Caltanet.it have managed to land quite a scoop from an insider in LotR’s Italian distributor, which is the most official source regarding DVD news we’ve had so far. And the news is that New Line are releasing FotR in August, but fans will have to will until November for the 4 DVD pack will movie, extras, director’s cut and all the trimmings imaginable. [More]

It seems that the Lord of the Rings crew have embarked on a whirlwind tour of the United States, as Peter Jackson now heads to New York City after his Los Angeles booksigning, and with him some friends – Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Christopher Lee! Check out Barnes & Noble on Union Square, February 22nd, between 17:00 (5pm) and 18:00 (6pm).

So you know of the films that are going against FotR for the prized Best Picture accolade on Oscar night but don’t know your John Nash from your ? Well as the build up to the Oscars mounts, Apple have compiled a list of all Oscar awards and nominations and linked them to their respective trailers to help inform fans a little bit more on the competition. [More]

A note came in from Ringer spy and cricket fan Catherine, who was at the cricket match where the spectators got the chance to do crowd noises for the LOTR soundtrack. [More]

A few days back we reported that the film company was going to use the crowds at an upcoming cricket match to provide the crowd noise for scenes in the next movies. Ringer spy and cricket fan Catherine wrote in to tell us what it was like:

“I had such an awesome time at the cricket 🙂 It was fantastic that the man himself directed us. I made sure I was right in front of a mic too, so when the movie comes out I’ll be able to say you hear that squeaky, girly sounding Orc that’s me!! He got us to stamp our feet which was amazing to hear 25,000 people all in time. We beat on our chests, chanted in Orc – I did my best to lower my voice 🙂 Whispered, hummed did some good old heavy breathing. And we won the game too, all in all a great night.”

Delize and the LOTR Fan Club were at the LA booksigning at Brentano’s. Delize posted her report on the questions and answers – a delightful read, as the questions were good and PJ and the other screenplay writers were very forthcoming. [More]