While we await further news of what today, 15th September 2010, has in store for MGM, it being the deadline for the studio’s sixth debt extension, there’s behind-the-scenes rumblings that seem to indicate good tidings might be on the way.

In an exclusive over at Deadline regarding a film titled “The Hunger Games” slated to go into production next year, Mike Fleming reports that director Sam Mendes (who had been tapped to direct the next film in the James Bond franchise) was one of the candidates met by studio chiefs over at Lionsgate, the producing studio for the film “The Hunger Games”. However, the report goes on to say that Sam Mendes,

“bowed out of contention last Friday… because the MGM picture is clearing up and it looks like production on 007 could begin by late summer or early fall, 2011 with Mendes at the helm and Daniel Craig back in the Aston Martin.”

It might be recalled that a couple of months ago development of the new James Bond film had been suspended indefinitely due to the uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM. The turnaround of the Bond situation probably means good news for the Hobbit movies too.

Sean Bean is set to star in a big-budget HBO adaptation of a series of fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin. Bean, familiar to TORn readers as Boromir in the LOTR movie trilogy, will play the role of Ned Stark, one of the leads and one of characters playing the titular “Game of Thrones.” The series is currently in production and premiers in 2011 with the newest teaser which includes footage of Bean below. For a little further information, you can also click here to see a behind-the-scenes segment featuring Bean.

Virgin Media writes: Who’s playing Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit? Good question. We haven’t a clue, although that’s not to say there haven’t been a few actors rumoured for the part. Ian Holm, who played Bilbo in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, won’t reprise his role, meaning James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe, Tobey Maguire, David Tennant or Martin Freeman could play the hairy-footed hobbit. As long as it’s not Shia LaBeouf, we’re happy. More..

Wired.com writes: From heated news on the forthcoming Hobbit films — The Office’s Martin Freeman as Bilbo? — to Tuesday’s Blu-ray release of Peter Jackson’s supernova The Lord of the Rings adaptation, J.R.R. Tolkien’s sprawling epic is ruling the news cycle just as it has ruled the fantasy genre for decades. We’re leaping into the fray with a gallery of our favorite fantasy film epics, led by Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy.

We’re also handing off an engorged Lord of the Rings prize package to sate one lucky Sméagol obsessively combing the internets for a precious fix. It includes Blu-ray discs for all three films — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King — as well bookmarks, a jade necklace, a blue ornament, a deck of cards and a travel candle. One prize package to rule them all, as Gandalf might have said, if he were cleaning out New Line Cinema’s promotional warehouse. More..

The Lord of the Rings films are coming out individually on Blu-ray today, so we thought we’d celebrate with a bit of a giveaway! TheOneRing.net in coordination with Warner Brothers Home Entertainment are giving you a chance to win an impressive LOTR prize pack! Each prize pack includes:

  • (1) “The Fellowship Of The Ring” Blu-ray disc
  • (1) “The Two Towers” Blu-ray disc
  • (1) “The Return Of The King” Blu-ray disc
  • (7) Seven Bookmarks
  • (1) One Navy Blue Ornament
  • (1) One deck of LOTR Playing Cards
  • (1) One Travel Candle
  • (1) One Poster

We are giving away (5) five packs, so your odds of winning are greatly increased! The entry form is after the break, and winners will be announced on Sept 21st 2010. Thanks to Warner Brothers for making this giveaway possible! And don’t forget to pick up your copies today at a local store or through your favorite online source. [FOTR Blu-Ray] [TTT Blu-Ray] [ROTK Blu-Ray]

This giveaway is now closed! Please see the winners, located here

Continue reading “TheOneRing.net LOTR Blu-Ray Giveaway!”


Things are moving in the Hobbit world; there are rumors afoot of castings, contracts, scripts and even start dates. It’s all very exciting and if you were at TORn’s panels at DragonCon this year, you were prepared for it!

Yes, TheOneRing.net was present again this year at one of the world’s biggest fan-based convention. Staffers from TORn ran a table over the course of the weekend, where we had the great pleasure of chatting to fans, meeting regular TORn visitors, catching up with old friends and faithful supporters, and introducing newbies to the joys of the website. Over the four days of the convention we gave out freebies, distributed candy to those brave enough to answer Tolkien trivia, sold t-shirts to help keep the website attending conventions and events, and provided the fun of the ‘Don’t you know you’re [sic] Sam?’ photo opportunity! Apologies Samwise fans, but we decapitated Sam in a hobbit standee, so folks could pose with their head in his place; and all kinds of aliens, cartoon characters, heroes and villains stepped up over the weekend to
offer to ‘share the load…’ For images from the weekend click here. Lots more written details after the break! Continue reading “The official ‘DragonCon 2010’ report (and photos!)”