ComingSoon.net talked to director Guillermo del Toro about The Hobbit and its sequel last night at an event for the new Hellboy II: The Golden Army DVD. He says they won’t start the casting process until they’ve finished writing: “Literally, like every week, what you discover writing the two movies, writing the two stories, it changes. So, every week there’s a discovery, and anything we say this week would be contradicted next week. Certainly that would be true in casting. Why create hopes or why create expectations if down the line you’re going to go, ‘You know what? That was not a good idea.'” Guillermo del Toro Gives Hobbit Update
Month: November 2008
We mistakenly posted the wrong email address to send your questions for our upcoming Alan Lee chat! (Actually, I did!) Please email your questions to livechat@theonering.net before our live chat starts 12:00 noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Saturday, November 15. Please read the details of the chat in the following post. [Read More]
TheOneRing.net and the folks from Houghton Mifflin are sponsoring a live chat with illustrator Alan Lee at 12:00 noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Satuday, November 15. Alan will be discussing the recent releases of the paperback edition of ‘The Children of Hurin’ as well as the reprinted edition of ‘Tales from a Perilous Realm’, both of which feature artwork by Alan.
The chat will be held in our own Barliman’s Chatroom (link also in the menu on the left of the Home Page). More information will follow with detailed instructions on how to participate. In the mean time, if you would like to submit questions for Alan please email them to livechat@theonering.net. Read on for a synopsis of these remarkable new Tolkien-related publications provided by Houghton Mifflin. Continue reading “Live Chat with Alan Lee!”
Susanne writes: For UK- based Ringers worth catching on BBC iPlayer, Merlin – The legend – “A look at the mythical roots in art and literature of Merlin – magician, hero and historical mystery. Merlin is the archetypal wizard, Welsh and Celtic in origin but with connections across the water in Cornwall and middle Europe, and, of course, the Arthurian legends. Clearly, Merlin is the distant relative of Dumbledore and all those weird and wonderful wizards in literature.”
Two excellent segments by Alan Lee – one on drawing Merlin and a second, longer one on Merlin as an inspiration for Gandalf including a “tour” of the prop Gandalf staff with which he was presented at the end of LOTR filming. Otherwise a great programme overall with a mixture of history, literature and contemorary firm – highly recommended. www.bbc.co.uk
A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald discusses how the love of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works has spawned generations of fans who are now avid collectors of all things Tolkien. The continuing fascination has only increased after Peter Jackson’s release of “Lord Of The Rings” in 2001 and the intense interest in Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming take on “The Hobbit”. Fans have been clamoring for other printed books, maps, manuscripts and photographs related to the author and his works.
If you have a Tolkien collection, be sure and share it with other collectors on our Gaming and Collecting message board. Read More
From message board member visualweasel: It’s a little ways off yet, but Chris Vaccaro asked me if I could help spread the word on the Tolkien conference at the University of Vermont next April. I’ve attended this conference for the past three years and I can highly recommend it. Here’s the Call For Papers:
Tolkien at the University of Vermont 2009, an academic conference devoted to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, will be held at the UVM in Burlington, VT on Saturday, April 11th and Sunday, April 12th. The keynote address will be delivered by Professor Jane Chance of Rice University. The conference organizers seek 20-minute papers on any topic related to Tolkien or his texts, but the following topic will be given priority consideration: sex and/or gender in Middle-earth or related to Tolkien’s life or works.
Please send a one-page abstract electronically to Christopher Vaccaro at cvaccaro@uvm.edu or by mail to James Williamson at 400 Old Mill, University of Vermont , Burlington , VT 0540 as early as possible. Please include Tolkien 2009 in the subject line. Deadline is January 30th, 2009. For further information, contact the conference organizers.
Ladies and gentlemen, sharpen your pencils.