Thanks to the folks at Red Carpet Tours for this one: A spy has uncovered some exciting developments regarding a film set for The Hobbit - but all he can say at the moment is that an official announcement will be coming from Peter Jackson’s people later this week. Stay tuned!
Aaron writes: I have put forward a Naming Proposal to the NZ Geographic Board to name a stretch of the Upper Waiau River between Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau as “Anduin Reach“. This section was not only featured strongly in the Fellowship of the Ring but it is now a tourist attraction as well, soon to be more popular as a new Cycle Trail is destined to run down it’s bank. I need some assistance from the public in the form of feedback as part of the new naming procedure so I thought I should ask your team what they think. The “reach” is a two km (1.25 miles) straight stretch of river down stream of Boulder Reach 6km North of Manapouri Township. All I need is some public feed back to forward to the Geographic Board so they know that people value the need for a name.
It is said if you give a story a place name it lives in the real world and I think the Anduin Reach has got a fighting chance to earn a real place in New Zealand’s folklore. If any one else wants to add to this submission just comment at 2359510@gmail.com or on my YouTube Video Scrapbook Page.
Andrew Rutherford writes: Here’s some photos that you might not have seen before, and recently uploaded to our website. They show the construction of the Edoras set. They were not taken by us. From the site: When Peter Jackson’s Three Foot Six company first arrived in Queenstown in November 1999, I decided to visit their production office which was operating out of the old Remarkables Hotel. There I had the good luck to meet unit production manager Nick Korda. I told him that with the type of aeroplanes we operated I thought we could be of service. My reasons for approaching the company were, firstly, I was a fan of J. R. R.Tolkien and loved the book, so I wanted to be involved. I believed that with all the locations around the country there would be a place for small aeroplanes in ferrying people, equipment, film and so on around them. Nick seemed a little doubtful at first until I mentioned that we could fly point to point at half the price of a helicopter, and do it faster. As we were flying small aircraft, we were not restricted to airports and could land anywhere - it could even be on the side of a hill, provided the area chosen was reasonably smooth and at least 400 metres long. More…
Ringer Diedye brings us another great FLASHBACK! This week’s flashback details the events that took place in the Tolkien universe between August 17th-23rd. This is a weekly feature that Diedye posts in the forum, so if there is ever a time we don’t post it on the homepage of TORn, make sure to check the Main board in our forums. Click on the link below to transported in time! Read the rest of this entry »
Another week, another great FLASHBACK from Ringer Diedye. This week’s flashback details the events that took place in the Tolkien universe between August 3rd and August 9th. This is a weekly feature that Diedye posts in the forum, so if there is ever a time we don’t post it on the homepage of TORn, make sure to check the Main board in our forums. Click on the link below to transported in time!
Future “Hobbit” director Guillermo del Toro and former “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson sat down with a world-wide internet audience and answered a lot more than the announced “20 questions” this weekend.
Hosted by Weta, there were a lot of minor details and significant confirmations and revelations about the gigantic production that will yield two “Hobbit” related movies, one in 2011 and the second in 2012.
Peter Jackson said,
“2009 will be dedicated to pre-production on both movies and 2010 will be the year we shoot both films back to back. Post productin follows one film at a time with The Hobbit being released Dec(ember) 2011, and F2 (film two) release(d) Dec(ember) 2012.”
Volcanic activity at Mount Ruapehu is increasing and an eruption could occur at any time, scientists warned on Tuesday. The volcano, famed as a location in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, last erupted on September 25 2007, spitting two metre boulders distances of up to two kilometres. Ruapehu’s elevated alert level has not been changed, but scientists said on Tuesday that activity within the mountain was greater, with high levels of gas spewing out, a warmer than average crater lake and ongoing volcanic tremors. “The volcano remains in a status of unrest and the possibility of further activity remains. If further eruptions occur, they may occur without warning,” Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) said in a statement.
Steve writes: This may or may not be of interest to you. Currently there is a resource consent application for two massive dwellings up at the Poolburn Dam – Central Otago, site of some scenes from Rohan. Locals are very unhappy about this because the developments are completely out of character with the surrounds and the developer is intending to fence off and restrict access to this part of the Dam which to this point has been open to all public. There have been articles about this in the Otago Daily Times and details of the consent application can be found here (reference RCO80072). Given that the developers are from Auckland you could say that Rohan is now under attack from the Aucks.
Lynnette writes: Walking Tree Publishers’ new LotR-themed book, How We Became Middle-earth: A Collection of Essays on The Lord of the Rings, features 24 essays by Tolkien scholars from around the world. Edited by Adam Lam and Nataliya Oryschchuk (University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ), the book covers a wide range of topics about New Zealand’s connections with LotR.
TURNING A PHENOMENOM INTO BUSINESS SUCCESS: HOBBITON MOVIE SET AND FARM TOURS FIVE YEARS ON
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the opening of the farm gates to visitors at the Hobbiton Movie Set site.
The location, near Matamata, was Peter Jackson’s choice for the creation of the fictitious village ‘Hobbiton’ used in the filming of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Today Hobbiton Movie Set and Farm Tours, run by the family who own the land, is a thriving business and has proven the skeptics wrong. During the five years over 130 000 visitors have taken the tour, with a trebling of numbers between years one and two. International visitors make up 80% of the customers, with the strongest marketing coming from the UK. Read the rest of this entry »
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Aaron writes: I have put forward a Naming Proposal to the NZ Geographic Board to name a stretch of the Upper Waiau River between Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau as “Anduin Reach“. This section was not only featured strongly in the Fellowship of the Ring but it is now a tourist attraction as well, soon to be more popular as a new Cycle Trail is destined to run down it’s bank. I need some assistance from the public in the form of feedback as part of the new naming procedure so I thought I should ask your team what they think. The “reach” is a two km (1.25 miles) straight stretch of river down stream of Boulder Reach 6km North of Manapouri Township. All I need is some public feed back to forward to the Geographic Board so they know that people value the need for a name.
Lynnette writes: Walking Tree Publishers’ new LotR-themed book, How We Became Middle-earth: A Collection of Essays on The Lord of the Rings, features 24 essays by Tolkien scholars from around the world. Edited by Adam Lam and Nataliya Oryschchuk (University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ), the book covers a wide range of topics about New Zealand’s connections with LotR.