LOS ANGELES, April 10 /PRNewswire/ — New Line Cinema’s award-winning website for “The Lord of the Rings” has generated more than 350 million hits worldwide since re-launching on January 12, 2001 it was announced today by Rolf Mittweg, President of Distribution and Marketing for the studio.
The traffic to the site was confirmed by an independent Internet tracking firm hired by New Line Cinema to audit the number of hits at http://www.lordoftherings.net. Data tabulated by ABC Interactive confirmed that more than 275,463,832 hits were registered on the site in January and February of this year. Since the auditing process takes several weeks to complete, the studio has not requested an audit of site traffic for March, although internal estimates add another 82 million hits to the tally, bringing the three-month total to 357,463,832 million.
“The success of this re-launch is truly staggering,” Mittweg said. “Those who are discovering this project online are being treated to an extraordinary Internet experience, and we are very proud of the site and the team that developed it. lordoftherings.net serves as an information clearinghouse on our film and the Internet remains a key component in our overall strategy of launching this epic adventure trilogy worldwide.”
The site, which has been overseen and implemented by Gordon Paddison, New Line’s Senior Vice President of Interactive Marketing, was launched in 10 languages. And while some countries have not yet unveiled the material, New Line plans on debuting the first installment of the trilogy — “The Fellowship of the Ring” on December 19, 2001 worldwide with the exception of a few territories.
Global distribution partners will preview selected footage from the trilogy this May, when New Line hosts a series of events themed around “The Lord of the Rings” at the Cannes International Film Festival.
“Cannes will serve as our official worldwide media launch for ‘The Lord of the Rings,'” Mittweg said, explaining the festival is another important cornerstone of the studio’s launch campaign. “As the global press converge on the Croissette, New Line will pull out all the stops to ensure that movie fans everywhere discover the first installment of this epic cinematic event.”
“The Lord of the Rings” collectively tell the story of Frodo Baggins, who battles against the Dark Lord, Sauron to save Middle-earth from the grip of evil. In the films, Frodo and The Fellowship embarks on a desperate journey to rid the earth of the source of Sauron’s greatest strength, the One Ring — a ring of such power that it cannot be destroyed. His extraordinary adventures across the treacherous landscape of Middle-earth reveal how the power of friendship and courage can hold the forces of darkness at bay.
Tolkien’s mythic vision will come to life through cutting-edge cinema technology and artistry. Never before has such a monumental undertaking been contemplated or executed. The commitment of time, resources and manpower are unheard of as all three films and more than 1,000 effects shots are being produced concurrently with the same director and core cast.
Helmer Peter Jackson, whose visionary style of filmmaking and emotional acuity won accolades for his “Heavenly Creatures” and “The Frighteners,” brings his deep love for the source material to the project. Produced by Barrie M. Osborne, the films feature a strong international cast that includes (in alphabetical order) Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Brad Dourif, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davis, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, and Elijah Wood. But the real star of the films is the story itself — a classic hero’s quest in which the smallest of beings changes the course of the future with the vastness of his courage.
New Line is letting a little out of the box with some news regarding LOTR and Cannes 2001. Read the following report, via Cinescape.com.
‘Rings’ Footage at Cannes
While at the Cannes International Film Festival, New Line Cinema is looking to strongly promote their coming Lord of the Rings production. As part of this plan, the studio has announced that they will be previewing selected footage from all three of the coming films for those in attendance. Previous rumors have suggested that a full trailer for Fellowship of the Ring may also be in the offing.
Regarding this big push, in an official press release from the studio Rolf Mittweg, President of Distribution and Marketing, is quoted as saying, “Cannes will serve as our official worldwide media launch for The Lord of the Rings. As the global press converge on the Croissette, New Line will pull out all the stops to ensure that movie fans everywhere discover the first installment of this epic cinematic event.”
The Elf Fantasy Fair 2001, the biggest fantasy-related event in western-Europe, took place this weekend, I got the chance to go there on both days, meet up with John Howe and take a look at some awesome new pictures from the upcoming movies! Read on for a full report, which might include several spoilers!
Wow…were to start, the entire event was amazing. The setting, a historical themeparc filled with rpg’ers pretending to be trolls, orcs, goblins, knights of the round table, etc. etc., really added to the atmosphere. The event covered a whole ranges of fantasy-streams and had lots of guests of honour for signings, lectures and to answer questions from the public, for instance people like Terry Pratchett, Robert Jordan, John Howe, John Avon, Brian & Wendy Froud and much, much more.
