AMC is doing their promo blitz for the updated version of ‘The Prisoner’, one of the cool items they sent along was this ‘Prisoner Timeline’ piece. Take a look! And don’t forget to catch ‘The Prisoner’ Sunday, November 15 at 8pm/7c on AMC.

When Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner aired in 1967, it was unlike anything else on TV. The brazenly surreal series became known for heady socio-political themes, outrageous sci-fi twists, willful absurdity, and head-scratching loose ends. Read the rest of this entry »

Viggo Mortensen has been honoured for his work in film. The actor took to the red carpet in Hollywood as the American Film Institute (AFI) held a special evening in his honour as part of the AFI Festival, accompanying a screening of his new movie The Road.

“It’s a team sport making movies,” said Viggo, whose other films include A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises. The star revealed his latest film, a post-apocalyptic tale of a man and his son trying to survive by any means possible, was rife with challenges. More..

Ian McKellen is going back to drama school, for television. The thesp has signed to star in a half-hour mockumentary series, “The Academy,” that is being shopped to U.K. and U.S. buyers by DLT Entertainment. McKellen would play his fictional brother, Murray McKellen, who heads a run-down drama school, the Clapham Academy of Creative Arts, that is hoping to secure new funding through a docu on the school. More..

From www.mirror.co.uk (who tend to exaggerate every fact): Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen was upset on live TV after he was confused with another movie wizard. The actor – who played Gandalf in the hit films – was on US TV’s The View when host Whoopi Goldberg asked: “Are you coming back in Harry Potter.” Sir Ian, 70, looked clearly annoyed as he closed his eyes and paused. He said: “I don’t play Dumbledore – I play Lord of the Rings.” Embarrassed Whoopi apologised before Sir Ian assured her it was a common mistake.

What exactly is going on with the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit? The world seems to be holding its breath in anticipation, including us, but as the calendar turned to November, we turned to a trusted rock-solid inside source and found a dragon’s treasure of updates. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to message board member Theodred for alerting us to this story from scifiwire.com: Ian McKellen, whom we expect will put on Gandalf’s gray robes in director Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming Hobbit movies, tells us he’s finally read the script for the films. And, no, he won’t tell us much about it, except that producer Peter Jackson (who co-wrote the script with longtime Lord of the Rings collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, as well as del Toro) wrote it specifically for him.

“As Peter has said, they loved writing Gandalf [for The Hobbit] because they knew who they were writing him for,” McKellen told us exclusively in an interview last week while promoting AMC’s The Prisoner. “There are a lot of characters in The Hobbit, including, crucially, Bilbo, and they don’t know who’s going to play Bilbo. So it’s extremely attractive that this part has been written for me. The other Gandalf was written for, well, just as Gandalf. There’s lots for me to enjoy, in all sorts of ways. And I couldn’t be happier. But I’m sworn to secrecy. I’m not to say anything at all about the script.” More..

Nice little piece on one the Elf Fantasy Fair in Utrecht, only this time from the viewpoint of one of the stars who was there to sign his autograph for the fans. Luckily he had time to look around and describe the fair too! [More]

Shannon writes: Thanks to your reporting I found out about Sir Ian attending the Shakespeare Gala in DC. It was several days after my twenty-first birthday, so I approached my parents asking them if we could make the trek there from New York as my present, and much to my surprise, they agreed. They are well aware of my goal to meet the entire Fellowship and have helped me meet five so far, so it seemed like a great idea to them to help me meet such an awesome number six for my birthday. Read the rest of this entry »

stormcrow20 sends us word that Sir Ian McKellen is set to appear on both The View and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, November 5, 2009.

All of us at TheOneRing.net would like to offer our warmest congratulations to *Sir* Chrstopher Lee for this well-deserved honor! 

Finding oneself opposite a tall, baleful celluloid vampire would have most people reaching for a head of the most pungent Spanish garlic, a large crucifix or a sharp stake. The Prince of Wales, however, opted for a ceremonial sword, even as the 1.95-metre (6ft 5ins) vision of Count Dracula leaned worryingly close to the royal neck. Fortunately, the prince had little to fear. Christopher Lee – aka Counts Dracula and Dooku, not to mention Lord Summerisle and the Duc de Richleau – had been invited to Buckingham Palace today to receive a knighthood for his services to drama and to charity. The 87-year-old is one of cinema’s most prolific actors, appearing in more than 250 films over the course of a career that has so far spanned 61 years. More..