TORn Staffer Anwyn writes in response to an increasing number of e-mails from LoTR fans awaiting the release of the People’s Guide:
For anybody waiting with bated breath for the release of TORn’s book, The People’s Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Tehanu, written by Tehanu, Quickbeam, Anwyn, Turgon, and Ostadan, your wait will not be much longer. We don’t have an exact date, but we expect the book to be shipping from Amazon and other sources within just a few weeks.
And if you just can’t wait for your copy to ship from Amazon, or even if you can, don’t forget that Tehanu, Quickbeam, Anwyn and Ostadan will appear at the L.A. Times Festival of Books this coming weekend, April 26-27, at UCLA! We will have copies of the books available for sale and signing, will be answering trivia questions, and lots of fun things.
In addition we will also have TORn T-shirts, including Two Towers, One Party T-shirts, and other Tolkien-related stuff. If you’re in the L.A. area, we’d love to meet you!
Ian Holm (Bilbo) is working on the latest Roland Emmerich (Godzilla, Independence Day, Stargate) film ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. The film follows a climatologist who tries to figure out a way to save the world from abrupt global warming. He must get to his young son in New York, which is being taken over by a new ice age. The film is being shot in a number of places including Los Angeles, Washington, El Paso, Montréal, New York City, and Toronto.
Ian Holm (Bilbo) is also working on another film called ‘Large’s Ark’, also staring Natalie Portman and Zach Braff (‘J.D.’ from the hit TV series “Scrubs”). The drama revolves around the story of a young man who returns back home for his mom’s funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.
Marton Csokas (Celeborn) stars as ‘Redding’ in the John Dahl (Rounders) flick ‘The Great Raid’. The film also stars Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes, and James Franco. This film is currently in Post-production.
Hugo Weaving (Elrond) is currently filming ‘Peaches’ in Australia (where one of intrepid spies recently caught up with him). The drama is being helmed by Craig Monahan (from 1998’s ‘The Interview’)
David Wenham (Faramir) plays ‘Spitieri’ in the comedy/crima drama ‘Gettin’ Square’. Set and filmed in Australia, the film also stars Sam Worthington, Gary Sweet, Freya Stafford, and the great Timothy Spall
Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) stars as ‘Maggie Gilkeson’ in the Ron Howard drama ‘The Missing’. The film also stars Tommy Lee Jones and Val Kilmer. Look for that to be released in early 2004.
And finaly John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) stars as ‘Porthos’ in the mini-series ‘La Femme Musketeer’. The show also stars Gérard Depardieu, Michael York, and Nastassja Kinski. It is being directed by the same mastermind of ‘Timecop 2’ and ‘Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice’, Steve Boyum.
I work in a small independent rental video retailer, and was quite pleased upon arriving at work today to find we had received an official release date for The Two Towers! This came in the form of a CD-ROM “Digital Announce Kit” which contains everything from upcoming TV & radio promos, ad slicks and product images (including packaging art and DVD menu images), to computer wallpaper and icons, as well as two “countdown” screensavers. It also had a hi-res poster scan, very clever interactive menus “hosted” by Gollum featuring a 3 minute retailer trailer outlining the upcoming Merchandising Campaign, and most importantly, all of the pre-order and release date information. Release date for the Theatrical Edition will be August 26th, and the Extended Edition will be November 18th. I have uploaded a few of the images for your perusal. Enjoy!
UPDATE!
Ringer Spy Sylvan sent in this EXCLUSIVE! selection of fantastic high-resolution wallpapers for the Two Towers theatrical DVD release – as well as the DVD and VHS artwork! You’ll get a sneak peak at our as-yet unannounced new and improved Scrapbook as well! [More]
Bonus! Ringer Spy Sparrks sent in these fabulous top-quality menu screencaps from the theatrical DVD of the Two Towers…. even [More!]
UPDATE II!!
Also courtesy of Ringer Spy Sylvan, we got our paws on this 30-second TV spot that will be promoting the theatrical DVD release. It’s encoded in Quicktime, so take a look! [More]
Correction: Insider sources tell us, ‘that the 30 sec. TV spot listed on your site isn’t made for TV. It was created only for the CD-ROM.’ Thanks for the note!
One of our newest Barliman’s Chatroom Operators dropped us this: If you wish to see our ever cheery, ever brave master dwarf, John Rhys Davies will appear tommorrow night in the miniseries “Helen of Troy” as King Priam. It starts at 8:00 pm EST/7:00 CT on the USA Network, with part two airing Monday. You can catch the making of the series tommorrow at Noon also.
Here is a link to the character gallery in which you may see John Rhys Davies in full Kingly Garb: [More]
This weekend, Hall of Fire focuses on one of Tolkien’s more mysterious creations – the Druedain. If you’re somewhat mystified as to who these people are, the name Ghan Buri Ghan (from Return of the King) may ring a few bells.
Just what was Tolkien’s inspiration for the creation of this “unlovely” and secretive people? A forest people with no writing system and “guttural languange”, they seem uniquely placed among the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. Tolkien was at pains to point out that – despite their primitive nature – they were not a breed of orcs or had ever been corrupted by the Dark Lord – Morgoth. In fact, they seem more akin to hobbits or dwarves than other human tribes.
You might also not have known that the Druedain were one of the tribes of Edain that they went to Numenor at the end of the First Age! But how did did they get to Druadan Forest? And what is their connection with the strange Pukel statues of Dunharrow?
Join us at one of our chats this weekend as we investigate one of Tolkien’s most intriguing enigmas.
Suggested Reading: Unfinished Tales – The Druedain RoTK – The Passing of the Grey Company RoTK – The Muster of Rohan RoTK – The Ride of the Rohirrim
Upcoming Chats:
April 26/27 Ents, Entwives and all things Treeish Not entirely sure what this will involve yet, but expect lots of book talk … old forest, origons and fate of the ents and entwives, rumours of trees wandering the moors and what the heck are huorns?
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Times:
Saturday Chat: 5:30pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe AET = Australian East Coast
Having trouble working out a time zone near you? Try this page.
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net. And don’t forget that you can check out previous chats here.
Ian Holm (Bilbo) is working on the latest Roland Emmerich (Godzilla, Independence Day, Stargate) film ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. The film follows a climatologist who tries to figure out a way to save the world from abrupt global warming. He must get to his young son in New York, which is being taken over by a new ice age. The film is being shot in a number of places including Los Angeles, Washington, El Paso, Montréal, New York City, and Toronto.
Marton Csokas (Celeborn) stars as ‘Redding’ in the John Dahl (Rounders) flick ‘The Great Raid’. The film also stars Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes, and James Franco. This film is currently in Post-production.
Hugo Weaving (Elrond) is currently filming ‘Peaches’ in Australia (where one of intrepid spies recently caught up with him). The drama is being helmed by Craig Monahan (from 1998’s ‘The Interview’)
David Wenham (Faramir) plays ‘Spitieri’ in the comedy/crima drama ‘Gettin’ Square’. Set and filmed in Australia, the film also stars Sam Worthington, Gary Sweet, Freya Stafford, and the great Timothy Spall
Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) stars as ‘Maggie Gilkeson’ in the Ron Howard drama ‘The Missing’. The film also stars Tommy Lee Jones and Val Kilmer. Look for that to be released in early 2004.
And finaly John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) stars as ‘Porthos’ in the mini-series ‘La Femme Musketeer’. The show also stars Gérard Depardieu, Michael York, and Nastassja Kinski. It is being directed by the same mastermind of ‘Timecop 2’ and ‘Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice’, Steve Boyum. 
