HobbitEE_1400x2100_US Physical (i.e.: Blu-ray 3D and DVD) copies of the Extended Edition of the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey were supposed to go on sale in stores in the USA on November 5, with the UK follow on November 11.

But the journey from screen to store to the hands of fans has proved to be as challenging as Bilbo’s own adventure. Over the past couple of days, TORn has received numerous reports from perturbed fans via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.

Fans report that the Extended Edition is unavailable at Target in all forms, difficult to find at Best Buy and Barnes & Noble (where you might grab a Blu-ray copy, but are unlikely to find the DVD), and that Amazon is temporarily out of stock of the DVD and shipments are being delayed by one to three days.

What’s going on? Well, we have reached out to Warner Bros. to find out what’s happening, and provide some firm answers. In the meantime, read our complete report on the issues that fans have been experiencing trying to get their hands on a copy of the EE — and a couple of things you need to be wary of lest you end up with a version that contains less than you expected! Continue reading “Trouble getting a physical copy of The Hobbit Extended Edition? You’re not alone.”

lotrgollumlifesizeblrg2As we march closer to the Holiday shopping season, we need ideas as to what we may want to buy our loved ones. Well, our friends at Weta Workshop in their most recent newsletter have given us several ideas on what from Middle-earth we can get.

Two new items were unvelied in this group with a huge yet cool looking Gollum 1:1 statue and some beautiful Elven Earrings for only $75.

If you’ve been waiting on some good deals on previously released items you can get Balin’s Mace for $150 (only 10 available for this price), Dwalin’s Axes $199.50 (Only 5 available at this price), free shipping on The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings Art Prints, and The One Ring for $85. These deals are good while these limited supplies last or until November 17th whichever comes first.

You can get the full run down of all the fantastic items Weta has on special right now on their Christmas Specials Page.

Ed SheeranIn an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ed Sheeran talks about his experience down in New Zealand working with Peter Jackson on “I See Fire” for the end credits of The Desolation of Smaug.

“He [Peter Jackson] was fantastic. At every point where I’d be adding something, I’d play him the song afterwards. I was there for three days, and at the end of every day he would come and listen to the song and give me notes.

He knows what he wants, but he doesn’t pretend to be musical in any way. He let me go on with it, but he also knows his movie, so he would tell me something needs to be less energetic, or more relaxed, or whatever. He knows the colors and templates of what the song should be rather than how the melody should go.”

Read the entire interview over at EW.com.

Artwork for both the Standard and Special Edition of Howard Shore’s soundtrack for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has been out for a few days now. If you haven’t already caught it, have a look below!

Doug Adams on his website/blog has labelled the two “Burgundy” and “Dragon”, or if he’s just being descriptive. Not sure whether that means anything in particular. I do rather like the Cyan colour of the Special Edition, though.

Amazon is currently slating the SE for a December 10 release, with the Standard Edition expected the same day. Thanks to all those who write in with the news! Continue reading “Artwork for the Standard and Special Edition of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

300512id1_TheHobbit_TDOS_INTL_Tapestry_Keyart_7inH_x_38inW.inddThe LIVE world-wide Fan Event for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is happening today!

Eleven different cities will hook-up by satellite for the Live Event to celebrate the forthcoming release of The Desolation of Smaug. And fans can all watch the LIVE stream right here as it happens. Continue reading “Watch The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Live Event right here today!”

Part one of this spotlight on Evangeline Lilly and her character Tauriel was published yesterday. Click here to read it.


(Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.)
(Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.)
In the first part of this story, Evangeline Lilly discussed her childhood love for “The Hobbit,” and her decision-making process that led her to move her family to New Zealand and work with director Peter Jackson as a character not found in J.R.R. Tolkien’s 75-year-old classic. She plays an elf in the forest kingdom of Thranduil where his son Legolas also lives.

How does an actor differentiate her character in a set of films stuffed full with grand, immortal elves?

“Somebody asked me, ‘Did you study a lot of the other elves? The performances of the elves from Rings to do this role?’ I said distinctly ‘no.’ I intentionally didn’t re-watch the movies because I was afraid of trying to copy someone’s performance and I wanted it to be original.”

bg_jFUFB“All the other elves you’ve ever seen in these movies are at least twice my age, at least twice Tauriel’s age, so they are very wise and they’re very well established in their power and their understanding of the world. I’ve intentionally tried to demonstrate that she’s not there yet. She’s young, she’s only 600 years old and in elven terms, that is so young. She’s just a baby.”

Lilly is even playing some layers of the role in a way she wants those diehard fans to understand.

“I like the idea of playing with a young elf, how would they behave? How would they be different from the aged elves? And I hope that it doesn’t come across as wrong, you know what I mean? I hope it doesn’t come across to people who really know the world as she’s not quite got it down. Because that’s my goal, to not quite have it.

“She wants to be as wise, she wants to be as much of a presence as all of her elders but she’s not. She’s a kid and there’s a part of her that is always a little too excited about things or maybe a little too engaged in the world, the way kids can get. And I think that was something I wanted to tell the really diehard fans.

“I want them to know that she is young so that when they look at the performance and they look at the character they understand the context.” Continue reading “Evangeline Lilly explains the challenges of playing Tauriel in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’”