From IMDB: Following a planned meeting this week with new Time Warner Chairman Jeff Bewkes, New Line Cinema founders Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne are expected to be terminated and New Line’s projects, including The Hobbit, folded into Warner Bros., L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke reported on her Deadline Hollywood Daily blog Monday, citing no sources. With the exception of last year’s Hairspray, New Line has had a nearly uninterrupted string of financial failures since its Lord of the Rings franchise ran out.
Month: January 2008
The Oscar® Nominations are out today and two LOTR Alums have snagged nominations. First up, Viggo Mortensen, has landed a Best Actor Nomination for his role in ‘Eastern Promises.’ And continuing her critical success in 2008, Cate Blanchett has been nominated for two awards: Best Actress in Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The Oscars will air (maybe) on February 24th 8pm ET/5pm PT. Congrats to Cate and Viggo! [Complete Oscar Nominations]
Kristin Thompsonwrites: On “The Frodo Franchise” blog I’ve posted a story about how Joe Letteri was recently made a full partner in Weta Digital and what that implies about the stability of Peter Jackson’s filmmaking firms in Wellington. Basically the companies that grew so hugely as a result of The Lord of the Rings are still doing very well! New Kristin Thompson Blog
Vanessa “Saffron” Price, Online Community Representative for Turbine, Inc. writes: In addition to bringing you the Month of the Guardian, the Month of the Burglar, the Champion revisited, the Ettendeep, and the great Angmar revamp, Book 12: The Ashen Wastes will also go down in history as introducing The Month of Avatar Customization! Read this new developer diary to learn more about this exciting new system! Book 12: The Outfit System and Barbershops
Arwen Undomiel writes: On the 23th/24th of February 2008 there is the World Premiere of Howard Shore’s Original Soundtrack of ‘The Fellowship of the Rings’ – live in concert. It will take place in Luzern, Switzerland with the composer himself being present!! During the show, the film will be seen in its full length on a big screen. There will be 200 singers and musicians at the a three-hour performance. [More]
Shannon Erickson has a David and Goliath-type tale to share, inspired by a Google search. Erickson, who owns three local preschools — Hobbit Hill, Hobbit Hill Too and Hobbit Hill Cottage — is the “little guy” in this story. The big guy? The J.R.R. Tolkien Foundation of California. And in this version, the giant wins the battle. It all started about nine months ago, when Erickson was contacted by legal representatives of the late author, renowned for his books such as “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” series. They claimed that Tolkien invented the word “hobbit,” and that Erickson, tracked down via the popular Internet search engine, was illegally using the term for her businesses. Preschool owner learns origin of ‘hobbit’ is big deal