Penny Wark writes: I am looking for a globally famous man yet I suspect I will not recognise him. If you know him as Gollum or King Kong you will understand the difficulty. So I study the people in this achingly fashionable hotel where, because we are in West Hollywood, the look is one of contrived casual beauty. A woman is being interviewed for a job and I know she is doomed because she is plump. [More]

Wellington paper The Dominion Post is giving away ten double passes to the launch of Brian Sibley’s authorised biography, “Peter Jackson, a Film-maker’s Journey.” [More]

Universal and Fox have pulled out of co-financing the film after disagreements over Jackson and Walsh’s profit shares, according to PJ’s agent Ken Kamins. Kamins says they are not unduly worried, as they are confident other backers will be found. [More]

Elijah Wood has been confirmed as a guest for ORC 2007, our annual LOTR convention held in LA. I missed ORC 2006, therefore did NOT get the chance to meet Miranda Otto (doh!!!). ORC 2005 was a blast with Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, John Rhys-Davies and more! More news as we confirm guests, ORC 2007 will take place Fri., Sat. & Sun. March 9-11, 2007 at the The Burbank Airport Hilton Hotel. [More]

Lost star Dominic Monaghan has a soft spot for wildlife. In fact, he feels so strongly about the protection of wildlife and their right to live in peace that he agreed to star in peta2’s first-ever wildlife ad to help remind us that we’re not the only beings on the planet. In the ad, Dominic encourages everyone to “Share the World,” saying, “Your actions can and do have an impact on the natural environment around you.” [More]

The versatile Andy Serkis, known mostly for playing characters such as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy or King Kong in, well, King Kong, can now add voice actor, writer and director to his growing list of credits. Serkis recently told Sci-Fi Wire that even though he has been busy as an actor with other projects, like the upcoming The Prestige and the action-adventure Stormbreaker, he also found time to work on the story and direct some of the sequences for an upcoming animated video game for Playstation 3 called Heavenly Sword. The story of Heavenly Sword centers around a warrior named Nariko who, when her village is attacked, takes up the fight against an evil king and his army using the Heavenly Sword. [More]