The folks at Fade In Magazine really went full tilt on this amazing interview with former head of production at New Line, Mike Deluca.
The interview was conducted in the summer it seems, months before Deluca and New Line parted ways, so the irony here is hard to ignore. Deluca talks about his youth and his many years with New Line, he speaks about his thoughts on today’s Hollywood scene, and where he thinks it will go. He is equally frank about his success and failures in the movie biz. I think many of you will learn allot about this man by reading this 10 page interview.I’ve spoken with Mike Deluca an several occasions, always via email, yet you still cannot miss the feeling that he’s ‘one of us’. He’s the fanboy who sits in the movie theatre and gets excited by the flashing images he sees on the screen. He’s a man sitting in a place reserved for stuffed suits and power ties, who answers fan emails from time to time, totally off the cuff.I had the chance to wish him all the best when I heard the news about his departure from NL, and even among all the hoopla that surrounded that day, he wrote me back thanking me, this is one suit that will never get stuffed.
Day: January 25, 2001
From: The Vancouver Sun
Tolkien fans are deeply conflicted over the film trilogy headed their way and, writes Trent Ernst, the first trailer did nothing to dim the controversy. [More]
The folks at Flowinglass Music send us the news on a new CD you can please your ears with. [More]
LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Britain”s Queen Elizabeth will not attend the country”s first Holocaust Memorial Day this weekend, further fuelling the debate over who should or should not attend the highly controversial event.
Buckingham Palace said on Thursday the Queen had turned down the invitation to Saturday”s memorial in London and would not interrupt an extended Christmas break. A palace source added that the monarch”s diary was planned months in advance, but that her son and heir to the throne Prince Charles would take time off from his private engagements in order to attend.
…Despite the debate, Prime Minister Tony Blair will lead politicians, church leaders and charity workers at the ceremony, which will be broadcast live on television and radio. Also attending will be Britain”s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, actor Ian McKellen and rock star Bob Geldof.
From: StocDred
I found a LOTR article that you might not have access to… it’s in a great monthly magazine called Kidscreen. Kidscreen focuses on “reaching children through entertainment,” and always features articles/news about kids broadcasting, software, movies, toys, properties and other products. It’s not available at newstands; I get the magazine because I work for a FOX TV affiliate. In the January 2001 issue, they have a multi-page article about the upcoming merchandising for the LOTR movies (and Star Wars, incidentally). Although there isn’t a great deal of specifics, here’s some tidbits I pulled out:- nice list of signed licensees; some of which I knew about, some I didn’t (Toy Biz, EA, Topps, Decipher, Playmates, Applause)- the three films will all be PG-13, but much of the merchandise is aimed at kids 7 and up- DVD/video release will be 6 months after the movie opens- action figures could be in stores as early as July; most merch will be out a month before movie opensI’ve attached scans of the complete article so you can see for yourself.
The Hall of Fire is ready for debate! This time we hope to raise a little steam. Our topic:
How and why has no other author done what JRR Tolkien did?
Clearly biased of course… but perhaps Tolkien is not your favorite author and you have a barrage of arguments as to why some one else takes preference? Surely in the history of literature SOMEONE has outdone Professor Tolkien… or not?
Come tell us what you think on Saturday or Sunday, January 27 and 28. Times below.
Saturday Chat: 7:00 pm EST (19:00) [also midnight Saturday (24:00) GMT and 10:00 am Sunday (10:00) in Australia]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) in Australia [also 9:00 am (09:00) GMT and 4:00 am (04:00) EST]
Sunday Chat: 6:00 pm (18:00) GMT [also 1:00 pm (13:00) EST and 4:00 am (04:00)Monday morning in Australia]
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to our chatroom Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire