A few people have been wanting more detail on the situation with LOTR being filmed in the National Parks.

The Department of Conservation has given permission for the company to film on D.O.C. land around Te Anau, the Wakatipu basin around Queenstown, and Mt.Owen around Murchison. D.O.C. has given the company a 77-page document outlining the conditions it sets, and there is a $50,000 bond to lose if they wreck anything.(For New Line, this would be the proverbial slap on the wrist with a wet bus-ticket, as far as threats go.) The film company must employ a D.O.C. officer to monitor how they’re affecting the environment; they must only drive on existing roads, and public access can’t be restricted. I like the last condition!

For all you UK Ringers out there,

From: Matt

Hey there, don’t know whether you know this already, but Andy Serkis (Voice of Gollum) is about to appear on UK TV this Sunday in Oliver Twist.

Apparently it’s a virtual re-write of Dicken’s original, a bit more hard edged and with more character depth. Serkis plays Bill Sykes, so we could get a taste of him in slimey mode!!

Don’t know the exact time, but it’s this Sunday, on ITV.

Check it out for a look (and a earfull) of Gollum‘s voice!

Mongvar has informed me that he’s gotten a small interview with Ralph Bakshi, director of the easily forgetable LOTR Cartoon in the late ’70’s, here’s a sample:

Mongvar Tolkien: First of all, thank you very much for the interview, Ralph. To start, I wish to make the question which, I think, is the one most of people has done. Why did The Lord of the Rings cartoon ended in the middle of the story? Was this the initial idea or you were hoping for doing the whole trilogy? Did you ever thought in continue the cartoon untill the end? Is there still the possibility of doing it?

Ralph Bakshi: It was impossible to do the trilogy in one film. The film company knew I was doing part 1 of a 2 part movie. When it was finished, they reversed their position, and said no one would go to see part 1 so they called it Lord of the Rings and everyone thought it was supposed to be the complete trilogy. I wouldn’t work with these people again.

For the rest of the small interview, click here.

There have been contradictory stories (and all quoting the film’s producers!) about how long filming will continue in the South Island. Bad weather and the destruction of sets by floods has of course delayed things. The cast and crew were scheduled to take a break in mid-December, but now one report has them continuing until closer to Christmas. The weather is fining up slowly.

Resevoir Dog sends in this from a magazine. It’s an add to buy Sean Bean’s ‘Sharpe’ episodes on video. The text reads:

Sharpe’s Rifles

Sharpe’s Eagles

The TV adaptations of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels (set during the Napoleonic wars) have been a huge success in Britian, but seem to have passed us by. These spectacular two-hour films star Sean Bean of Goldeneye and Patriot Games fame. Plenty of swashbuckling action with a smattering of romance

All you Australian Ringers can catch a glimpse of Sean Astin in his 1991 film ‘Toy Soliders’. Check your local listings for channel and time, and gave a gander at Sam in action!

Thanks to Resevoir Dog for the TV tip!