SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 25, 2012 – Kabam, a leader in massively multiplayer games for connected devices, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have partnered to co-publish games for mobile devices and the Web inspired by Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM).
Under the deal, Kabam will develop and operate two multiplayer strategy games, The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth for mobile devices and The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age for web browsers, both launching in fall 2012. Starting Sept. 25, players can sign up to take part in the upcoming beta for The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age at https://www.kabam.com/the-hobbit-armies.
Continue reading “Kabam and Warner Brothers bring Hobbit games to mobile devices/web”
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Big thanks to Ringer MrHollandsays for sending us pics of the ‘Thorin Oakenshield & The Goblin King Battle Set’ from The Bridge Direct. You can pre-order the vast majority of these figures right now on Amazon.com – so start your ‘Hobbit’ collection today! For those wishing to avoid spoilers, don’t look beyond the break as we have close up shots of the figure! [The Bridge Direct Hobbit Goblin King with Thorin 3.75″ Battle Pack]
[All Hobbit Pieces]
Continue reading “Goblin King & Thorin Figure Set Revealed!”
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When vulture.com cornered Billy Connolly for an interview, they got an ear full about his role as Dain Ironfoot in the upcoming Hobbit movies. According to Connolly, he has yet to finish his battle scenes, so he’ll be returning to New Zealand next year. When asked if he’d ever read The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, he replied: “I could never read Tolkien. I always found him unreadable,” though he did say the scripts are brilliant, Martin Freeman is brilliant and the 3-D is stunning. Maybe some audio books are in order? We’ll gladly send you a set, Billy, if you’re interested. Read more…
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As we wrap up our “World Hobbit Day” festivities, we at TORn are pleased to bring you one final piece of our celebratory specials via an exclusive interview with Aivale Cole (nee Mabel Faletolu).

For fans of Howard Shore and the music of The Lord of the Rings films, Aivale (credited as Mabel Faletolu on the soundtrack of The Fellowship of the Ring) perhaps needs no introduction. For the rest, you probably recall that most heartrending of voices that engulfs the broken Fellowship as they emerge from the darkness of Moria and grieve over Gandalf’s fall into Khazad-dûm.
That piece was sung by none other than Aivale, a vocalist hailing from Wellington, New Zealand. Back in 2001, she recorded the solo piece with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Join us in this exclusive interview as we catch up with Aivale who, after more than a decade, takes us back to that “crazy but exciting” time when she worked with Howard Shore and Peter Jackson, and also shares a rather amusing anecdote involving Ian McKellen.
Continue reading “TORn “World Hobbit Day” Exclusive: Interview With Aivale Cole (nee Mabel Faletolu)”
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Word has been seeping out for a few weeks of some of the toy characters (on display at Comic-Con) being revealed through various channels of the pipeline that gets movie tie-ins to market. Now, made by Bridge Direct, they are for sale on store shelves in at least some locations including the new Toys-R-Us in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Not only is it exciting to see new products (Tolkienites make great consumers!) but there are some clues about “The Hobbit: A Long Expected Journey,” and, our staff thinks, some false leads. But true or false, except for some glimpses in Peter Jackson’s production diaries, we have our first clear look of Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel. For those wishing to avoid spoilers, don’t look beyond the break!
The process of merchandise hitting the market and spoiling some aspects of movies is inevitable and fun for consumers but maybe less fun for filmmakers who may want to keep a lid on every possible detail. Lilly’s character, a creation of the screenwriting team, has been mildly controversial as a character not created by J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote the children’s novel the trilogy of movies is based on 75 years ago. Many message board users at TheOneRing.net have taken a wait-and-see stance. Continue reading “Hobbit toys hit store shelves, Tauriel revealed”
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On Saturday September 22, 2012 over 150 Southern California Ringers were treated to a party of special magnificence. Hobbits, elves and wizards gathered in Griffith Park and ate plentiful food, drank refreshing beverages, read the first chapter of The Hobbit, sang songs, played games, won prizes, received mathoms and had the most fantastic time celebrating the 10th anniversary of the event. Of course, reasons to celebrate also included the 75th anniversary of the publication of “The Hobbit” (September 21) and Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday (September 22).
LA Weekly did a story of special magnificence about the event, including background on TheOneRing.net and speculation from some well-known picnic goers about the upcoming Hobbit movies. For example, our own Cliff Broadway, a.k.a. “Quickbeam” offers this on why three movies: “A few million dollars [investment from Warner Brothers] equals another billion dollar box office,” Broadway says, explaining that with the set already built and the actors already in New Zealand, it made financial sense to expand. “But Peter, when you ask him in an interview, Peter will say, ‘I’ve got so much more story to tell.'” Continue reading for more pictures of the event, and follow the “Read more” link for the entire LA Weekly story. Read more…
Continue reading “Baggins Birthday Bash a hit, says LA Weekly”
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