The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Annual 2013, one of several film tie-in books scheduled for this year, released today, and our message board member Bexlin was awesome enough to share some hi-res scans of its full colour pages.

Besides character pictures of the 13 dwarves, Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel, we also get our first look at Saruman the White, and a brilliant reveal of Lee Pace’s character Thranduil the Elvenking.

Here in the image upon the right sits Saruman with the rest of the White Council, seemingly in the much-talked-about scene of the discussion surrounding a certain Wraith’s blade.

And as for Thranduil, the Elf gets his revel after the break.

A fair warning to those who do not want to be spoiled… believe us, you do NOT want to click the “Continue Reading” button.

Continue reading “Thranduil, Saruman the White, Revealed In ‘Hobbit’ Film Tie-In Book”

Thank you to all the supporters of TheOneRing.net’s 27/7 LIVE stream Road to DragonCon! We have nearly reached our goal, but need your support to push us over the edge. When we leave Monday, we hope that we’ll have reached our goal and have enough funds to stop along the way, visiting Tolkien fans nationwide!  If you are not familiar with the event, a company of staffers will embark on a road trip from Hollywood to Atlanta, GA and back. Fans at home can join the fun day and night with live streaming video, Barliman’s chat room, and TheOneRing.net mobile phone to share stories, recommend local Tolkien landmarks, and win prizes from our sponsors. We have set up a series of sponsorship levels at our GoFundMe.com page where you can get some great swag just for supporting this trip. And certain levels get your name in the short form documentary we will be producing about the trip upon our return. Even if you only have $1 dollar to send, please consider helping us on the adventure. (You can click the ‘custom donation‘ level link on the GoFundMe.com page to enter any amount). And did you know, the highest level of sponsorship will secure you a ticket to our 2013 Oscar Party in Hollywood?!  We hope you will consider supporting us! Follow the link for complete details on the sponsorship levels. [Donate Today!]

 

As the first of three movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” inches closer, more and more marketing material will make its way to the interwebs. For example, the just discovered image of Radagast the Brown. Set for December 14, only months remain until  “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” (we think that is the title at least) finally comes to long-waiting fans. A calendar featuring the characters from the film has shipped to the public and on it is the previously glimpsed Radagast the Brown (played by Sylvester McCoy) from a fuzzy image taken from Peter Jackson’s December production diary. (The good Doctor will be in person at DragonCon in just over a week to talk Dr. Who and Middle-earth with fans. In fact, here is the complete schedule for the Tolkien Track.)

The image is a little bit of a spoiler but it seems a likely candidate to appear in the next trailer, due around September. ThorinOakenshield.net has a calendar in hand and posted the image first after placing an order. This will be in the hands of other consumers shortly or is already. Radagast is visible after just after the break so once you click, you are spoiled. There will be no missing him. Continue reading “Radagast the Brown revealed in ‘Hobbit’ calendar *spoiler*”

In 2011, fan volunteers MrCere, Quickbeam, Grimlock and Justin embarked on the first ever road trip across America streaming live from a TheOneRing.net themed truck the entire time and meeting fans at every stop. It was amazing to meet fans from all walks of life and was unforgettable to talk about how Tolkien impacts their daily lives. Fans at home came along for the ride day and night with live streaming video, Barliman’s chat room, and TheOneRing.net mobile phone to share stories, recommend local Tolkien landmarks, and win prizes from our sponsors. Over 3,000 fans met us in person and 250,000 fans watched online… which inspires us to do it again. But this year, we don’t have any corporate sponsors and we are leaning heavily on YOU the fans to make this year’s trip happen. As you know, not just gas is expensive these days. We have set up a GoFundMe.com page with levels of sponsorship starting at just $5! If you are willing to donate more, we have set up a series of perks (yea, just like PBS!) for each donation. For example, you can get an exclusive ‘Road to DragonCon’ t-shirt, or if you are insanely generous, you can snag an early ticket to our February 2013 Oscar Party! But wait…there’s more! We are going to be producing a short documentary available for free online after the trip in which we will highlight the supporters of our trip. We hope you will consider supporting us! Follow the link for complete details on the sponsorship levels. [Donate Today!]

Continue reading “Support our Journey on the ‘Road to DragonCon’ 2012!”

Variety is reporting that a source familiar with Warner Bros release plans for Peter Jackson’s first “Hobbit,” the HFR version (high frame rate) will go out to only select locations, perhaps not even into all major cities. However, reports from people shown recent footage of the 48 frames-per-second 3D indicate the picture now looks vastly better than the test footage shown this April at CinemaCon.

The studio may be hoping to protect the format by going into a limited release for the HFR version and gauging audience reaction before expanding the release further for the second and third installments. An additional complication is that no theatres are yet ready for HFR projection, but some require only a software upgrade that will be ready in September. Variety says that Warners is satisfied with the pace of efforts to ready theatres for HFR.

[More]

We all listened to and read Peter Jackson’s words from Comic-Con about three possible “Hobbit,” movies carefully. But we didn’t listen to all the words and we missed a few things.

He told us. He told us — he did.

He said exactly what he meant, he said it plainly and the media and fans (and me) tried to figure out what he meant when he told us in plainness. Monday, Jackson dropped an atomic bomb of news and fandom reacted accordingly.

“The Hobbit,” adapted for the screen from the 300-page, 75-year-old book by J.R.R. Tolkien changed from from two movies to three in the blink of a Facebook post.

AMBITION
More on the words we ignored in a minute. We need to figure out when these films break, what it means for fans and websites and studios and cinema and the director, but lets not rush past the size and scope of this news. Lets not walk around Paris admiring all the cafes and churches without also pausing and noticing the big tower in the center of town.

We witnessed, the last few weeks since Comic-Con, something monumental, unprecedented, unparalleled and a little bit crazy. Jackson (and when we say “Jackson” we always mean the director and Walsh, Boyens and a team of others supporting their vision) is in unchartered territory here. Continue reading “The bold ‘Hobbit’ trilogy decision and what to expect”