Nellie Andreeva writes: Sean Astin, Leelee Sobieski and Timothy Dalton are set and Angie Harmon is in negotiations to star in NBC’s four-hour miniseries “Hercules,” from Hallmark Entertainment.
British newcomer Paul Tefter has been selected from more than 200 candidates to play the title role in the project, which chronicles the life of the Greek hero who, after killing his two sons and two of his brother’s sons, performs 12 labors to repent.
Astin will play Linus, Hercules’ music teacher. Sobieski will play Hercules’ second wife, Deianeira. Harmon will play Hercules’ mother, Alcmene, and Dalton will play the hero’s stepfather, Amphitryon.
Roger Young is directing the mini, budgeted at more than $20 million, from a script by Charles Pogue.
“Hercules,” executive produced by Robert Halmi Sr., is scheduled to begin production Aug. 23 in New Zealand with the premiere eyed for May 2005.
While Tefler has an imposing physique, at 6-foot-2, the project will not follow the Hollywood formula of portraying Hercules as a Schwarzenegger-type muscle man with incredible physical strength.
“His strength comes within,” Halmi said. “He grows strong emotionally, mentally and spiritually as he tries to redeem himself.”
Astin, who played Frodo’s best friend Sam Gamgee in “The Lord of Rings” trilogy, recently wrapped the feature “Caught in the Act” and will next be seen in “Elvis Has Left the Building” and “Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School.”
He is repped by Writers & Artists Group International, manager Joel Stevens and attorney David Feldman.
Sobieski, whose credits include starring roles in the miniseries “Joan of Arc” for CBS and “Uprising” for NBC, is repped by ICM and manager Joan Hyler.
Harmon, a “Law & Order” veteran, most recently co-starred in the feature “Agent Cody Banks.” She is repped by UTA.
Dalton, who has a long relationship with Halmi, most recently starred as Julius Caesar in Hallmark’s 1999 telefilm for ABC “Cleopatra.”
Dalton, best known for his role as James Bond in “The Living Daylights” and “License to Kill,” was most recently seen in the features “Looney Tunes: Back in Action” and “American Outlaws.”
Telfer is not a stranger to ancient times. He had roles on TNT’s miniseries “Spartacus” and the upcoming indie “Alexander the Great From Macedonia.”
In addition to “Hercules,” Halmi is shepherding two other high-profile longform projects to air on broadcast networks next season, “A Christmas Carol” for NBC and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” for CBS.
22 September 2004 Royal Albert Hall selling out (very limited number of seats still available; Gallery standing now on sale @ £12)
DUE TO OVERWHELMING DEMAND
Columbia Artists Management ANNOUNCES A SECOND DATE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL 23 SEPTEMBER at 7.30pm in six movements for soloists, chorus and orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra & London Voices Sissel, vocals. Howard Shore, composer & conductor
Howard Shore’s evocative music for Peter Jackson’s multi-award winning film, already greeted with a unanimous standing ovation by a sell-out Royal Festival Hall audience in May, returns to London, not once – but now twice – to meet public demand. Columbia Artists Management announces today a second Royal Albert Hall concert to join 22 September (Bilbo and Frodo’s joint birthdays). The party is now set to continue the very next day, Thursday 23 September.
The Royal Albert Hall will resound with the folk-inspired music of the Shire, the nostalgically melancholic music of the elves, Arwen and Galadriel, the rousing music of the Helm’s Deep, Gondor and Minis Tirith, and the demonic music of the Balrog, Nazgul, Mordor and the Dark Lord, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra once again joined by composer/conductor Howard Shore to recreate the epic story of the battle for the heart and soul of Middle Earth.
One of the most eagerly-awaited, stupendously-acclaimed and, now, richly-awarded cinematic events of all time (both in middle-earth and this earth), The Lord of the Rings lives on in the powerful score composed by Howard Shore. Among the extraordinary 33 Oscars, Baftas and Golden Globes, Shore has five to his name – Academy Awards for Best Score for Fellowship of the Ring and both Academy Awards and Golden Globes for not only Best Score but also Best Song for The Return of the King. In addition Shore won two Grammy Awards (Best Original Soundtrack for The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers).
