Poster OnlineDirector Jonathan King’s new film Realiti, featuring Graham McTavish among the cast, will have its world premiere in Wellington on July 31st, with further screenings there and in Auckland in early August. Written by Chad Taylor, the film was made whilst McTavish was also busy with pickups for a certain trilogy; the director says:

“The Hobbit’s Graham McTavish plays a featured (non prosthetic  – or kilt!) role in the film, and he’s really great in it: a different tone to his fantasy-related work, but a part that really suits his authority and charisma. Graham worked on the film at the same time as he was shooting The Hobbit here and it was a thrill for us how much attention he gave to our small film at the same time as he was involved in such a big one! I think it will be great for fans to see Graham in a different kind of role.”

Continue reading “Film ‘REALITi’ with Graham McTavish to screen at Auckland and Wellington film festivals”

Lake-town LuauWe are very excited to announce that our long-time supporters, WETA Workshop, have come on board to Co-Sponsors the Laketown Luau – A Tolkien Celebration! Weta will be sending a few little prizes to the party, along with a few of the artists attending the convention. This will be a great chance to hang out in a more casual environment with some of the people responsible for the look and feel of Middle-earth. Their sponsorship also allows us to drop the pricing down to $30 a person. Yup, you heard that right! For those who already have tickets, you will be receiving a $10 refund per person, and for those who were still on the fence, jump off that fence and join us at the Kona Kai for a night that will be truly memorable! [Buy Tickets]

We are also excited to announce Badali Jewelry is also participating at the Supporter level and will be providing some great shiny prizes for you to win during one of our gaming activities. More on the games and activities later on, but first, let’s get a little history on why a Luau.

Continue reading “Laketown Luau Gets Some Sponsorship – Prices Lowered!”

Dean O in TAJFans of Dean O’Gorman who live in New Zealand, Australia, Canada or the UK may have already enjoyed watching him in television show The Almighty Johnsons; for fans in America, the series starts screening on Syfy this evening (Friday). Ringer Kiwifan in Germany loves the show, and wants to share her passion with you! Here’s what she had to say:

“This Friday evening, July 11, NZ tv show The Almighty Johnsons, starring Dean O’Gorman as Anders Johnson (Bragi), will have its U.S. premiere on the Syfy channel. The series, which ran for three seasons on television in New Zealand, Canada, Australia and the UK, garnered several awards and gained fans worldwide. Incidentally, the eldest Johnson brother, Mike, is played by Tim Balme who first became known for his starring role in Peter Jackson’s film Braindead (aka Dead Alive). Balme also wrote several of the episodes of The Almighty Johnsons. Continue reading “Dean O’Gorman in The Almighty Johnsons – starts in the US TONIGHT”

FSS_LordoftheRings While everyone is waiting for the promised teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, I thought folks might enjoy revisiting trailers past. So I’ve spent a bit of time delving into our archives to dig up the details of all the trailers for The Lord of the Rings that I could find.

When did they come out? What movies were they attached to? Did you know one actually debuted on US telly with the Joss Whedon series Angel? I had forgotten that!

Continue reading “The ghosts of trailers past: revisiting The Lord of the Rings”

lddspromo14 A Japanese website has just released four extended behind-the-scenes that feature never-before-seen footage and cool background information about Beorn, the Wargs of Wilderland, Lake-town and the Spiders of Mirkwood.

They don’t seem to be from the Theatrical Edition, and seem to be part of a “making-of” DVD/Blu-ray bundle that’s about to be released in Japan.

Check them out below (the first two are on this page, the second two are on page two). Note: if the embedded links below happen to go down, you can still find the originals here. Continue reading “New Desolation of Smaug behind-the-scenes vids reveal Beorn, Wargs, Lake-town and Spiders”