheStar.com.my confirms that 'Fellowship of the Ring' will be released December 20^th 2001 in Malaysian cinemas. [More]

Thanks to Jackie for the heads up.

We have gone over the entire planet with a fine toothed comb, searching for the world's biggest Tolkien fans, and we've found them! A special thanks to all our entries, and congratulations to the lucky winners!

Who is the winner for 2001? Congratulations to Ken Chaij of Pittsburgh, PA. Ken has a Tolkien collection that will blow your mind. [More]

Spanish speakers who haven't already done so might like to check out the frame-by-frame analysis of the trailer on Elfenomeno.com As usual they've done a terrific job, and they have a picture (#78) that we don't have, of blurred figures running down a hill holding weapons.