Sean Astin told SCI FI Wire that he’d be thrilled to reprise his Lord of the Rings film trilogy role as Sam Gamgee in the upcoming big-screen adaptations of The Hobbit. However, because the Rings’ beloved quartet of Hobbits don’t actually appear in The Hobbit, Astin doubts that he’ll be asked to appear in the films. Astin’s comments run counter to those of his Rings co-star Dominic Monaghan, who told MTV News in January that he believes that he, Astin, Billy Boyd and Elijah Wood will play some role in the two Hobbit features. The films will be produced by Rings mastermind Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo del Toro. SCI FI Wire spoke to Astin today, while he was promoting ION Television’s upcoming miniseries The Color of Magic. Following are edited excerpts from that exclusive interview, in which he also talked about the 10th anniversary of filming The Lord of the Rings and his other upcoming genre projects. Astin up for Hobbit if Hobbit up for him
Category: LotR Movies
The folks from Crescent Moon Publishing send along word of two Tolkien books available on Amazon.com. Take a look at Tolkien’s Heroic Quest (Paperback) and J.R.R. Tolkien: The Books, The Films, The Whole Cultural Phenomenon, Including a Scene By Scene Analysis of the 2001-2003 Lord of the Rings Films (Paperback). Continue reading “New Tolkien Books from Crescent Moon Publishing”
Mt Doom over Mt Ruapehu? The Rohan Plains over the Canterbury ones? Rivendell over Upper Hutt? Lord of the Rings film sites have been drawing tourists for years, but now there is a bid to officially name one of them after its movie moniker. Fiordland motor camp operator Aaron Nicholson has written to the Geographic Board proposing a new name for a stretch of the Waiau River between Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau. The two-kilometre stretch doubled as the Anduin River in Fellowship of the Ring, with cast members floating downstream in elfin boats. Mr Nicholson wants the unnamed stretch to be called Anduin Reach. He has taken his quest online, drawing support from Rings fan websites and a YouTube video. “We’ve had comments from all over the world saying this is a good thing.” Bid to get Rings river renamed for tourists
“A” sends along word that the Anduin River renaming project we posted about a while ago has gained some traction in the local NZ papers. The Fiordland Advocate has this article up about the renaming effort, take a look! More..
When director Peter Jackson asked Howard Shore to compose the score for “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, Shore studied J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world before beginning four years of writing music. At a Master’s Tea Tuesday afternoon, Shore shared insights about composing, orchestrating, conducting and producing more than ten hours of music to accompany “The Lord of the Rings” films in front of more than 100 students in the Branford College common room. The Academy Award-winning composer, who also wrote the scores for “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Doubt,” among others, also told stories about working on other genres of music before his venture into cinema. Shore began the talk by describing his first encounters with music. From the beginning, his clarinet teacher felt it was important that he learn music composition techniques such as harmony and counterpoint, he said. By the time Shore was 11 years old, he was already writing small pieces. Shore shares insights on ‘Rings’ trilogy
Last week Tehanu had the privilege of spending an hour with Greg Lane, LOTR stuntman, and hearing some stories about the four years he spent working on the trilogy. Perhaps his most unforgettable role was as the “berserker orc” who sprints towards the wall of Helm’s Deep like a combination All Black and Olympic torchbearer, diving to detonate Saruman’s secret mine and blowing up the wall. But, Lane appeared in many memorable scenes. Continue reading “Greg Lane: Orc of a Thousand Faces”