Not officially announced yet by Comic-Con but TheOneRing.net will be kicking off the annual popular culture mega-event known as Comic-Con in San Diego Thursday morning. And the good news is, turned in tickets are NOW AVAILABLE until they sell out again any minute! Click right here immediately and plan to have fun with us Thursday, July 22, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. room 7AB.

Previous years’ panels have had standing-room-only crowds (once infamously featuring the arrest of an unruly patron who couldn’t get in). Occasionally guests drop in (the incomparable Richard Taylor last year) to say hello to fans. We promise to deliver the latest Hobbit movie info and perhaps peek behind the curtain of the potential of the Ultimate LOTR Box Set. (Unauthorized of course!) Join founder Calisuri and staffers Quickbeam and MrCere as they deliver from the stage while staffers Deej and Garfeimao will be in attendance and lending a hand.

Also, catch a variety of TORn-folk all show long at the Weta booth (part of the giant Dark Horse Comics booth) where you can help support TORn with a purchase of our convention exclusive t-shirts!

Neill Blomkamp mugBefore anybody gets crazy, let me be clear that we are not reporting that Neill Blomkamp is the director of ‘The Hobbit’. I am not ready to put my name or TheOneRing’s name on a story that says this is fact.

However, we did receive a spy report that stated it as cold, hard, unsurprising fact. We haven’t been able to get a verification but the tip stated some other information on the side that fits with other info from other sources. A bunch of little pieces of information, some rock solid, some unclear, start to form a big picture that looks like it could have Blomkamp in it. I promise to explain it all if you will keep reading!

MGM and Warner Bros. want Peter Jackson to direct both movies adapted from “The Hobbit.” They are trying to talk him into it because his name can carry the films and is an obvious and bankable marketing strategy. Continue reading “Neill Blomkamp is the ‘Hobbit’ director – maybe”

Former ‘Hobbit’ director (and all around classy guy for still replying to my emails) Guillermo del Toro has let it be known on his official site that he will announce his next project at this years comic-con. Good luck with it GDT!

Speaking of Comic-Con, TORN will open the first full day of the convention with a panel featuring founders/staffers Calisuri, Quickbeam and MrCere with Weta expected to have something to say as well. In addition, TORn staffers will likely be found at the Weta booth and at Slave Boy Films‘ booth with unique TORn t-shirts available at each. TORn panel: Thursday, July 22, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. room 7AB. More..

TheOneRing.net has been invited and will attend popular culture conventions on both coasts as we present live at the San Diego Comic-Con and Atlanta’s DragonCon. Each convention will feature staff from TORn talking about the very latest news and spy reports on the Hobbit front and any other news tidbits we can get our hands on. We always try to bring guests either live or by video message and have time for fans to ask questions and interact.
Comic-Con: TORn will open the first full day of the convention with a panel featuring founders/staffers Calisuri, Quickbeam and MrCere with Weta expected to have something to say as well. In addition, TORn staffers will likely be found at the Weta booth and at Slave Boy Films‘ booth with unique TORn t-shirts available at each. TORn panel: Thursday, July 22, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. room 7AB.
DragonCon: TORn will spend Labor Day weekend at a fan table provided at one of the hotels of the convention selling shirts, running contests, giving items away and getting a lot of face time with fellow fans. In addition, TORn will present the latest Hobbit news at the show, perhaps as many as three times with staffers Deej, greendragon and MrCere. The convention features a whole weekend of Tolkien programming with lectures, presentations, and guests including Sean Astin. The event includes all-night festivities and fellowship and costuming that never ends. TORn panel: TBA

TheOneRing.net has received rock-solid information from an absolutely reliable source that the MGM financial situation is indeed what is behind the delays of the start of “The Hobbit.”

The venerable film studio behind James Bond and about 4,000 other titles is reported to be in about $3.7 billion in debt but holds the distribution rights for two “Hobbit” films that are under contract to be made by Warners Bros. The two studios have an agreement in place to produce and distribute the film but financial difficulties for MGM, including the potential sale of the studio and its holdings, including rights to the films based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien, has delayed the films.

The source inside the production has told TheOneRing.net that all of the wrangling with MGM is indeed a significant part of possibly pushing the films back.

“At this stage we are all working and hoping for the best case scenario. Without a doubt, the MGM situation carries great importance.” Continue reading “Source says the MGM situation of ‘great importance’ to two potential ‘Hobbit’ films”