When Weta announced the Orthanc Pre-Ruin environment during Comic-Con 2011 they together with TORn it had a very special contest attached tothis announcement. Weta would be allowing the fans to submit suggestions with one of them becoming the official name to this truly amazing environment. Well, after many submissions Weta and TORn are pleased to announce the name and the Winners of the Orthanc Contest. The grand prize winner is Christopher Turner whose entry was Orthanc – Black Tower of Isengard. Mr. Turner’s prize is the awesome Bag End Collectors Edition while the two runners up Tom Barber and Chris Endicott both will receive a really cool Sauron T-Shirt. You can check out the full release of information from Weta here.
We are premiering a brand new t-shirt this year at DragonCon 2011! It is a Dwarven family reunion shirt that features a certain infamous dragon at a certain famous mountain location. The design was created by longtime staffer Asfaloth and truly captures what a dwarf family reunion shirt would look like. TheOneRing.net logo is centered on the front and it comes in two colors – Sport Grey and Serene Green! And best yet – they are only $15 a pop! For those of you going to DragonCon, we’ll be selling these shirts at our fan table. For those of you not going, we are selling them online right now. They will ship once we get back from the road trip – so give us a week or so. We’ve also got TheOneRing.net window stickers to share your Tolkien passion with other drivers. Check out the shirts and the stickers through the following link. [Support our Road-trip with T-Shirts and Stickers]
Today, in Sideshow Collectibles Production blog we finally get the full preview of the previously announced Arwen maquette fromThe Lord of the Rings maquette line. Arwen will come in with a price tag of $250 along with an Non-Refundable Deposit of $25 which will be charged 24-48 hours after the order has been placed for the exclusive and only after orders of 2 or more on the regular. The exclusive on this particular maquette will be a switch out portrait of Arwen wearing the Evenstar Pendant along with a slight scratch on her cheek. Arwen has an announced edition size of 500 pieces on the exclusive version so you will want to make sure to get your orders in quickly on this piece.
It was widely known when Peter Jackson was shooting the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy a decade ago that there would be more than one version of the films for home theaters. Fan club memberships were sold with a promise of founding members getting their names in credits of the extended editions. Those watching the films in theaters the last two weeks have seen that promise still fulfilled again on screen at the cineplex.
There was even discussion of eventual superior editions in high definition once the debate over HD DVD vs. Blu-ray was settled. The Extended Edition DVDs, with far superior extras, were a big hit on DVD and were released for marathon watching sessions in select cities on “Trilogy Tuesday”. (Check out these links for a window back into time. They provide historical context.)
On this episode of Hobbit in 5, we discuss Benedict Cumberbatch’s role in The Hobbit, the small explosion at Stone Street Studios in NZ, the cast and crew’s involvement in the Christchurch Earthquake Relief telethon (and wish Ian McKellen a very happy birthday), and give an excerpt from Larry Curtis’s article from movies.com. We also take a look at Nori in this week’s character study.
