1,000 lined up, 480 got in, 57,000 watched online at TheOneRing.net/live!

TheOneRing.net kicked off San Diego Comic Con 2011 with the very first panel of the convention, Thursday 10 a.m. in room 7AB. Over 1,500 people lined up to secure one of only 480 seats in the room! Hosted by Larry D. Curtis (MrCere) and Cliff Broadway (Quickbeam), with special guest Daniel Falconer of Weta and our friends at Warner Brothers, TheOneRing.net previewed all the Hobbit actors in character and demoed a voiceover clip from Benedict Cumberpatch, the voice of Smaug doing a reading. TORn also announced its fan event surrounding two Sideshow/Weta Gandalf statues that fans in the U.S. and Europe can participate in. (Fandalf@TheOneRing.net) Each fan at the panel was then invited to an exclusively War In The North event and prizes were awarded from Badali Jewelry.

Comic-Con 2011 Panel Pt 2
Comic-Con 2011 Panel Pt 3
Comic-Con 2011 Panel Pt 4

Our very own Quickbeam spoke with Francis Ford Coppola at Comic-con about the staying power of fantasy films.

Be on the lookout for our complete Hobbit panel to be re-posted on YouTube very shortly!

At Comic-Con 2011, MTV interviewed a few celebrities to test their Geek knowledge. As you will see in this video, most fail miserably, especially when it comes to the first question. Thank God for Twilight’s Taylor Lautner knew confidently answered the name of the character Elijah Wood portrayed in The Lord of the Rings! I think we can say we are particularly disappointed in Patrick Stewart, and pretty sure that Jon Favreau is a true geek! [MTV Post]

Spielberg and Jackson together at Comic-Con 2011
TheOneRing.net had a pretty amazing week at Comic-Con, including broadcasting live from the convention floor in San Diego and talking with fans as well as legends of cinema, literature and the world of comics. Our Thursday panel filled the 500 person room to capacity but unfortunately left another 1,000 unable to enter. But somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 watched it live, expanding our audience far beyond the numbers of any physical crowd at the convention.

The annual popular culture celebration is over but our coverage continues. If you visit TheOneRing.net/live you can see highlights from our streaming experience. In addition we have articles coming from our one-on-one with actor and director Andy Serkis and the press conference with Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg (not to be confused with the panel discussion) so look for more content in the coming week.

We also will feature updates on our Traveling Gandalf that all fans can hopefully participate in. Thanks sincerely to those who purchased t-shirts, watched us live and read our stories. Finally, expect The Hobbit to impact SDCC in a huge way in 2012 and TORn will be there to bring it to you but we suggest getting tickets before it sells out as it always does. Come join the fun in 2012.

Some TORn coverage from Comic-Con 2011:
Peter Jackson suprises fans at Comic-Con!
Collecting the precious
Luke Evans interview
Official image of the Dwarves

Sideshow Collectibles, makers of high-end The Lord of the Rings collectibles, is hosting a ‘Collect for Life’ auction to benefit Make-a-wish of Orange County. Their goal is to fund five wishes and they are raising money via paypal, txt, and one-of-a-kind auction items. The auction items from LOTR are: Witch-king of Angmar Statue LOTR Artist Proof, Fell Beast and Morgul Lord Statue ROTK Artist Proof, Gandalf the White on Shadowfax ROTK Artist Proof, and Legolas Greenleaf Statue LOTR signed by Orlando Bloom! So place your bids, or simply donate to the cause. Jump over to SideshowCollectibles.com for complete details. [Make-a-Wish Auction]

It’s not been a bad year for Luke Evans, what with turns in Immortals, The Raven and The Three Musketeers all in the bag. He was in San Diego to promote at least two of those movies, so naturally we grabbed him and asked about his latest, and most geek-friendly, role: Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. More..