Our friends at Weta Workshop have a couple of new books for fans to add to their collections. The first book is the next in the Chronicles series, which gives you a great inside look at the task of bringing the many costumes, armour, and weapons that were needed to bring The Hobbit Trilogy to life. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles – Cloaks and Daggers does just that, but it doesn’t just cover the second film, it also covers the many designs needed in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. If you pre-order the book right now you can get it signed by some of the folks who helped bring these films to the big screen!
The second release Weta has for fans is an amazing looking two book set covering the 20 years they have been helping to bring films to life. This inside look is brimming with never-before-seen content covering films such as; The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy, Avatar, King Kong, District 9, and much more. You can get The Hobbit Art Book for $39 and Weta: The Art of Film Magic – 20 Years of of Weta for $99.
Talented artist Kathy Morawski has created this beautiful carved tribute to Shadowfax/Blanco for Cynthia Royal. After requests from fans on Cynthia’s tribute site she is now making a special Limited Edition series for fans to own, with a portion of the proceeds going to help Cynthia.
SALT LAKE CITY — FantasyCon, with an already potent lineup of guests from “The Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” movies, announced that Billy Boyd will be joining the show. The convention, with its obvious fantasy theme, is striving to be different from the many popular-culture events that dot North America with increased interactivity and an emphasis on fantasy art.
Set for July 3 – 5, capitalizing on the 4th of July weekend in Salt Lake City, the convention is self described as “the first convention of its kind to answer the call for an interactive, immersive experience that encompasses all things in the genre of pop culture fantasy.”
Boyd joins LOTR partners Sean Astin and John Rhys-Davies, along with Hobbit actors Slyvester McCoy, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, and Jed Brophy. The convention is Stott’s first convention appearance in North America.
FantasyCon is also a major sponsor of TheOneRing.net and the show will feature several of our own staffers, including FantasyCon Program Director Larry D. Curtis, MrCere here at TheOneRing.net. According to him, “There are more Middle-earth names to come, and by the time all the announcements are done we will offer a unparallelled Tolkien lineup. We mostly have all of these guys for three days helping us celebrate fantasy and of course signing autographs and providing photo ops with fans.
Billy Boyd at TORn’s booth, DragonCon 2012“FantasyCon’s founder Josh Patel had most of these pieces in place before he reached out to me so I was delighted immediately with his plans. I just talked to these guys about the show while we were together in Germany at HobbitCon 2 and they are excited and we are doing some really fun programming stuff, not just talking from the stage. This is a chance for fans in the U.S. to meet an army of talent from these franchises. What is more, there is a lot of other really good related content. We are having a world-class Middle-earth convention inside a spectacular fantasy convention.”
The convention also includes a group of masterwork fantasy artists, many who are bringing commissioned paintings to the event. Artists include TORn friend and Middle-earth artist Donato Giancola and Brom. The full list of artists can be found right here.
The show starts Thursday July 3rd and will finish Saturday July 5th in Salt Lake City. The Salt Palace Convention Center will host the event, close to many hotels and close to the Salt Lake airport.
In this 2nd season of Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan, our nature-loving and very knowledgeable Dom and his fearless cameraman Frank have been on some harrowing adventures all over the world.
Last night was indeed a night of special magnificence here in Calgary! Calgary EXPO threw the event ‘Middle-earth EXPOsed’ – and what an extraordinary event it was. Sir Richard Taylor turned one lucky fan into an orc, applying his make-up on stage whilst the rest of the event took place. Host Mark Ferguson (Gil-galad) led conversations with actors Billy Boyd, Sean Astin, Craig Parker, Jed Brophy, Sadwyn Brophy (Eldarion), Dean O’Gorman, Mark Hadlow and Manu Bennett; special video messages came from Sir Peter Jackson and Richard Armitage; swordmaster Steven McMichael appeared on stage to fight with the gathered cast; songs were sung, hilarious improv acted out, and the audience were treated to two and a half hours of entertainment and laughter.
The fun continues in Calgary today and tomorrow! Don’t forget to stop by booth 2007 to say hi to the folks from TheOneRing.net, or to buy one of our con exclusive shirts. Staffer deej hosts a panel today in the Boyce Theatre, at 11.45, with Billy Boyd and Sean Astin; greendragon hosts panels on Sunday at 12noon and 2pm, with Sean Astin and later with the Hobbit cast members. Hope to see you there!
Recovered from HobbitCon and/or WonderCon yet? Ready to do it all again? We’re about to get the party started here in Calgary, where the Calgary EXPO takes place this weekend!
The exhibition floor is open Thursday 4-8pm, Friday 12noon-8pm, Saturday 10am-7pm, and Sunday 10am-5pm. TheOneRing.net will be at Booth 2007 (which is in Halls DE); we’re just a few booths down from our good friends at WETA, who will be at Booth 2000. Come by and play trivia, meet some TORn staff, buy a tshirt or a button, and support the website! Our EXCLUSIVE shirt for this convention is ‘Keep Calm and Read Tolkien’. Movie titles may be changing all around us, but Tolkien remains constant, and a refuge from the storm of Real Life!
Our friends at Weta Workshop have a couple of new books for fans to add to their collections. The first book is the next in the Chronicles series, which gives you a great inside look at the task of bringing the many costumes, armour, and weapons that were needed to bring The Hobbit Trilogy to life. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles – Cloaks and Daggers does just that, but it doesn’t just cover the second film, it also covers the many designs needed in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. If you pre-order the book right now you can get it signed by some of the folks who helped bring these films to the big screen!
Talented artist Kathy Morawski has created this beautiful carved tribute to Shadowfax/Blanco for Cynthia Royal. After requests from fans on Cynthia’s tribute site she is now making a special Limited Edition series for fans to own, with a portion of the proceeds going to help Cynthia.
