Founder’s Day fun continues this weekend with the Sixth Annual Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy Marathon! (phew, that’s a long title!)

Join us Saturday, May 1, beginning at 9 a.m. EDT. in TORn’s chatroom “Barliman’s” as people from around the world sit down at their computers with one common goal: to virtually gather with other fans to watch all three Lord of the Ring extended editions straight through. Geeky? Yes. Fun? Absolutely. Find all the details on our Marathon FAQ.

But that’s not all! Also on Saturday night Barliman’s will be holding a special Hobbit discussion between “The Two Towers” and “Return of the King.” (approx. 5:30 p.m.):

Speculation and anticipation are mounting among Lord of the Rings fans as news about the Hobbit continues to dribble out. With scripts for the two films drafted, but the project still awaiting the studio greenlight, TORn’s Hall of Fire returns to host a discussion asking “what next?” What can we expect to see in the films? Who will take the lead role? And will it be wall-to-wall dwarves, or will there be additions and casualties? Come along, and bring your own rumours for discussion!

So please join us on the TORn IRC server this Saturday for two very special events! Read more

An ongoing feature in our message boards are the ‘Screencap of the Day’ posts. As the name implies, folks post a screencap from the films with a few questions to spark discussion. We’re looking for additional volunteers to help with this particular project. If you are interested in participating or helping, read the following post from Arwen’s Daughter. [More Info]

(CNN) — Before “The Lovely Bones,” the aughts had been a charmed decade for Peter Jackson.

It began with the one-two-three punch of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, a juggernaut that grossed almost $4 billion worldwide at the box office and won 17 Oscars — 11 of those, including best picture and best director, for the final chapter, “The Return of the King.”

Jackson followed “Rings” with his 2005 remake of “King Kong,” which was another huge success both at the box office and with critics. He donned his producer’s hat for 2009’s “District 9,” a low-budget South African film that made $200 million worldwide and was nominated for best picture. [Read Full Story]

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Peter Jackson, Executive Producer of the upcoming Hobbit films says of the films’ behind-the-scenes footage that “We’ve been filming DVD material for about a year. Guillermo has been doing location scouts and design work, with the DVD people following him around, so we’ve shot 20 or 30 hours of DVD material so far and we’re still a few months away from the first day of shooting.”

Asked about converting the LOTR films to 3D, he says, “You can do [2D to 3D] conversions well if you take time. If you do it quickly, fast and cheap, it’s not going to turn out well. If we were going to convert LOTR, I’d want to do it properly, which would be a very long, time-consuming, and expensive process.”

Lastly, his opinion on the not-so-positive fan reaction to the recently released Theatrical BluRay version seems to jibe with the majority of the fans. “I agree with the fans”, he says. “I was heavily involved in the DVD process when the films were being released through New Line, but now that Warner Brothers has taken control over the releasing of the films, they just tell me what they’re doing and don’t involve me in the process. [With New Line,] the one thing we never did with the fans was make them feel cheated. Back in the original release, we always put extra material in, extra documentaries — a lot of added value. I so totally understand why the fans would be upset; I don’t disagree with them.”

Read the entire interview over at The Wall Street Journal.

Thanks to Patty on our message boards for alerting us to this interview.