Just how much was Smaug’s stolen hoard worth? Tolkien fans certainly seem to think they know. So much so that Forbes had to revise their original estimate of $8.6 billion due to enthusiastic input from those very fans:
“Taking into account a variety of factors including the estimated length of a dragon (64 feet), how many scales he has on his belly (822), the percentage of air in the treasure mound (30%) and the price of gold, silver and diamonds I estimated the ancient wyrm to be worth $8.6 billion. The Internet disagreed…”
Follow the “Read More” link to read this hugely entertaining account of how they recalculated Smaug’s worth based on fan input, and what the final result was. Then follow the link in the article to find out how much the other “Fictional 15” characters are worth, including characters such as Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne and Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones. Read More ...
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This story was one of TheOneRing.net’s April Fool Jokes for 2012. Thank you for participating!
With the 3rd block of filming beginning in earnest this weekend, there is some surprise casting news filtering it’s way back to us. Back in December when the Trailer first appeared, TORn did a frame by frame analysis, and one of the little tidbits we identified was the Elves at Rivendell and what looks to be Elrond’s twin sons. See what was written on Page 7 of the trailer analysis. Word now comes to us that not only are Elladan and Elrohir in the films, but they are being played by James and Oliver Phelps, famous for portraying the Weasley Twins, which leads us to believe their roles will not just be minor set dressing. Unless, of course, this is just a bit of stunt casting, but PJ doesn’t seem overly prone to that. The nice thing about this move is that there will be real twins, two separate actors, rather than the old trick of hiring one actor and then using FX to duplicate the person. The Hobbit production will have no shortage of multiple shots for every scene with all the scale doubles they have to deal with, but having two separate actors in the roles allows for the bigger action sequences to be done and not having to worry about FX. But does that mean that the Elves of Rivendell will play a bigger part in The Hobbit? That is still one of the big questions, what with the White Council expansion and all. Stay tuned as TORn tries to sift through these snippets of news to get at the nuggets of new details.
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Remember The Hobbit production vlog #2 that came out back in July 2011?
Well, we’ve watched it again (and recommend you do too), especially the bit between 2:05 and 2:25, where it isn’t hard to spot Peter Jackson and his crew wearing a “200 Days To Go” sweatshirt. What is hard to spot though is the logo on the front of that sweatshirt… until now.
Our Dwarves at TORn who spend their time mining the interwebs for gems of information came across an image of the hoodie that reveals the logo is none other than Smaug the Golden.
Our staffers then got down to discussing it, and some said Yes, and some said No. Some said it couldn’t be the real design for Smaug, and some said it only offered clues to what the real Smaug will look like. One staffer called Greendragon was (aptly!) drawn to this image more than the others and said it looked very much like “a John Howe Smaug“. Finally, the end of it was to put the image out for your consideration and see what you thought of it.
So, what do you think? Real or not? Mildly interesting or surprisingly faithful? Sound off on our message boards.
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With just one day left in the second round of our Middle-earth March Madness, it is time to summarize the competition and do a little cheerleading for the characters.
The first match up in the Rankin/Bass division is between Gandalf (1) and Feanor (4) and is running extremely close. You best get your votes in, this one could go either way. The second match up in the Rankin/Bass division is Galadriel (2) versus Smaug (6). Again, this one is extremely close, will it be the Lady of the Golden Wood, or Smaug the Golden, their fate is in your hands, so vote now.
In the Ralph Bakshi division, the first match up is between Bilbo (1) and Gollum (4). Bilbo has a little lead, but it is not to say Gollum couldn’t sneak up and take this contest, so get your votes out. The second match up in this division has Thorin (3) up against Aragorn (2) and it appears at the moment the current lead hero is besting the previous lead hero, so pick your favorite hero and vote, vote, vote.
Checking in on the Tolkien Family Division, Legolas (1) is taking on Pippin (4) and as you might expect, the Elf Prince has a comfortable lead. Pippin fans, where are you? The other contest in this division pits Faramir (3) against Frodo (2). Currently, the Gondorian heir to the Stewardship who could not be swayed by the ring is beating the Ringbearer, please vote for your favorite in this contest.
And finally, in the Peter Jackson division, Glorfindel (1) is up against Merry (5) and the Elf lord is handily beating out the Esquire of Rohan. Make sure this one ends the way you want it, so vote now to ensure your favorite wins. And the last contest is between Samwise (2) and Boromir (3) with Samwise beating out everyone’s favorite Son of Gondor. How will it all end, only you can determine that by voting.
Middle-earth March Madness second round voting
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Since the news of problems for the long standing The Hobbit pub in Southampton surfaced a few days ago, many fans have jumped onboard to support the pub, including a few involved in the current movie production. Stephen Fry pretty much brought the story to everyone’s attention a few days back, and now Sir Ian McKellen is adding his support. You can read his reaction on his Blog.
*Breaking News*
And just as details of this latest news were coming in, reports now appear that might indicate a solution is on the horizon. You can read details at the Daily Echo. They will be updating that blog shortly with reaction from locals, so raise a pint everyone and keep your Hobbity fingers crossed this hiccup is resolved.
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Speaking with MTV about working with Peter Jackson on The Hobbit, actor Benedict Cumberbatch (who’s been cast in the role of both Smaug and The Necromancer) dished a bit about the work he’s done thus far on the films.
Excerpts follow:
I was in isolation with [Peter Jackson] and this incredible tag team. And at the very cool place with that technology doing mo-cap for two characters, Smaug the dragon and another character, which will remain nameless, and it was an awful lot of fun.
I spent a lot of time recording voice as well as doing movements. So, it was sort of freeing; it was fun. It was like playing a game. It’s going to be an amazing film; it’s going to be a real treat.
Catch the entire interview over at MTV. Many thanks to message board member f00 for the heads-up!
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