Today, March 19th marks exactly 9 months until FOTR is released in theatres!!

Sean Bean (Boromir) is narrating Treacherous Places, a 3-part documentary series examining the natural phenomena that make certain locations the most dangerous places in the natural world. The series airs on Channel 5 in the UK March 19 and 26 and April 2 at 8pm.

Thanks to Nona for the tip!

The Independent has a short article on Ian McKellen (Gandalf) today where he talkes about what it was like to move to New Zealand for a year. You can see it here. [More]

Thanks to Chris H for the tip!

Since the surprising news of Mark Stetson being “let go” everybody was wondering who will be brought in his place. Well, now we have the answer:

The new visual effects supervisor for Lord of the Rings is Jim Rygiel. [More]

Since the surprising news of Mark Stetson being “let go” everybody was wondering who will be brought in his place. Well, now we have the answer:

The new visual effects supervisor for Lord of the Rings is Jim Rygiel.

His film credits go back into the 80s, and he can surely be considered among the pioneers of computer graphics for films. He worked first as a technical director/digital effects supervisor on a film called “The Last Starfighter” in 1984, the very first movie to feature extensive computer generated space ships, over 230 shots and 20 minutes of on-screen computer generated effects. The company where Mr. Rygiel started went on to produce visual effects shots from “2010”, film on which Mark Stetson also worked.

In the following years, Jim Rygiel worked as digital effects supervisor on movies such as “Ghost”, “Alien 3” and “Batman Returns”. This last movie was made while he was employed at Boss Film Studios, where he also worked later on as visual effects supervisor on “Outbreak” and “Starship Troopers”.

Other notable movies were “Species” in 1995 as visual effects co-supervisor and “Star Trek: Insurrection” as visual effects supervisor (for Blue Sky/VIFX). His last project before “Lord of The Rings” was “102 Dalmatians” for Walt Disney Pictures at Secret Lab, where he and his team had to tackle the problem of creating a believable fully synthetic puppy from the bones up (literally).

More info coming soon.

Thanks to TORN Staffer Amyd from our SFX Section for hleping us out with this story!

A great chance to see when you can catch your favorite LOTR stars on the small screen this week! I’ve also added Peter Jackson and Howard Shore listings! [More]