thedigitalbits.com is reporting that Warner Bros. has revealed, in a promotional insert packed with the new Poltergeist Blu-ray Disc, that it’s currently working on a Blu-ray version of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. They also mention that their sources say all three films are planned for a 2009 Blu-ray treatment. Take a look at the insert here.
Category: LotR Movies
After spending Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday week riddling, Doug Adams announced what the ‘other major release’ his book will be tied to: LOTR: THE RARITIES ARCHIVE, scheduled for release in the fourth quarter 2009. There will be substantially more rarities material released. Doug’s initial project was limited in terms of budget (buying rights from Warner Brothers). WBR owns all this so licensing rights is not an issue. Doug wrote:
“This means that CONSIDERABLY more music is now available for the project! You will see why this qualifies as something “major,” I promise. And as I’ve said, there is some incredible LOTR music that no one has ever heard.”
It can get a bit confusing even to those of us who keep abreast of the subject so I’m going to be very methodical and touch on what’s already been relesed, what we know will be released in the future and what is new as of September 26…
Continue reading “Warner Brothers to release a LOTR soundtrack “Rarities Archive””
Message board member Beren sends this in: Hello!. I was contacted this weekend by Houghton Mifflin to do a chat session with Alan Lee on the 14th of October. As part of the celebration for the release of the Children of Hurin Paperback in the U.S., Alan will be doing three days of signing, and will come and chat with Tolkien fans on the 14th. Alan has agreed to make some sketches in copies of the paperback to give away. It would be great if people could send in some questions as well. For sure Alan knows stuff on the Hobbit movies that will be of interest to all Tolkien fans!
The chat will take place at Tolkienlibrary.com. Follow the “Discuss” link below to join the discussion on our message boards and get your question on the list, or email Beren at TolkienLibrary.com
Just this morning Sohaib Awan at Fictional Frontiers spoke to Howard Shore about his recent composition for Macy’s who are celebrating their 150th anniversary. During the interview, Howard had a few words to say about the Hobbit:
“Yes I am starting to work on the Hobbit. A lot of the group is coming back together to work on it. It’s really a wondrous occasion. It’s fantastic guide for me to be able to go back to Middle earth and create more music , ‘cause these films, the films, are placed before Fellowship of the Ring, so I have to go back into Middle earth a little earlier and pick up my writing, and write a piece that would grow and take you right into Fellowship of the Ring.”
According to a short video interview with Andy on ITN here, Andy Serkis is looking forward to reprising his role as Gollum:
Female Reporter: Was it very exhaustive being Gollum?
Andy: Yeah, yeah. It was physically very tiring. Physically and mentally and vocally. (laughs)
Male reporter: Being Smeagol, you being Smeagol as well – as an actor, that must be quite nice – to look like you, for once..
Andy: Well the fact of the matter is that I don’t know where they’re going to pick up the story – obviously Gollum in The Hobbit is Gollum – he has transformed into Gollum, so – but then there’s the prequel to The Rings as well, so we’ll have to see. It will be very, very interesting to see where the writing takes the development of the character. But I know they’ll come up with something very interesting.
We’re sure they will too, Andy.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has barred the estate of “Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien from seeking punitive damages against the studio that brought the trilogy to the big screen. Tolkien’s heirs claim New Line Cinema has failed to pay any royalties from the estimated $6 billion they say the movie has grossed worldwide. The lawsuit is seeking more than $150 million in compensatory damages based on breach of contract, fraud and other claims. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones also ruled this week that the estate and Tolkien heirs have established a legal basis for the fraud claim against New Line. As part of that allegation, the lawsuit claims New Line sent millions of dollars to Time Warner Inc.’s AOL, improperly claiming they were for advertising expenses. The lawsuit also claims the studio built production offices and facilities in New Zealand and listed them as expenses for the “Lord of the Rings” films, although the heirs claim they are now being used for other New Line projects. Continue reading “Court: No punitive damages in ‘LOTR’ suit”