The future of one of Tolkien’s Two Towers, which inspired the famous book, is hanging in the balence.
While thousands of Brummies flock to see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at the cinema, conservationists and trustees are battling to save its inspiration – Perrotts Folly.
The tower, based in Waterworks Road, Edgebaston, is in desperate need of repair which, trustees fear, could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. But members of the Perrotts Folly Charitable Trust are hoping that, with the help of the public, the future of the red brick, 18th century landmark can be secured. The tower, which has recently been placed on English Heritage’s ‘Buildings at Risk’ register, is one of a pair, which are thought to be the main inspiration for JRR Tolkien’s Two Towers. The second film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was released in December and it is hoped that it will prompt members of the public to get together and help save the original.
Alderman Dennis Minnis, a trustee of the group, said: “There are cracks in the brick work which do need repairing and currently we are organising a feasibility study which is being funded by Birmingham Conservation Trust.
“This will show how much work needs to be done, how much it will cost and how the building can be used in the future. Although the repairs could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, we are optimistic that with the trustees’ enthusiasm and the public’s help we can save what is such an important piece of history.”
The conservation trust’s administrator, Elizabeth Perkins, added: “The results of the feasibility study won’t be known for some time but there is no doubt that people feel very strongly about the tower, so I too hope the public will get behind saving it.”
If you would like to help you can contact Mr Minnis on +44 121 454 4152.
We finally have some footage from The Two Towers Los Angeles Premiere that was held on December 15th at the Arclight Cinerama Dome. Sorry, it took so long to put something together – but Christmas, ya know.
We have a selection of interviews from the red carpet by that Hasty Ent, Quickbeam, and his noble steed Asfaloth. Normally I, (I being Asfaloth) edit our interviews quite a bit and just leave the choice parts. But this time I was looking at them and figured that since we are the ULTIMATE Tolkien site for fans, let’s just post as much of the interviews as possible.
In this piece we have a great interview with the Dark Lord himself, Sala Baker. Then Billy Boyd waves at Loons, talks to fans on the phone and discusses Pippin’s character development. And entertaining six minutes and forty-two seconds, if ya ask me.
You’ll see tantalizing glimpses of Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Bernard Hill, Brad Dourif, Andy Serkis and Miranda Otto in the background. Don’t worry! We have great interviews with Dom, Miranda, Brad, Andy, Bernard Hill, Karl Urban, John Rhys-Davies, Producer Barrie Osborne and Oscar winning special effects wizard, Jim Rygiel. We spoke to Viggo Mortensen on the red carpet and he took Quickbeam’s photo during the interview!
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to speak to Elijah on the red carpet. We did get to party with him at the after party, but that wasn’t on camera. (The best things in life never are…)The after party is a story for our next installment from The Two Towers LA Premiere!
As Saruman the fallen wizard sends his hordes to assail the lands of Rohan, King Théoden calls all his people together to take shelter in the fortress of Helm’s Deep. Built across the mouth of a high-walled valley at the base of the White Mountains, the fortress consists of the tall Hornburg tower, a wide keep with room for the entire army of Edoras, and the long, arcing Deeping Wall with it’s stone battlements. Properly provisioned, the nation of Rohan could shelter indefinitely in Helm’s Deep from even a very large host, but never have they faced an assault such as that which Saruman had prepared.
This spectacular box set consists of a three-piece resin set of the massive gateway of Helm’s Deep, hand-painted and ready for use. Constructed in scale for the models of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, it will be the centerpiece of many of the scenarios for the game as well as countless others players will create on their own.
The piece is $75.00 US and can be found here. This is a limited piece and will sell out fast, so if you want one get it soon!
The new year is ringing in much the same way as the old one — with a “Lord of the Rings” movie atop the box office and showing no signs of budging. New Line’s second installment in the action-fantasy trilogy is likely to three-peat this weekend, with no other wide releases set to unspool. “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” towered over competish last weekend with $48.9 million in B.O. compared with $30.1 mil for runner-up “Catch Me if You Can” from DreamWorks.
December 2001 opener and franchise original “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings” managed to top the B.O. heap four times, well into January 2002. “Fellowship” was finally displaced by Sony/Revolution’s platforming “Black Hawk Down.”
“Two Towers” could well match its predecessor’s winning streak. But it’s tough to say whether “Towers” ultimately will be overrun by a new wide opener or by a limited release reaching wide distribution — something that’s particularly common in awards season.
To date, “Towers” has rung up 28% more biz than “Fellowship” in a comparable span of time. And New Line execs say it appears a lock to do at least 10% more than the $860 million in worldwide B.O. rung up overall by “Fellowship.”
Just on the face of it, that would be quite an accomplishment. But the sequel’s B.O. surge is even more impressive when one considers that Warner Bros. now projects its “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” to underperform franchise original “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by about 10%.
