DES MOINES, Iowa — The widow of a photographer killed in a helicopter crash while filming “The Final Season” is suing actor Sean Astin, the movie’s producers and the pilot, among others. Kathryn Schlotzhauer alleges that the June 30 crash in eastern Iowa could have been avoided if producers and others involved in the film had scouted the area and noted the power lines that brought the helicopter down. [More]
Month: August 2006
Academy Award® winner Joe Letteri and Weta Digital have signed on to create visual effects, creatures and digital environments for James Cameron’s much-anticipated and innovative new motion picture, Avatar. “Weta has proven themselves a leader in visionary effects, especially in the area of performance capture based character animation, which is a big part of my new film,” says writer/director James Cameron. Cameron continues “Along with their world-class capability comes a genuine passion to blaze new trails and to entertain a global audience with groundbreaking techniques. I’m really looking forward to the collaboration with Joe and his team.” Academy Award® winning producer Jon Landau adds “Weta has an incredible depth of creative talent that has continually proven their ability to create technological innovations that allow filmmakers to tell stories which could not otherwise be told. They have the unique ability to seamlessly integrate these technologies into the movie in ways that the audience never questions the reality of the cinematic presentation. We look forward to pushing Joe and his team even further down the road of photorealistic visual effects.” [More]
WESTWOOD, MA – AUGUST 3, 2006 – Turbine, Inc. announced today that the highly-anticipated The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ has entered the alpha phase of development. The first and only massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based on the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Online™ will allow players to explore Middle-earth™, the most famous fantasy world of all time. The company also announced that over 125,000 fans have already signed up for the Beta Program. [More]
The list of nominees for the 24th annual Golden Joystick Awards was released today, with Nintendo’s DS continuing its impressive run. The awards ceremony will be held on October 27 in London’s Park Lane Hilton Hotel. The winners will be decided by online voting, and all nominated games had to be released in the UK between August 1, 2005, and July 31, 2006.
EA’s ‘The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II’ is nominated for PC Game of the Year in association with ebuyer.com. Click here to see the entire list of nominees. [More]
Lynn writes: West of the Moon just posted 2 new interviews with LOTR-associated bands! CLM sat down with Emerald Rose and had a wonderful chat about their experiences in the LOTR fandom, their adventures at the Return of the One Party on Oscar night 2004, and their future as a band. This wonderfully in-depth interview can be found here.
CLM also chatted with the Brobdingnagian Bards, a Celtic and filk duo who have a Lord of the Rings album, and learned all about podcasts, hedgehogs, and The Bards Movie, starring Kermit Thee Frog. Go read all about it here.
Be sure to check out these great new interviews, and support these wonderful groups that help keep the LOTR fandom entertained!
August 1, 2006 – On Friday, July 21, 2006, Universal Studios Home Entertainment offered a preview of the forthcoming King Kong (Deluxe Extended Edition) at the San Diego Comic-Con in southern California. The clip was introduced by none other than Peter Jackson himself, who spoke to fans via a pre-recorded message. Included below is a transcript of Jackson’s comments: “Much as I would love to come over to California for the summer but unfortunately I’ve just got so many things to do out here that I can’t do what I really want to be able to go shopping at Comic-Con one day – that’s what I want to do, shopping, buying toys…” [More]