Kz0snprSAN DIEGO — Warner Bros. definitely has something up its sleeve for Saturday at Comic-Con, but Thursday was left to the fans.

Staffers of TheOneRing.net were invited to to take the stage, in what has become a Comic-Con tradition, to talk Middle-earth movies from Peter Jasckon, and this year for the final Hobbit film. It was extra pleasing to follow the fantastic and ever-more-popular George R.R. Martin after his panel. Clifford Broadway made sure to sit in Martin’s chair.

Panelists were:

Chris Pirrotta — Co-founder of the site and a big part of TORn conventions for years, Calisuri was on hand to finish what he started.

John Tedeschi — A long-time staffer from New York, Thor moderated the panel keeping the rest of us in check.

Clifford Broadway — The site’s Quickbeam, Cliff adds a depth of knowledge or all the adaptations of Tolkien’s works, not just the latest from Jackson.

Kellie Rice — As a writer and unabashed fan known as part of the Happy Hobbit, Kellie added a feminine touch to the proceedings.

Larry D. Curtis — With several trips to New Zealand and five weeks on set during filming of the films, MrCere is a convention vet but was also silent during certain portions of the proceedings.

We hoped we were a fun and diverse group and we tried to strike a conversational balance on the panel. We also knew we had a little extra time because of the cancellation of the panel following ours. We focused on where we left off last and then went deep into spoiler territory with a lot of speculation but also content taken from clues from interviews, official photos and rumor.

The conversation also generated some laughs when members of the audience had not read the books and learned the most elementary of spoilers, such as about who lived and who died.

Our audience polls also highlighted the popular opinion of fans on many fronts. Forged by and for fans, TheOneRing staff was honored to be a part of the programming at San Diego Comic-Con. We were also honored to have LOTR guru Jim Rygel stop by to say hello to the audience!

Lake-town LuauWe are so happy to be hosting an ‘offsite event’ here at San Diego Comic Con, and can’t wait to party like Hobbits and Dwarves with you all. So here are a few fast little facts you all need to know about the party.

1) The Laketown Luau is located at the Kona Kai resort and runs from 7pm to 10pm. 1551 Shelter Island drive, San Diego, CA 92106.

2) The Kona Kai is on the TEAL shuttle route, which takes about 30 minutes drive time, each direction. Or you can drive there in about 20 minutes, just take N. Harbor up past the airport, turning left on either Scott road or Rosecrans, the left again onto Shelter Island drive, with the Kona Kai being the last hotel on the island.

3) We are Sold Out. If you did not buy tickets on the Eventbrite page, or get an email from me (Garfeimao), you are not on the guest list. There will be no additional ticket sales at the door beyond those who have received an email from me. The one exception is a contest we are currently running on our Facebook page. Simply leave a comment on the post regarding our Jens Hansen The Ringmaker Finalnewest sponsor,  Jens Hansen Ringmaker, and a winner will be chosen and contacted shortly after Noon. They are hosting a complimentary Photo Booth at the party, but were unable to actually attend the party, so they wanted to offer you, the Fans, their tickets. You must either be in San Diego, or able to get here in a rather short period of time in order to take advantage of these tickets.

4) There will be games and contests and prizes, lots of prizes. Everyone will walk out of the party with something, maybe several somethings. Of course, you have to play the games and enter the contest to win the good stuff. Games include: Golfimbul (Goblin head Golf, with a baseball bat), Pin the Black Arrow on the Dragon (try and pin the Dragon in the heart), The Hula costume contest (see below), and there may be a few other little games tossed in for good measure. There is also a Tiki Piñata and the Photo Booth, so lots of fun and games to be had by young and old. This is a Family Friendly event.

5) The one contest that seems to have several people scratching their heads is the Hula dancing costume contest. But it’s quite simple, wear a costume, dance the hula, win something. There will be a prize or three for the best costumes, Tolkien themed and non-Tolkien alike. But there will also be prizes for the best Hula, or the funnest, or funniest, and non-costumed folk are eligible for this aspect. But the thing to remember is everyone entering the costume contest will be asked to Hula, solo or en masse, as you all see fit. We’ve posted Hula tutorials previously, and instead decided to post a general WikiHow post on how to Hula. Check it out at Dance Hula Wiki/Howfb-badali-300x255

6) Our Sponsors – This party absolutely would not have happened if a few of our friends had not stepped in to sponsor and support us. In addition to the aforementioned Jens Hansen Ringmaker as a Sponsor, we are also Supported by our long time friends, Badali Jewelry, who have been with TheOneRing.net since the very beginning. Our Co-hosting Sponsor for the party are the good folks over at WETA Workshop . They are graciously bringing several artists and numerous prizes to the event, you are sure to be blown away by some of the items prizes WETA is bringing with them.

 

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7) Autographs – Don’t do it. This is a party, if any cast or crew should show up, be mindful of this fact and just chat, laugh with, and in general have fun with our special guests. Don’t be snapping photos without asking permission first, especially if using a flash. This statement is not an acknowledgment that any special guest will attend, just that it might happen and we’d appreciate you being respectful of this casual atmosphere.

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Join the live chat and video feed from San Diego Comic Con at these scheduled times and randomly throughout the week! All times US Pacific. (To convert to your local time click here)

FOLLOW ON TWITTER for updates and sudden live times!

Thursday
11:30 Masters of the Web panel ft Nicolas Cage as Superman
2:00 Convention floor coverage with Happy Hobbits
5:00 Hobbit Preview Panel with TheOneRing.net
7:00 Red Carpet party coverage

Friday
10:00 Convention Floor coverage with Justin
11:00 LOTR Shadow of Mordor preview
2:00 Happy Hobbits live
6:00 – 10:00pm Laketown Luau presented by Weta Workshop, Badali Jewelry and Jens Hansen Ringmaker.
1:00am All night line Party!

Saturday
10:00 Hall H preview of THE HOBBIT BOTFA
2:00 Post teaser recovery special
5:00 Convention coverage

Sunday
TBD

SDCC Shirts are limited edition only 50 available each day, at the Weta Workshop booth.

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300891id6a_TheHobbit_TDOS_Tauriel_BusShelter_48inW_x_70inH.indd Evangeline Lilly talked to Slashfilm the other day about all things San Diego Comic-Con, and answered a few questions about The Hobbit, and her book, The Squickerwonkers.

One of the things she revealed is that she’ll finally be doing ADR for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies directly after Comic-Con. Continue reading “Evangeline Lilly talks Hobbit 3, Comic-Con and Tauriel’s fate”

EvangelineLilyAtComicConOur friends at Weta Workshop shared via their Facebook page that Evangeline Lilly will be at the Weta booth at San Diego Comic Con this year to promote her delightful children’s book Squickerwonkers.

She will be at their booth on Friday when she will be signing copies of Squickerwonkers only, and then she’ll be back on Sunday when she will be happy to sign your Hobbit collectibles along with Squickerwonkers!

Don’t forget, you can check out all the live action at Comic Con via our Live Feed.