It’s official! Peter Jackson made the announcement today from the Hobbiton set: Wellington will host the world premiere of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” in late November 2012. If you’re lucky enough to have your own dragon hoard, it’s time to start booking that dream vacation! [Video: PJ and NZ Prime Minister John Key]
More good news: It was also announced that Hobbiton, on the outskirts of Matamata, will remain as a permanent visitor attraction after filming is completed.
Three News NZ also has a comprehensive write-up of the press conference by Daniel Rutledge for those who prefer to read these things. [News Story: Hobbit to premiere in New Zealand]
So we have a few more details to share with you concerning the Middle-earth Madness celebration taking place right now at the Best Buy in Los Angeles. (1301 W. Pico. Blvd) First off, we can confirm that John Noble (Denethor), Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) and Sala Baker (Sauron) will be attending this evening’s festivities! Secondly, there will be a Laser Light show and Fireworks starting at approximately 11:45. (How awesome is that?!) And of course, what Tolkien can be had in LA without a game of Goblin Ball! (You know, you knock the heads off Goblins for fun). We’ve also got loads of shirts, posters and other swag to hand out throughout the evening. And of course, we are streaming events live as they happen on our Stickam account. You can see it on the homepage of TORn, or through the following link. [
Middle-earth Madness invades LA today and TheOneRing.net will be hosting the activities throughout the day! For those of us not able to make the event in LA, we will be occasionally 
We’ve been teasing it for weeks, and we can finally announce it! TheOneRing.net is proud to be a part of a very special event happening in Los Angeles on June 27th. The event titled ‘Middle-earth Midnight Madness’ is a launch celebration for the release of The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions on Blu-Ray and will be held at Best Buy’s West Los Angeles location, 11301 W. Pico Blvd.. The event will feature cast member greetings, trivia, games, and loads of prizes. But the biggest prizes will be reserved for a special costume competition, where one lucky contestant will capture the Grand Prize of a VIP “Tour of Middle-earth” – an all-expense-paid trip to New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown), courtesy of Air New Zealand and Weta Workshop. Two Second Prize winners will receive an Official 10k Solid Gold version of The One Ring from Noble Collections! Yea, we told you it was going to big! Click ‘Continue Reading’ to read a summary of all the events and full details. TORn staffers, including everyone’s favorite emcee Quickbeam, will be on hand. Hope to see you there!
Now that we know the official release dates for the two The Hobbit films, it was only a matter of time for other studios to start adjusting their schedules. First up, according to the