One notable difference between the franchises is a greater continuity among the “Rings” projects, and that’s translated into a lower must-see quotient for the new “Potter” pic.
“Towers” and “Fellowship” share a narrative thread — along with next year’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” — because they are based on books written as a literary trilogy. “Harry Potter” pics are based on individual children’s books that have characters in common but only incidental narrative connection.
” ‘Potter’ is a marathon for Warners, not a sprint, because they plan to release seven ‘Potter’ pictures in all and have to sustain a continuing momentum,” observed David Davis, senior veep and B.O. analyst at Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin. “With ‘Rings,’ New Line knows that as well as they’re doing with ‘Two Towers,’ the next picture will do even better because it’s the final one in the trilogy.”
School’s out
Moviegoing is expected to remain robust through the coming weekend, as most kids won’t head back to school from holiday breaks until at least Monday. That should help both “Towers” and “Chamber,” along with midpackers such as Miramax’s “Gangs of New York” and Paramount’s “The Wild Thornberrys,” which will be looking to sustain decent coin in a rare weekend free from newly bowing competish.
Twentieth Century Fox’s Denzel Washington vehicle “Antwone Fisher” had been set to cruise into wide release this sesh. But the platforming pic’s next expansion was recently postponed until Jan. 10.
“We wanted to give it more time to build,” Fox distrib prexy Bruce Snyder said.
Towering cume
“Two Towers” has collected north of $200 million domestically and $400 million worldwide so far. Pricey tentpole got a day-and-date bow in the U.S. and many foreign territories on Dec. 18 but has yet to bow in Italy or Japan (where it’s set to unspool in mid-January and February, respectively).
“Our goal is to be the No. 2 film of all time after ‘Titanic,’ and so far it looks like we’re on track,” said Rolf Mittweg, worldwide marketing and distrib prexy at New Line. “But from here on, it’s all about longevity.”
Lofty aspiration means “Towers” will have to gross more than the $986 mil in worldwide B.O. rung up by the first “Harry Potter,” or 15% better than the first “Rings” pic.
“Indications are that we should be between 10% and 15% higher than (‘Fellowship’),” Mittweg estimated.
Golden Globe or Oscar wins could prove important to pic’s further success, he said. But Mittweg added that there’s little chance of “Towers” sustaining its current torrid pace in any event.
If “Towers” were to continue to outpace “Fellowship” by 28%, the sequel would see a total $1.1 billion in worldwide coin.
Pippin’s Scarf writes: TTT was nominated for 12 Online Film Critics Awards, including Andy Serkis as Best Supporting Actor.
Best Picture
Adaptation Bowling for Columbine Far From Heaven The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Minority Report
Best Director
Spike Jonze “Adaptation” Todd Haynes “Far from Heaven” Martin Scorsese “Gangs of New York” Peter Jackson “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” Steven Spielberg “Minority Report”
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin “13 Conversations About One Thing” Chris Cooper “Adaptation” Paul Newman “Road to Perdition” Dennis Quaid “Far from Heaven” Andy Serkis “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
Best Ensemble
8 Women Adaptation Chicago Gangs of New York The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Best Adapted Screenplay
About Schmidt (Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor) Adaptation (Charlie Kaufman & Donald Kaufman) Catch Me If You Can (Jeff Nathanson) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair & Peter Jackson) Minority Report (Scott Frank & Jon Cohen)
Best Cinematography
Far From Heaven (Edward Lachman) Gangs of New York (Michael Ballhaus) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Andrew Lesnie) Minority Report (Janusz Kaminski) Road to Perdition (Conrad L. Hall)
Best Original Score
Catch Me If You Can (John Williams) Far From Heaven (Elmer Bernstein) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Howard Shore) Punch-Drunk Love (Jon Brion) Signs (James Newton Howard)
Best Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (John Richardson) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Jim Rygiel) Minority Report (Michael Lantieri) Spider-Man (Danny Cangemi, John Frazier & John Dykstra) Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (David Young)
Best Art Direction
Far From Heaven Gangs of New York The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Minority Report Road to Perdition
Best Costume Design
8 Women (Pascaline Chavanne) Chicago (Colleen Atwood) Far From Heaven (Sandy Powell) Gangs of New York (Sandy Powell) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Ngila Dickson & Richard Taylor)
Best Film Editing
Adaptation (Eric Zumbrunnen) Chicago (Martin Walsh) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (D. Michael Horton & Jabez Olssen) Minority Report (Michael Kahn) Panic Room (James Haygood & Angus Wall)
Best Sound
Gangs of New York (Philip Stockton) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Ethan Van der Ryn & Mike Hopkins) Minority Report (Richard Hymns & Gary Rydstrom) Signs (Richard King) Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (Ben Burtt & Matthew Wood)
