A report has appeared in Scotland’s Daily Record stating that representatives of Amazon Studios were scouting filming locations for their Lord of the Rings TV project in Scotland over the summer. This story is light on details, so we at TORn are treating this information as rumors, for now. These location scouts purportedly traveled as tourists, checking out various locales around Scotland, which offered the opportunity for a meaningful connection with the local communities. Continue reading “Is Amazon Studios scouting LOTR filming locations outside of New Zealand?”
Category: Events
From time to time, TORn gets exclusive news and other goodies we’re pleased to share with our readers, and this is one of those times! This coming Tuesday, February 12, at 7 a.m. PST, we’ll be sharing something VERY special that you’ll only be able to see at TORn. What is it, you may ask? We don’t want to spoil the surprise, so set your clock, tablet *and* phone alarms for 7 a.m. PST and join us for an exceptional treat! Can’t wait until Tuesday to find out what it is? Visit TORn on Monday, February 11 and we’ll give you a couple of clues.
Our friends at Weta workshop have two fantastic new items for fans who are looking to expand their Middle-earth collections. Our first item allows fans who are missing one of the original The Lord of the Rings statue line greatest pieces The Ringwraith on Steed. This piece is long sold out and hard to track down. So it was a wonderful surprise back during the holiday season they showed off the beautiful Ringwraith at the Ford statue. This superb piece is a companion piece to go with the Arwen and Frodo on Asfaloth, which was announced and shown off during Comic-Con 2018. Like Arwen and Frodo this Ringwraith comes in with an edition size of 750 pieces and a price tag of $699. Fans also have the payment plan option open to them, which will hopefully allow them to add a statue of the year for 2019 candidate into their collections.
Are you a fan of the Mini-Epic line? Then you’re going to love the latest edition to this set of collectibles. You may not simply be able to walk into Mordor but you can once he ships simply walk this one into your collection. That’s right Boromir Son of Denethor is the newest character to get the Mini-Epic treatment. Boromir isn’t due to ship until this summer but he can be had for a fantastic $29.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Ringwraith at the Ford and Boromir Mini-Epic Pre-Orders”
Principle photography was completed on this film a little over a year ago and the first test audience screenings began in June, so we’ve been waiting quite a while for this release date to be announced. This film will open on May 10, 2019 in a limited release, as is usual for indie films. This is good news if you live in big cities that typically get art films, but others may have to make a little more effort to get out and see it. Once we get word on just how many theaters it will open in and whether it will go into a wider release, we will share that news here. Also, there are those among us who have seen the film, and once permission has been given you can expect a review or two. But first, just what is this film about and when is it set? Continue reading “Save the Date: May 10, 2019 for “Tolkien”, the Biopic about J.R.R. Tolkien will finally hit theaters”
127 years ago today, January 3, 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien came into the world in Bloemfontein, South Africa. After the death of his father in 1896, his mother, Mabel, decided to return to England with ‘Ronald,’ just three years old at the time, and his younger brother, Hilary. While it’s possible, even likely, that the family would have returned to England eventually, the loss of his father at such a young age, the move back to England, and the loss of his mother less than ten years later, propelled Ronald on an adventure that would take him ‘West of the Moon, East of the Sun.’
Tolkien’s adventures included meeting and eventually marrying the love of his life, Edith; fighting in World War I; attending and later teaching at Oxford; meeting, collaborating (and having a few pints) with his fellow Inklings, including C.S. Lewis; and, of course, creating and writing about the beloved realm of Middle-earth.
Today is a day for all of us to celebrate the life of a great man, and our love of the world and characters he created. As is the tradition every year, the Tolkien Society invites his fans to raise a glass (alcoholic or not, alone or with friends), to “The Professor.” Alternatively, you may want to celebrate by pulling something off of your shelf of Tolkien’s works (we all have one), opening it to a favorite passage (or two), and smiling in remembrance.
However you choose to celebrate, let’s all wish a happy birthday to J.R.R. Tolkien and the amazing, awe-inspiring legacies he left us.
This past week, the New Zealand Government and executives from Amazon TV held a meeting in an effort to address concerns about a lack of studio capacity in Auckland. This planned 5 season LOTR series is a big production that will require quite a lot of studio space for filming, post production facilities and local crews, so of course they want to make sure the resources exist that they need. It appears that a decision or deal may be made within the next month, so we don’t have long to wait. You can see the source of this story at Stuff.Co.NZ.
You may be wondering why Auckland and not Wellington, but that is easily explained by the fact that the Avatar trilogy of films currently in pre-production will soon be moving into full production. While the Amazon LOTR production will be big, Avatar is going to be much bigger, and there may or may not be enough room for both as far as studio and post-production facilities go.
This leads to a much bigger debate on whether or not this new series should look and feel much like the existing Middle-earth films or whether it should blaze its own path for design and locations. The appeal to any production of not having to look for too many new locations can’t be understated. Film and TV productions are always having to research and locate interesting places that fit what the production needs, so the fact that so many locations in New Zealand have already been established as feeling like Middle-earth is a boon. But then, there are hundreds of beautiful places around the world, and with chunks of filming now happening in studios, does it really matter where those studios are? Is it possible that Amazon can do location filming in New Zealand and Studio work in London, Hollywood or Vancouver? Or why not film in British Columbia, or Northern Ireland or Slovenia for that matter?