Ringer, Kiwifan, has sent us this lovely interview/conversation with Sir Ian McKellen at the SAGFoundation.
Category: Hobbit Movie
Weta Workshop just announced that TORn friend and former General Manager of Weta Limited has passed away.
Tim was given a nice tribute from Weta that you can find here. There, Richard Taylor and his wife Tania explained who Tim was and that cancer took him.
Tim headed up Weta’s consumer products company, which handled the tourism and fans that visit the workshop from around the world and started the company’s collectibles line.
Tim was a friend to TheOneRing, setting up several party events surrounding conventions and events in the U.S. and in New Zealand. He arranged receptions and tour events with TORn staff and TORnadoes around the world.
Tim was a terrifically positive influence. It was impossible not to get swept up in his absolute enthusiasm and love for everything ‘geek’. It was a wonderful thing to see. His passing is deeply saddening, especially considering the courageous fight and victory over cancer the first time around. – Richard Taylor, CEO and Co-founder, Weta Workshop
On a personal note, Tim was a friend that I looked forward to seeing at events, meals, in emails and in offices. I know I am not the only staffer to feel that way.
I remember conversations with him about work and life and how much he enjoyed the film and fantasy environment. I also recall conversations about his family and his wife and children. Tim was willing to do hard things to achieve success and was honest and open, often explaining what he couldn’t be honest and open about. His loss is felt across the oceans and he will be remembered. Thank you Tim Launder for your kindness, courtesy and friendship.
Josh of Collecting The Precious adds:
It’s not very often as a collector that you truly feel your opinion is valued. Those of us collectors who knew Tim never felt that way. We always knew if we made a comment in person at a convention or on a message board Tim truly valued those comments. He let us know they played a part in the pecking order of what wonderful Middle-earth pieces were made.
As a collector I can’t put into words how awesome that is. For me personally he made doing the Collecting the Precious columns easier. At events like Comic-Con he would allow me to have special access cases being lifted to take pictures or video. Tim would allow me to pick his brain about what might be coming, and allow little teases I could pass on. When he left Weta it made me sad because a friendship had developed and I knew that would wain with him not being there.
Tonight, I find out that he has passed away. Sailing into the West and hopefully pain free. The collecting world lost a good friend tonight but the world lost a great guy. Thanks Tim for all the kindness you showed me and all the Middle-earth collectors.
The day has finally come and gone when many of you were lucky enough to view The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies in theaters. TORn’s facebook page, the discussion boards and Barli’s chat are all buzzing with excited observations! Many of our staffers saw it too and, as it TORn tradition, we’ll be featuring their comments and insights here, as well as a spoilery picture or two. Speaking of spoilers, they abound in the rest of this article, so read no further if you haven’t seen the EE yet and don’t want to be spoiled until you do!
SPOILER ALERT!!
We’re just a little over a month away from the final of The Hobbit Trilogy. That means, as we’ve previously gotten with all the Middle-earth films, an extended edition, which tends to be the most desired version for so many of us. As has also been the case with all the other films we get a great gift set to go with each film. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is no different and once again our friends at Weta Workshop have been tasked with creating a great looking statue for the set. This statue captures Bilbo and Gandalf post battle as they reflect on what’s been won and lost. You can pre-order the gift set with the 3D edition of the final film right now from Amazon for $79 and if it is cheaper when it ships you get it for that price through Amazon.
Weta Workshop is at it again! This time they’re wowing fans on the East Coast with the goodies they brought with them to New York Comic-Con. This event brought us several new items from both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. From The Hobbit Trilogy we got an amazing Smaug bust it is a hugely detailed piece giving fans a super upclose look at him without being turned to ash. You can order Smaug right now for $399 with it shipping in Dec/Jan. Also up for order and a new piece from NYCC is one of the cooler looking Orcs in this set of films Yazneg. Like the other Orcs he has that brutal looking skirt of Dwarf faces. You can also pre-order him right now for $279 with him arriving in Dec/Jan. The final Hobbit item is one that debut at Comic-Con this past July. Ori the Dwarf comes to fans with an edition size of only 500 pieces and with a price of $249 he is sure to sell fast. He’s in-stock, so make sure to get your order in now.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s New York Comic-Con Showcase”
Here it comes – the final release from Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth!
Many fans gathered in cinemas this week, on Monday and Wednesday, to watch The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, both Extended Editions, on the big screen. Staffers greendragon, deej and CAhobbit went along to the Empire 25 cinema in Times Square on Wednesday night; it was a joy to see these films in theatres again. Nothing beats being able to see every beautiful detail of the set, props, costumes and locations, and every wonderful expression from the cast – some of which is lost when enjoying the movies at home.
On Tuesday of next week, October 13th, fans will finally get to see the final Hobbit film in the cut which Peter Jackson wanted. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition is screening in theatres next week – and thanks to our friends at Fathom Events, YOU can win passes to a cinema near you!
Simply click here to find a cinema location where you would like to see the movie – click ‘buy tickets’ and then enter your zipcode to see where the movie is showing. Next, complete the contest entry form, indicating in the ‘Special Notes’ box the cinema of your choice. Hit ‘Enter Now!’ to submit the form, and you are in with a chance to win!
The contest will run until 11.59pm EST on Sunday 11th October. Two winners will be selected at random on Monday 12th, and Fathom Events will email those winners FOUR passes for their chosen cinema, for Tuesday evening.
These lucky winners will ALSO receive two Lord of the Rings figurines, chosen at random from Aragorn, Saruman, Sauron and Orc figures.
The bad news – alas, this contest is only open to residents of the US, as that is where Fathom Events are screening the movie. Sorry, fans in the rest of the world – you’ll have to wait until the movie is available online, from October 20th.
Click here to choose your cinema location; then CLICK HERE to enter the contest! Good luck!