It May not be Middle Earth – but Birmingham’s tourism bosses are hoping to cash in on Hobbit-mania with a new attraction devoted to author JRR Tolkien. Interest in the fantasy writer, who was raised in the city between 1895 and 1911, is expected to soar when the film version of his famous book hits cinema screens later this year. Scenery and architecture from Birmingham was reflected in his stories, most notably Perrott’s Folly and Edgbaston Waterworks, which are thought to be The Two Towers from Lord of the Rings.
But Birmingham has previously been accused of not making the most of its Tolkien links. Now a new gallery has opened at Sarehole Mill in Hall Green highlighting the author’s strong ties with the city with a series of displays and a short film. And a new tourism strategy hopes to build on the attraction with more publicity, a dedicated website, bids for heritage funding and conservation of Tolkien-related sites and buildings. Read More …
Our friends at Houghton Mifflin alerted us that they will be publishing the U.S. books from The Hobbit films. The entire press release follows:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to be U.S. Publisher of Official Tie-ins to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again Films
New York – April 13, 2012 – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has acquired U.S. publishing rights from HarperCollins UK, through a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, for tie-in books to the two highly anticipated films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, directed by Peter Jackson and productions of New Line Cinema and MGM.
“Inspired by the two films based on The Hobbit, the companion books are a fantastic way for fans of the world of Middle-earth to immerse themselves in the film experience,” said Karen McTier, Executive Vice President of Domestic Licensing and Worldwide Marketing for Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has a strong history with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and we know that the detailed tie-in books will bring The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again to life in an in-depth and imaginative way.” Continue reading “Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to publish U.S. ‘Hobbit’ tie-in books”
London, 13 April 2012: HarperCollinsPublishers has acquired exclusive worldwide publishing rights from Warner Bros. Consumer Products for tie-in books to the two highly anticipated films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, directed by Peter Jackson and productions of New Line Cinema and MGM.
“Inspired by the two films based on The Hobbit, the HarperCollins companion books are a fantastic way for fans of the world of Middle-earth to immerse themselves in the film experience,” said Karen McTier, Executive Vice President of Domestic Licensing and Worldwide Marketing for Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “HarperCollins has a strong history with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and we know that the detailed tie-in books will bring The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again to life in an in-depth and imaginative way.”
TheOneRing.net is pleased to announce it is headed to an embedded set visit in Wellington, New Zealand during the filming of “The Hobbit: There And Back Again,”. The site and writer Larry D. Curtis accepted the invitation from Warner Bros. and Wingnut Films. The production is currently filming the second of the two films in studio, so all of the content from the visit will reach audiences in 2013, after this year’s release (December 14) of the first of the pair of films, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”
The films are a two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” celebrating its 75th year of publication in 2012. Peter Jackson is directing the films after helming a three-part adaptation of Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” book that appeared in print 17 years after “The Hobbit.” Jackson scripted the films with his writing team of Phillipa Boyens and Fran Walsh with the addition of one-time-director Guillermo del Toro. Fans will remember the many agonizing delays before the film’s start that eventually forced del Toro to bow out.
Curtis, reporting from the film set, is part of TORn’s Senior Staff, a writer and photographer known to the TORn community at MrCere. He has contributed to TheOneRing.net for more than a decade in a variety of roles. In December he visited and toured New Zealand including an exclusive report from the Hobbiton Movie Set after being granted permission to publish impressions and photos from the site, rebuilt for “The Hobbit.” The location can be visited as a fully dressed film set accessible to by tour. The first block of filming on “The Hobbit,” included production from the site, set on a working livestock farm near Matamata, New Zealand. Continue reading “TheOneRing.net headed for embed on Hobbit set”
2012 will be a watermark year for the movie business but this week looks a lot like the 1990s and presented some problems for TheOneRing.net’s Film Friday. I didn’t want to watch “Titanic,” or “American Reunion,” which are likely this week’s biggest new releases. In each case, I feel like I have been there before.
I have been much more interested this week in a discussion with some Facebook friends about which films will rule the 2012 box office numbers. “The Hunger Games,” is proving to be a powerful financial force. Some of these friends are fans of “The Hobbit,” but don’t think the film can win the finally tally for the year’s biggest moneymaker. I disagree. (Oh and while we are talking about the film, any media member who writes that it is a prequel is lazy, inaccurate and deserves a gentle kick in the shins. The story stands alone, came first and is so much more than just a lead-up to LOTR.)
While studios care deeply about the financial returns, fans are a lot more interested in art and a thrill at the movies. Still, there is some fun in watching the box office derby and it seems like a dozen websites have sprung up devoted to doing just that.
The results are in! After many weeks of intense competition we can finally crown a winner! In the end, Samwise Gamgee, a sturdy and faithful Hobbit from The Shire takes the prize in our first annual Middle-earth March Madness!
Sam defeated his worthy opponent Aragorn with 65% of the votes!
We’d like to thank you all for participating in this year’s event, and look forward to next year’s competition in which we will institute a few of the changes that you have suggested in comments/facebook posts, etc. For a review of each round, click on the following links: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Final Four , Championship
It May not be Middle Earth – but Birmingham’s tourism bosses are hoping to cash in on Hobbit-mania with a new attraction devoted to author JRR Tolkien. Interest in the fantasy writer, who was raised in the city between 1895 and 1911, is expected to soar when the film version of his famous book hits cinema screens later this year. Scenery and architecture from Birmingham was reflected in his stories, most notably Perrott’s Folly and Edgbaston Waterworks, which are thought to be The Two Towers from Lord of the Rings.
