The Grove, an extremely fancy outdoor mall and tourist destination in Los Angeles, is no stranger to being the centerpiece of publicity for The Hobbit. Last week, The Grove hosted the Los Angeles screening of the worldwide Hobbit Fan Event, and last year, it featured an all-day fan event with arts and crafts for the kids, free poster giveaways, and all of those really cool lenticular 3D character posters for An Unexpected Journey set up throughout its central square.

Now it is slowly transforming one of its areas into Erebor itself! There is no clear indication as to what this is for, but many of us here at TORn are speculating that The Grove may, in fact, be the site for the World Premiere of The Desolation of Smaug in a few weeks. Whatever the reason or ultimate purpose, there is no denying that whatever is going on at The Grove is some amazing Dwarfy goodness. Here are some pictures of what is going on. (click on any of the images to get a hi-res version) Continue reading “The Grove in Los Angeles is transforming into Erebor!”

Middle-earth Envisioned by Brian J Robb and Paul Simpson.
Middle-earth Envisioned by Brian J Robb and Paul Simpson.
Over the decades, lots and lots of people have tried their hand at envisioning Middle-earth — in artwork, stage plays, musicals, television adaptations, comics, games, fan-art and, of course, animated and live action film.

Middle-earth Envisioned is a new, illustrated book From New York Times bestselling author Brian J. Robb and Paul Simpson, TV guide writer/reporter and the former editor of the Star Trek magazine, that comprehensively documents these portrayals of Middle-earth.

Among the highlights is previously unprinted artwork from English schoolteacher Mary Fairbairn. It has been noted that Tolkien himself wrote to Fairburn in 1968, praising her illustrations as “splendid. They are better pictures in themselves and also show far more attention to the text than any that have yet been submitted to me”. Continue reading “New book reveals previously unprinted artwork and documents the portrayal of Middle-earth across the decades”

Weta-1Awards season officially began this past weekend with the BAFTA awards in LA on Saturday night, televised on Sunday on BBC America. A quick scan of what’s playing in local theaters will show a healthy mix of big blockbuster movies and art house films, many you will not have heard of, but those are the films that will be contending for Awards early next year. People in Hollywood will be pulling out their Tuxedos and beaded gowns and slimming down, getting ready for the Red Carpets to come in January. Alongside all the nominated filmmakers are Awards for those with recognized bodies of works. And today the Producers Guild of America has announced that the recipients of its 2014 Vanguard Award will be Peter Jackson, Joe Letteri and WETA Digital. The Ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California during the 25th Annual Producers Guild Awards on January 19th. For more details, please read the full story at Variety.com

 

From all the Staff at TheOneRing.net, Congratulations, Huzzah! We love your work so far, we can’t wait to see what you have in store for us in these next two films, and we have faith you will keep us entertained for years to come.

 

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Hobbit fans catching site of Peter Jackson at last year's Wellington Premiere Party
Hobbit fans catching sight of Peter Jackson at last year’s Wellington Premiere Party

Red Carpet Tours wants to invite Wellington fans to celebrate the release of the Desolation of Smaug with them in style: at Miramar’s Roxy Cinema, right in the heart of Wellywood. The Roxy Cinema complex has received accolades internationally for its authentic Art Deco design, and incredible sculptures and artworks that showcase Weta Workshop talent. Its co-owners include Richard Taylor, Tania Rodger, and Jamie and Anne Selkirk.

Jed Brophy (Nori) and William Kircher (Bifur) will be among the Hobbit film talent invited as special guests for this party.

There will be Costume prizes awarded, hearty Hobbit food and drink, great music and lots of Hobbit fun ! It’s a wonderful occasion to get together with like minded fans and celebrate the release of the ‘Desolation of Smaug’ along with an international party of fans brought to New Zealand by Red Carpet Tours !

Date: Wednesday 11th December, 2013

Time: 8:30pm – Midnight

Location: The Roxy Theatre, Park Road, Miramar-Wellington.

Cost: NZ$150 per person. (Strictly no door sales.)

Party ticket includes: Entry to the party, entertainment, hearty Hobbit fare, especially invited guests ~ Jed Brophy (Nori) and William Kircher (Bifur) and prizes for best costume. Tickets are limited.

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Beorn with Gandalf Earlier today, we revealed a high-resolution spy image of the Beorn set in Queenstown (if you like high-resolution images with lots and lots of pixels, we recommend checking it out!).

Now, through the work of Florian Bunz, here’s a bit of an idea of what it might look like in 3D, if from a slightly different angle. The clip is very brief, and I’m no 3D composition expert to truly judge it’s quality, but the effect is quite startling.

Check it out for yourself and see what you think. Continue reading “See Beorn’s house in 3D!”