So, according to me, the props people sent their latest version of Gandalf’s staff to Queenstown for approval from PJ. Some guy unpacks it from its box, thinks, ‘Wow, this looks like it would really do the business at the Ford of Rivendell.” He’s the sort of guy that wears one of those T-shirts with “Real Men don’t need Instructions,” printed on it. He strikes a pose, waves the staff at the Clutha River, and next thing you know they’re declaring a state of emergency downstream in Alexandra.
Righto, I know, you come here to get real news. Sorry, I like my version better.
Month: November 1999
From: Lance

Just posted a massive article, which took me forever to transcribe, from a cover story from the Dec. issue of Los Angeles Magazine, which concludes with this paragraph:
At the current rate, it may be some time before she gets that couch. After finishing “The Man Who Cried,” she is set to star in “The Gift” cowritten by Billy Bob Thornton and directed by Sam Raimi. And then she’s off to New Zealand to play Galadriel, the elf queen in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.” Once again, her appearance will morph. “I’m tickled,” says Blanchett. “I’m being fitted for prosthetic ears.”
Read the whole article here.
Thanks to Lance at Cate Blanchett Online.
Check out the amazing new content for TheOneRing.netª’s Character Section. Ringer staff member Gamgee has compiled quite a bit of information on each LOTR character. If you want some quick information on your favorite LOTR character, this is the place to go! He has also added descriptions for Treebeard, Celeborn, Denethor, and Sauron. Make sure you drop by Barliman’s and buy him a 1420!
Thanks to Eric Flippo and the Barliman chat room for this weeks poll. Check out the old polls here.
There are some more new fan art submissions for your viewing pleasure and look for the finalized update to Gaming Havens sometime tomorrow afternoon..:)
Flood Ruins Rings Set
A Lord of the Rings film set has been washed away by floodwater near Queenstown. About 300-400 crew and cast have been filming the $360 million film trilogy near Queenstown, Wanaka and Te Anau for the past 10 days and will be in the area until Christmas. Producer Tim Sanders said today filming was delayed in some locations because of flooding and bad weather. Some locations could still be used in the next few weeks when they dried out, but others wouldn’t be ready until the film crew returned next year.
Mr Sanders said one set of some ruins had been washed away. “It wasn’t a huge set, but we had some ruins for one of our scenes along the Kawarau River, built on a beach setting. The beach, and the ruins and the whole area were suddenly 5m under water,” he said.
“The great irony in all of this is that we had a set built in a studio here [in Queenstown] for wet weather purposes. We couldn’t reach it because we were cut off in Te Anau. Now that we’ve finally made it to Queenstown, it’s the only thing we can shoot on because all our other sets have washed away. And [today] it’s beautiful weather.” Filming in Wellington will resume about mid-January.
Here are some images from Karawau River:



Thanks to Buzz for the tip!
Buzz chimes in:
I can confirm that set being washed away thing too. But apparently they were able to shoot some footage which actually took advantage of the conditions. 🙂 The rain curse continues!
Could have sworn I’d posted this before, but no. The knitted armour rumour. Check it out in spy reports