Having composed twelve hours of music for the trilogy (in both its theatrical release and extended DVD versions), Howard Shore returns to London to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Voices and Norwegian vocalist Sissel in The Lord of the Rings Symphony. The performance will be held in the recently refurbished Victorian majesty of the Royal Albert Hall. Shore’s Symphony was premièred in Wellington, New Zealand as part of the celebrations for the opening of The Return of the King in December 2003. Subsequently performed in United States, Canada, Europe, Taiwan, and Australia, its Royal Festival Hall performance on Sunday 23 May sold out immediately and now the Royal Albert Hall concerts will be its only UK performances next season. 22 September, serendipitously, coincides with Bilbo’s and Frodo’s birthdays.
Follow, once again, the intrepid fellowship of nine as they collectively, and individually, battle against the evil of Sauron and try to protect the ring-bearer, the hobbit Frodo, as he carries the burden of “the one ring to rule them all” to Mordor’s Mount Doom. Shore’s score was an integral part of Peter Jackson’s overall design, and the beauty of Rivendell and the elves is as evocatively caught in sound as it is in images; the battle scenes are as memorable for their pounding ferocity as the sight of thousands of orcs, oliphants or the Nazgul.
The performance will be accompanied by projected images from artists Alan Lee and John Howe, whose drawings inspired Peter Jackson and his team. Together with Shore’s soaring music, they bring a touch of Middle Earth to the Royal Albert Hall, from the mystery of the mines of Moria to the grandeur of Minis Tirith; from the beauty of Rivendell to the horror of Helm’s Deep; and the two towers themselves, Saruman’s Isengard and Sauron’s Barad-dûr in Mordor. Remind yourselves of the host of wonderful characters evoked by the stunning score – Gollum, Treebeard, Merry, Pippin, Arwen, Eowyn, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Boromir and Faramir.
The promoters regret that there are no concessions for hobbits, elves, orcs, goblins, dwarves, ring wraiths or, indeed, any wannabe Lords of the Ring!
manicjaguar writes: Wonderful site as usual….Just thought I’d let you know about an article in the September 2004 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly. It has the rpg game LOTR: The Third Age on the cover, and inside is a good article about the game. What’s of note is several quotes from the games Executive Producer, Steve Gray. Here’s some excerpts.
(EGM)But even when the final product hits the shelves in November, only New Line and EA will know which plot elements were created from scratch and which are based on actual footage Peter Jackson shot but still hasn’t seen the light of day. “They’re really protective of that footage,” Gray says, “because obviously, they want to make the extended (italics EGM) extended versions someday–in a trilogy box set or whatever. They want to keep the franchise alive for years to come.”………..Thousands of movie production photos line the walls, and hours of footage from the films–some of it not even included in the special extended editions–fill artists’ hard drives.
There’s more, but I thought you’d enjoy that, didn’t know if its been submitted or not though.
Aegis of Pyros writes: I’ve done the best I can and will be the 1st on the net to bring this to you.
Quote:
GANDALF: “Come down Saruman and your life will be spared!”
SARUMAN: “Save your pity and your mercy, I have no use for it!”
PJ: “You, we always thought Return of thhe king was short, so it depends on what you want in it. So naturally we had to cut some things, but we put 50 minutes back in. The 50 minutes of extra footage basically equaits to how…[SCREAMS]…because in those 50 exra minutes, there’s something like 350 extra visual effects shots. Along side the movie itself is obviously our apendecies; our documenteries on the making of the film, and they to come to a conclusion, and they chat about the ending.”
RP: “Just like in Return of the King, there is a conclusion to what happens in the fellowship, and in this extended copy is basically the conclusion to our work and progress with these films.”
PJ: “The documenteries and apendecies of these extended cuts, theres a struggle with maintaining the qualtiy with what we’ve done in the previous films. We want our movies to be good, we want our documenteries to be good, and to just be able to share with you what we went through making these films.”
(Sorry the part with Billy was completely screamed out. Something about either Casts or Cats, and New Zeland)
EW: “It was an amazing experience we had, and its so close to my heart, so the fans, you know, and all of us can allow the films and the experience to live on in these DVD’s.”
