The first in a series of articles from Frodo’s Girl, the first Ringer to take one of the Red Carpet Movie Tours which will visit LOTR film locations in NZ. [More]
Month: February 2002
Super Ringer Frodo’s girl checks in after her first day in NZ where she’s joined a tour that will take her to LOTR film locations.
“I thought I would share with TheOneRing.net my experience on the Red Carpet Movie Tour’s LOTR “Ultimate Fantasy” 12-day tour. I’m on a small VIP tour. I’ll send in updates as time and connectivity permit.
“I’ll start with day one of my trip – which is actually more like day one, two and three. For those of you that don’t know, getting to New Zealand is a bit of a long haul. Most flights from the states start with flying from where ever you live to L.A., and then taking off from L.A. around 10 or 11pm and flying for 12 or 13 hours to Auckland. Besides the length of the trip you cross the international date line, so you take off on one day and end up landing in Auckland in the morning two days later. From Europe the trip is even longer, requiring a long flight to L.A. or Singapore, and then another to Auckland.
“Feb 16th & 18th
I used to travel internationally quite a bit for business and I had already made a similar flight, that time to Melbourne, so I was more or less prepared for the extensive journey. This time, however, I was going to find Middle-earth. I was headed on a trip to find my heart and soul. A heart and soul that I had left somewhere between the Shire and Rivendell in my younger years at a time in my life when I understood how the magic of the heart works, and knew that friendship and determination can get you through anything.
“I took off from Seattle on the afternoon of Feb 16th and headed down to LAX. Since it is summer in this part of the world, flights are very full and ours was overbooked. However, the flight was smooth and fairly uneventful. I did have the added bonus that one of the movies they showed was bandits, so I got my Cate Blanchett fix (is she amazing or what?). I saw a beautiful sunrise near the end of the flight.
“Vic James of Red Carpet Movie Tours picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at my hotel (I have a few extra days here on either end of the tour). I decided to take it pretty easy for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, Vic will pick me up bright and early at 8am and we will head to Matamata – site of Hobbiton.”
TheOneRing.net exclusive: After the release immaculately detailed Balrog and Cave Troll statues in the last two weeks, Sideshow Weta have now unveiled the Limited Edition Ringwraith and Steed statues. Orders are already being taken in advance as Sideshow prepare to ship this very special statue in Fall of this year. [More]
Brandon Gray
Boxofficemojo.com
Fueled by its 13 Oscar nominations, “The Lord of the Rings” enjoyed a 38% bump-up to an estimated $5.0 million this weekend (Feb. 15-17), though the five new releases kept it in 11th place. “Rings'” improvement was all the more impressive given how many people have already seen it. [More]
Brandon Gray
Boxofficemojo.com
Fueled by its 13 Oscar nominations, “The Lord of the Rings” enjoyed a 38% bump-up to an estimated $5.0 million this weekend (Feb. 15-17), though the five new releases kept it in 11th place. “Rings'” improvement was all the more impressive given how many people have already seen it. Oscar usually benefits the little seen movies the most, but “Rings'” surge was better than fellow Best Picture nominees “A Beautiful Mind” (up 35%), “Gosford Park” (up 30%) and would have been better than “In the Bedroom” (up 47%) had that picture not increased its theater count by 36%.
After 61 days, “Rings” has pulled in $277.9 million.
“Rings'” New Line Cinema stable mate “John Q” took the top spot with an estimated $20.6 million, while Britney Spears’ big screen debut “Crossroads” rode into 2nd place with an estimated $14.6 million.
4-day studio estimates for the long Presidents Day weekend will be issued Monday. Actual 3- and 4-day numbers will be released Tuesday evening.
Weekend Chart:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2002/07.htm
‘The number of UK cinema admissions rose by a phenomenal 29% in January – that’s 15m tickets sold – the biggest boost since The Godfather in 1972. This is due almost entirely to the strong performances of Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone and The Lord Of The Rings.’ [More]