TheOneRing.net reported here at the end of January that Guillermo del Toro was 99 percent sure to direct “The Hobbit”. Since then the Tolkien Estate filed a lawsuit against New Line Cinema (a copy of which can be found here) and the movie studio has been folded up and put in the pocket of its owner Warner Bros. and its bigger parent Time Warner Inc.
After all the speculation and angst, the director of two “Hellboy” films (the second set for a July 11 release) still seems to be the top choice for director and despite the legal uncertainty, the quiet movements by the key players seem to suggest the film will still be made and sooner rather than later. So in this season of waiting, TORn was finally able to contact the fan-friendly director.
Continue reading “Guillermo del Toro reaches out to TORn”
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Our friends from The Tolkien Society send along a call for papers and news about their latest seminar:
The theme for this year’s seminar is “Freedom, Fate and Choice in the Middle-earth writings of J. R. R. Tolkien”. Papers are sought on a wide range of topics related to this theme, including concepts such as free will and doom. The Middle-earth material ranges from The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin through the twelve volumes of the History of Middle-earth and Tolkien’s Letters to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
For complete details and how to submit your paper, please visit the official Tolkien Society website. [Tolkien Society]
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Ringer Forum Member Diedye points us to this intriguing news today from the UK:
A rare collection of books and artefacts will be open to the public for the first time after a £5million donation was made to the famous Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
Original manuscripts from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein will be among a number of national treasures put on display in a new exhibition hall.
The donation by Julian Blackwell, president of the Blackwell’s academic bookshop chain, is the largest yet made to a university library in the UK.
Add that to your tour plans when visiting Oxford! [Read the Full Story] [Bodleian Library Homepage]
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Susanne lets us in on a documentary ‘The Worlds of Fantasy’ airing on BBC4 in the UK. “The Worlds of Fantasy: Documentary series about fantasy fiction tells how, in the 1950s, JRR Tolkien and Mervyn Peake created texts that revolutionised and popularised the genre.”
Susanne continues: Great programme half of which is about Tolkein and other about Mervyn Peake. Watchers in the UK can access this via the BBC website for the next 6 days. Not sure if you can access it elsewhere but this the link. Very good interviews with other authors acknowledging their debt to Tolkein, TV footage of the Professor and comments from Tom Shipley and other Tolkein experts. Hope at least some Ringers can access this. Keep the good work and fingers crossed for the Hobbit! [Watch the Episode (UK Only)]
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Jan writes: If you have a section called Upcoming and recent events, you most likely have readers in and around Albany, NY, I wonder if I might impose and have you run
the following: Tuesday, 1 April at 6:30 PM in the William K Sanford Library, Colonie, NY there will be a panel discussion on The Worlds of Tolkien. Contact: +1-518-456-5242;
jfinder@nycap.rr.com.
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Message Board member ‘And Back Again’ pointed us to the following story at Times Online:
A rare first edition of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien is expected to raise £30,000 at auction. The last photograph of Tolkien is also being auctioned at Bonhams, London, on March 18. It was taken in 1973 by his grandson Michael in the Botanic Garden, Oxford, and shows him standing beside his favourite tree. A note on the back written by Priscilla, his daughter, says: “For Elaine with love from Priscilla.” The book is also dedicated to Elaine Griffiths, the friend who urged him to have The Hobbit published. Other lots include illustrations by Tolkien and a copy of Farmer Giles of Ham.
Read the full story at Times Online. [Read More]
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