Ever since a “casting call” for The Hobbit found its way on to the internet back in January 2010, fans have been wondering much concerning the role of the Elf-maiden (or alternately, Elf warrior-wench!) who’ll supposedly go by the name of Itaril and fall in love with with a young Elf-lord.

It wasn’t long before fans began speculating the casting for the role and, subsequently, Saoirse Ronan got linked to it. But much fun as the speculation was (and is), neither the rumoured role nor the rumoured casting choice have gone down well with many fans. And whether or not the rumours had a ring of truth to them was anyone’s guess.

Come January 2011 and the media has finally gotten to catching up with Saoirse Ronan and asking her directly concerning the possibility of her being cast in the upcoming films. From RTE.ie:

The Oscar-nominated Irish actress is strongly rumoured to be in talks to play the character Itaril in the films, but she did not reveal any further details at the launch of the IFTAs in Dublin yesterday.

When asked if she would like to play the role, she replied: “Yeah if I was asked, certainly.”

Continue reading “Of Saoirse Ronan… and Itaril”

We posted this video back in November, but it certainly deserves a replay. Our friends at TreeTopMedia have produced a stunning video showcasing New Zealand’s amazing landscapes. This was initially done to impress upon the world how important it was for The Hobbit to remain in New Zealand. However during the middle of the shoot the good word came down that The Hobbit was indeed staying in NZ, so the video morphed into a loving tribute to New Zealand. Take a look, and keep an eye out on more exclusive content from TreeTopMedia and TheOneRing.net in New Zealand!

The January 19th edition of John Deering’s Strange Brew goofs on Gandalf’s ‘You Shall Not Pass!’ moment in FOTR. Poor Frodo…

TheOneRing.net and Turbine Inc. want your best gameplay videos! Do you kick orc butt? Can you take out an entire goblin village single-handed? We want to see it! Simply record your best Lord of the Rings Online action and send it to us! The top selected videos will then be put online for YOU to vote on!

What do you get for your killer LOTRO skills video?

-The video with the most votes will receive 6000 Turbine points to be used in LOTRO
-Second place received 3000 Points
-Third Place 1000 points

So get on your game! Load up LOTRO to hack and slash your way to winning 6000 Turbine Points!
Continue reading “LOTRO Video Gameplay Contest”

WIZKIDS TAKES OVER MIDDLE EARTH WITH NEW “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” GAME RELEASES

(January 18, 2011-Hillside NJ) – Wizkids announced today the addition of “The Lord of the Rings” property to their 2011 HeroClix release schedule through a licensing agreement logowith Warner Bros. Consumer Products. The first products of the new “The Lord of the Rings” line will be a HeroClix miniatures game followed by a HeroClix strategic board game, both of which will release in the back half of 2011.

“The Lord of the Rings” HeroClix miniatures game will be sold in two different packages: a campaign style box set and the traditional booster format. The all-in-one campaign style box set will include everything a player needs, including NEW epic level rules and maps. The booster format includes the figures, similar to other previous HeroClix releases. With whichever format chosen, all of the twenty or more figures will be compatible with other HeroClix miniatures games. More..

Lausus writes: Conan O’Brien had a brief sketch on his Jan 11th episode showing some disappointment in the announcement that Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood are returning to their roles as Gandalf and Frodo. Pretty amusing stuff. The sketch starts at about 10:15 into the monologue at the top of the show which is free to watch at www.teamcoco.com.