Greetings from Welly-moot, the Tolkien Society chapter in Wellington: “This is primarily an announcement for anyone who was in the queue at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre last night and went away thinking you were the unluckiest little hobbits in the Shire. Have I got news for you!
“Through the help of Sir Peter Jackson and Matt Dravitzki and also Sarah Meikle of Positively Wellington Tourism, tickets to the 48fps, 3D, Atmos sound, main auditorium, first day midnight screening have been provided for those dedicated fans. Members of Welly-moot were also among the disappointed last night, and one of those members, Jack Machiela, has volunteered to try to track down people who were in the line and get those tickets to them. According to Sarah Meikle, this will be a very exciting party – apart from the obvious reasons – and she does not want those die-hard fans to miss out.
“So, if you were one of those 50-60 people in line (or know someone who was and have been listening to them crying all day), get in touch with Jack at jack@pobox.com, tell him where you were sitting, and enclose any photos you have of yourself in the line. They won’t be able to give out large numbers of extra tickets; expect one or two tickets per person. This is a big job Jack has taken on, but he is one very big fan who wants things set to rights. Our Jack, however, is nobody’s fool, and the few who have contacted him through other sites with ‘I was there in spirit, can I have a free ticket, too’ are wasting their time and his, and I know nobody here has time to waste – we all have line party costumes to make.
“Peter Jackson has always said that the making of these films has been about the fans, and he is one of them. I’d say this is what you’d call walking the walk.”
Cheers, Lissuin
Tehanu: Guy from Prague and your friend, I’ve got your back. Here’s a pic of you both – now contact Jack with a corroborating photo and he’ll get you your tickets. Four Spanish-Speaking Latino-Looking Guys behind me – I noticed you but didn’t get a picture. You were the last in line. Hope you have a pic of yourselves – maybe I can verify it for Jack.
Also if the Stansborough guys got pics of anyone modelling their Gandalf cloaks and scarves – see if they have those pics to prove you were in line.
It appears that at least for the next few weeks, all advance purchases of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie tickets on Fandango will earn purchasers a free song download. The song will be Howard Shore’s “The Adventure Begins” and once you make your purchase, they will be sending you an electronic coupon to download the song. Every transaction will trigger this free download, until November 30. So buy early, and collect your song. And make sure you jump on our Message boards (TORn Moots) to talk about what theater you will be going to and what format you will be seeing, and most importantly, will you be in costume. Scan our Line Party pages, find one to join, or create one of your own.
It is November 7 and in a few short hours, tickets will be on sale for most of the theaters in the US and Canada that will be showing The Hobbit. This will include many of the Regal and AMC theaters we’ve recently reported on that will screen the film in 48fps. The Trilogy screenings the weekend before The Hobbit opens are also on sale today. Before you go and buy tickets to see The Hobbit, take a look at our Line Party page and see if there is one near you. And if there is no existing Line Party near you, feel free to start one at whichever theater you buy your tickets at. Right now, there are some 40+ Line Parties, including a party in Bulgaria, Curucao, Mexico, Helsinki and Auckland, as well as across the US. Hey Canada and Australia, whats up with NO Line Parties? TORn staffers are leading parties in Boston, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Hollywood, Allentown, Irvine and other locations, but anyone can host a Line Party. So click on the Community button, select the Line Party option and get to planning your own little shindig. All you really need to know is the actual address of the theater to get it pinned onto the Line Party map. [Line Parties]
Well, this was indeed the “big secret” we kept quiet for such a long time. TheOneRing.net staffers Larry Curtis (MrCere) and your host Cliff Broadway (Quickbeam) have comedic appearances in the delightful Air New Zealand Safety Video that has taken the internet by storm in the past few days! With a whopping 7.5 million views since Oct. 31st, this video is filled to the brim with charming Hobbity goodness…. a sexy Dean O’Gorman (who plays Fili)…. Tolkien’s great-grandson…. and a Wizard in high tops! Join us on our live webcast today at 5:00pm PST to learn delightful details as the marketing efforts for THE HOBBIT continue apace. WE ALSO HAVE OUR LINE PARTIES GOING FULL TILT! Learn more by joining our Live Event page right here and be part of the chat: www.theonering.net/live or via Stickam at www.stickam.com/theoneringnet
Update from Dom Post: Sir Peter Jackson has stepped in to ensure Hobbit fans who fell victim to an Embassy Theatre ticketing error see the movie ”possibly even a minute or two before anyone else”. Tolkien Society New Zealand chapter founder Jack Machiela was one of about 60 people who queued outside the Wellington cinema to be among the first in the world to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on The Embassy’s giant screen when public screenings begin at midnight on December 12. But when the ticket office opened, all the tickets to the first screening on the big screen had been snapped up online. [Read more] [Discuss]
=====
The Embassy Theatre in Wellington opened the box office at midnight last night to sell Hobbit first-screening tickets – but unfortunately midnight screening tickets went onsale online a few minutes before the box office opened, and no tickets were set aside for sale to fans who were waiting. Seats were sold out before most people there could get to the head of the queue. I was there, and can vouch for the fact that people who had waited there for hours were furious and very disappointed. The DominionPost has a full report.
Given the box office debacle, it’s a good thing we had a visit from the cheerful Barry and his son from Stansborough Mill,who were showing off their loom-woven woollen cloaks and new Gandalf scarf (with mithril!) They’re 2.5 metres of sparkly goodness.
Barry from Stansborough, modelling cloaks and scarves for the line partyJack and Alex Machiela, of the Tolkien Society, at line party before learning there were no tickets
On Sunday, we reported that Regal Cinemas are hosting a Lord of the Rings marathon screening across the US on 8th December. We can now confirm that AMC Cinemas will also be hosting a marathon on Saturday 8th December. Cinemark is joining the fun with screenings on both December 8 and 9.
Timings are a little different from those listed for Regal Cinemas – and may vary from cinema to cinema for AMC. Timings given for a Boston AMC theatre, for example, were The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring at 10 a.m., The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at 2.20 p.m. and ending with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at 7:00 p.m. All three movies will be the Extended Editions.
Cinemark reports a uniform 11 a.m. start times for Fellowship and a ROTK start time at 7:35. They are also offering concessions discounts. Ticket prices are $25, matching AMC’s, but $30 for its handful of XD or extreme digital auditoriums. Check with your local AMC to see if they are taking part. Theater listings for Cinemark can be found right here. Between the three chains, most fans will be covered so see you in Middle-earth!