SAM: “Mr Frodo, there’s light, beauty up there that shadow can’t toutch.”
MERRY: “I know it’s too late to do anything. I know there was not much point in coming, too. I’m a hobbit, and I know I cant save Middle Earth. I just want to help my friends, more than anything. I wish I could it, the end.”
{THE CONCLUSION OF THE AWARD WINNING TRILOGY}
{50 MINUTES OF NEVER BEFORE SEEN FOOTAGE}
{MORE THAN 20 HOURS OF ALL-NEW MATERIAL}
GANDALF: “Go back to the Abyss! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master!” WITCHKING: “This is my hour!”
Severine800 received this interesting bit of news in his/her email today:
The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook celebrates selling over 200,000 copies with the August 6th publication of the Extended Edition by Ian Brodie
As you have purchased previous editions of the guide from us we are giving you the opportunity to purchase a personally author-signed copy of the extended edition now before it reaches overseas bookstores this November.
This definitive full-colour The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook, by Ian Brodie, showcases the principal movie set locations around New Zealand as seen in all three films.
This new book contains all of the features of the popular first and second editions, but has been revised into a larger coffee table size to accommodate the many requests from readers of the first two books.
With the increased image size the book is now a beautifully presented collection of images of New Zealand and the movie images and locations, ideal for tourists and as a gift for overseas friends and family.
The popularity of the first two editions has turned Wanaka author Ian Brodie’s brainchild into a publishing phenomenon, with more than 200,000 copies of the book sold since the first edition was published in November 2002.
Ian’s life has also undergone a dramatic change; he has become Air New Zealand’s Ambassador to Middle-earth, and a key spokesperson for Tourism New Zealand, who have flown him to major international tourism conferences to speak about New Zealand as Middle-earth. He featured as a red carpet presenter for TV3 during the premiere of the final movie, and has been interviewed by print, radio and television media from all around the world since the book’s international release at the end of last year. He has also been nominated for a premiere tourism award and a Booksellers’ Choice award, both to be announced in July 2004. Six of his location images are being released as stamps by NZ Post to coincide with the new book, and Ian and his son have featured as extras in the final movie, The Return of the King.
Background on the book
Since the first screening of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, New Zealand has become the embodiment of Middle-earth to millions of moviegoers and Tolkien readers the world over. The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook Extended Edition is the perfect reference book for everyone enchanted by the beauty of the locations in the movie trilogy. It contains valuable background information and exclusive anecdotes about the filming, with sections written specially by Peter Jackson, Alan Lee, Richard Taylor and Barrie Osborne, plus contributions from the cast and crew. In addition, the book includes:
Exclusive movie and location photographs, maps and location directions, GPS references to location sites, touring information for travellers, and useful internet addresses.
About the author
Ian Brodie, Director of the NZ Fighter Pilots Museum in Wanaka, was already a published author before he came to HarperCollins, with eight titles on aviation related topics to his credit. He first read The Lord of the Rings when he was 14 and since then have been totally entranced with the works of JRR Tolkien. A keen traveller and photographer since the age of seventeen, Ian now lives and works in Wanaka with his wife and two teenaged children.
The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook Extended Edition Launch Date: Friday 6 August Recommended Retail Price: $39.99
Lots of exciting news over at the Fellowship Festival-front. Today a new guest was added to the already impressive line-up: none other than Bernard Hill (Theoden)! This will his first ever fan convention!
Bernard Hill will be attending all three days, an hourly question and answer session in the ‘Hall of Fire’ every day, meeting fans in the one2one sessions as well as attending ‘The Fellowship Feast’, an exclusive dinner for the attending cast & crew and 90 fans.
So far the Fellowship Festival has signed 14 guests for their event, with more interesting announcements to come soon!
In the meantime, TheOneRing.net is proud to team up with the Fellowship Festival to be one of the judges for the ‘New Film Makers Competition’. This is an amazing opportunity to show us what budding filmmakers you all are. Your Quest: produce a film no more than 2 minutes long parodying a scene from The Lord of The Rings films. Guidelines and more can be read here!
And last but not least: stay tuned for your chance to win a pair of Silver 3-day passes for the event (worth £150 each)!
