Ringer Janina lets us know that German fantasy convention RingCon begins at the Maritim Hotel Bonn, in Bonn, Germany on October 18.
Guests from the Tolkien universe include: Craig Parker (Haldir), Lori Dungey (Mrs. Bracegirdle), Mark Ferguson (Gil-Galad), William Kircher (Bifur), David Wenham (Faramir), and Stephen Ure (Grishnakh, Gorbag, Fimbul and Grinnah). Plus the Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft (German Tolkien Society), blogger and Tolkien scholar TheTolkienist and many more lecturers, artists, workshop instructors and cosplayers will be there too.
You can follow the buzz on twitter and tumblr, searching the hashtag #ringcon.
Daily tickets are still available at the event itself. Continue reading “RingCon 2013 fantasy convention begins tomorrow in Bonn!”
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As you may recall we teamed up with Sideshow Collectibles to give away one of their massive Sauron Premium Format Statues. After many entries its time to finally announce the winner of this contest. The lucky Ringer who will be having one of these 3 foot tall pieces shipped from our friends at Sideshow Collectibles is Ben S. of Gurnee, IL. We want to thank all of you who took the time to enter and be on the watch for the next contest. You can still get Sauron from Sideshow Collectibles and if you’re unsure check out our review of one of the best The Lord of the Rings collectibles you’ll ever find.
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Could the Disney theme parks be the next potential location for a Lord of the Rings-themed attraction? We reported back in January and also in February that tongues were wagging about a possible Middle-earth theme park partnership between Warner Brothers and Universal. There was even documentation that the Saul Zaentz Company had registered “several uses for Middle-earth properties that includes theme parks.” But those rumors seemed to have fizzled.
Now it seems that, “Disney and Warner Brothers have either signed or are very close to singing an agreement that will bring “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” movie-inspired areas to the Disney Parks.” WDW News Today is reporting that the partnership has been in the works since late last year and is now practically a fait accompli. The story claims that Disney may incorporate a Middle-earth attraction as part of an overhaul at the California Adventure park in Anaheim, CA. It also suggests that Disney may be looking for Hobbits to give them an edge over Hogwarts in order to compete with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter area at Universal Studio’s theme park.
WDW News today says, “As with any rumor, you should take this with a grain of salt until it is actually announced.” Is it likely that Disney would be able to overcome the hurdles that have hung up similar ventures? That they could overcome the long-held anti-Disney prejudice from within the Tolkien Estate itself? TORn staffer Demosthenes points out Tolkien’s Letter #13, where he famously insisted that he would “veto anything from or influenced by the Disney Studios (for all whose works I have a heartfelt loathing).”
Additionally, should the supposed negotiations be happening on the studio level, making an end-run around the Tolkien Estate, it seems unlikely that Warner Brothers would be keen to work together after Disney stole Oz out from under them when they released Oz the Great and Powerful earlier this year. “The Walt Disney Company did not own rights to the original 1939 The Wizard of Oz movie but moved stealthily to mount an audacious raid on the story and leave a rival studio flat-footed.”
But perhaps TheOneRing.net’s April Fools’ story this year was actually prescient and we will enter an era where Hobbit feet and Mouse ears can coexist in one big glorious theme park universe. Or maybe we’ll all just have to aspire to visit the real Hobbiton for a while longer.
[Read the original story here.]
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Orlando Bloom stopped by the EW offices last week to chat about his new role in a Broadway production of Romeo & Juliet as well as other things, including a little about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Bloom is currently making his Broadway debut at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Romeo and Juliet opposite two-time Tony nominee Condola Rashad in a modern-day setting with the original language directed by David Leveaux.
Chatting with fans, he discussed his Broadway warm-up routine, how he got involved in the production and the challenges of working in front of a live audience. Continue reading “Orlando Bloom chats about R&J and The Hobbit with EW”
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Our friends at Weta Workshop have released their latest newsletter and its jam packed with information. Tonight, we get two new pre-orders and a run down of when we will start seeing items for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The first item that came up for pre-order is the next Hobbit Hole helping fans create their own Hobbiton with Gandalf’s Cutting. This great little piece is named for being the Hobbit Hole that is nearest when Gandalf enters Hobbiton. The other item that went up for pre-order is a beatuiful art print capturing The Argonath. This stunning print was created by Gust Hunter and captures the Kings of Old as the Fellowship goes by. You can order Gandalf’s Cutting for $40 and it will ship in late November and you can also order The Argonath art print for $35 which is in-stock.
Also within tonights newsletter, Weta tells fans when they can expect to start ordering products that are tied in with the second film in the Hobbit Trilogy. These products will start to be released from next Monday afternoon here in the US, which is next Tuesday morning in New Zealand/Australia. So starting from next week fans can expect to order at least one new statue, which will be the Elven King Thranduil himself.
Here is the full comment from tonight’s newsletter:
Next week signals the launch of the first items from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
We have previously launched Bilbo and Bombur Barrel Riders as exclusive preview products, but 15 October signals the start of our range proper!
We have a range of products lined up for the next few months and while we want to keep some of them a surprise, one or two have seen the light of day at conventions and events.
King Thranduil 1/6 scale statue is one such piece and we will start taking orders for this striking Limited Edition piece:
Tuesday 15 October at 9AM NZ time!
Around the World that means the following times:
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US West Coast: Monday 14 October at 1pm
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US East Coast: Monday 14 October at 4pm
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Central Europe: Monday 14 October at 10pm
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Sydney, Australia: Tuesday 15 October at 7am
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Original costumes and props from director Sir Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy will go under the hammer at an auction in California on December 5.
The Trilogy Collection: Props & Costumes from Middle-earth will include memorabilia which has been assembled over the past decade by a passionate collector. The size of the collection is said to be second to only that of Peter Jackson himself. Continue reading “World’s second-largest Lord of the Rings props collection to go under the hammer”
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