But the most interesting for us of course was the ‘Tolkien-temple’, a small building devoted to the upcoming movies. It contained a tv which played the most recent trailer non-stop (I can imagine the people at the stand really hating those lines now…), and inside were some really awesome blown up pictures with scenes on them from the movie, and a slide-show with even more new pictures! I have tried to remember them all, so I’ll try to give you an idea of what was there:
The blow up pictures to begin with, there was one of a Hobbit with some kind of torch in his hands standing outside looking at a Black Rider speeding up or down a lane I’m not sure, we’ve seen this picture before I must add, there was a close-up picture of Arwen when she’s carrying Frodo over the fords to Rivendell, there was a new picture of Frodo holding the Ring looking kinda scared, there was a picture from the Orcs from the internet preview, there was a picture from the entire Felowship walking, we’ve seen this one before as well. There was a picture which kinda reminded me of a scene from the trailer, it showed Gandalf walking through the snow, but it didn’t have any other members of the Fellowship on it, it was really beautiful, I think the scenery in this movie will blow everyone away this christmas. Let’s see, there was a picture of Legolas while he was aiming an arrow at ..errr.. well, you if you were standing before the picture, it looked really convincing and was in my opinion one of the better pictures of Orlando Bloom as Legolas I have seen so far. There was a really awesome new picture of Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn which blew me away! The pic must have been taken shortly after Aragorn got out of some kind of fight, because his sword (which looked really good too) was covered in blood, and his armoury looked battered. For the record, the blood one his sword was deffinitly not red (for those who are wondering aout the pg-rating), it could have been because of the color of the entire pcture, but the blood seemed more black to me. The last picture contained some real spoilers, because it was a scene from the battle of Helms Deep. It looked like a huge chaos with a furious Gandalf the White in the midst of all this wielding his staff. The diffirence between Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey and as Gandalf the White is really amazing, I hardly recognised him on this picture, his hair and clothes were all snowwhite, and he kinda reminded me of Saruman. A bit further back you could also see Aragorn, Eomer, Legolas and Arwen (!) fighting off some Orcs. they were all on horses (which might explain why Gimli wasn’t in the picture), and you could see the road behind them running to the Gates covered with bodies of dead Orcs. The picture was really, really cool, the battle scenes are really gonna blow people away…
The slide show also contained a lot of new pictures. It had 33 slides, a few of them to promote new books that are coming out (the ones of which we have seen the covers a few days ago). Also all the pictures from the official New Line calendar were in it, so nothing new and exciting there. However, there were some slides from Hobbitton that reminded me of pictures we have seen before on Scoop.co.nz, one picture from the watermill, one from some kind of marketplace which looked really convincing, it had a cow in the background so it really looked like everything on the foreground was hobbit-sized. There was a slide from the outside of Bag-End and one inside the house, the interiour looked kinda messy to me, the ground was covered with books and stuff, kinda like you would expect a Hobbit-hole to be. There was a slide of Gandalf arriving in Hobbitton on a waggon, there was also a slide with a close up on Gandalf of this picture, Ian McKellen looked really great, but I’m sure you all knew that. There was a slide which showed some houses in Bree, nothing new and exciting there. There was a slide which showed a line of soldiers from what I think was Gondor, with all kinds of colored banners on the background. It looked as if they were waiting for something so I’m guessing it’s a scene from ‘The Black Gate opens’ The only diffirence was that on a previous picture we have seen from this chapter it really looked like the soldiers from Rohan and Gondor were standing on a hill, but on this picture there only was a straight line of men and the only thing you could see behind them were the banners. The banners were very vague, I remember some yellow and blue ones, I could see no recognisable design on any of them. And last but not least there were two new slides from Rivendell that were really amazing! One of them showed Frodo lying in a bed, I presume before he regains conciousness although I couldn’t see Gandalf anywhere. Most people will remember a painting by I believe John Howe that showed Frodo waking up with Gandalf sitting next to a window, well, that won’t happen:) In this scene there was room, and I’m getting the idea that the Rivendell-set isn’t really like a house, but more like a big garden with all kinds of spaces in it, if you catch my drift. You could also see this in the pictures we have seen from the council of Elrond, it took place partly outside (like in the books) but looking at that picture and at the ones I’ve seen this weekend I’m starting to wonder as to how much of Rivendell really is like a ‘house’. Anyway, Frodo was lying in a huge bed, and there was a statue of a woman towering over him, in the background you could see some gardens which looked really beautiful, lots of light colors and ‘flowerish’ shapes. The other slide showed the four Hobbits standing in one of those gardens, probably talking about something. They all looked fresh and cleaned up, and again the forced perspective made it look really good. I think I just about covered all the new pictures that were shown…
As said before I got the chance to meet John Howe and ask him some questions. I’ll have a full interview online anytime before wednesday so keep your eyes out for that. I’ll just say here that Howe is really one of the nicest people I have met, he was very intelligent and gave some interesting answers. He also gave away some signing sessions which lasted up to an hour longer then planned because he didn’t go anyweher untill everyone had a signature or drawing in their books, posters, maps, cards and whatever the hundreds of fans carried with them to get signed. Where other signing session usually lasted untill one minute after the time set for it, and people got send away after standing in line for about an hour, John Howe worked his way down the line even if it took him an hour, which I thought was really cool.
Well, that just about covered all I was gonna say about this, I’m sorry if it turned out to be a bit long it’s just that there was so much new material, I hope I gave a good description. Keep your eyes out for more on John Howe in the next few days!
A Walk on the Moon (1999) A Perfect Murder (1998) UK The Thin Red Line (1998) UK The Portrait of a Lady (1996) Crimson Tide (1995) UK The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995) The Prophecy (1995) American Yakuza (1994) The Crew (1994) Ruby Cairo (1993) The Young Americans (1993) Two Small Bodies (1993) The Indian Runner (1991) Young Guns II (1990) Witness (1985)
Liv Tyler (Arwen)
Dr. T and the Women (2000) Plunkett & Macleane (1999) UK Onegin (1999) Can’t Hardly Wait (1998) UK U Turn (1997) UK Empire Records (1995) UK Heavy (1995) UK Silent Fall (1994)
Ian Holm (Bilbo)
Bless the Child (2000) eXistenZ (1999) The Madness of King George (1994) UK Hamlet (1990) Dance with a Stranger (1985) Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) Time Bandits (1981) Shout at the Devil (1976) Robin and Marian (1976) UK Juggernaut (1974) UK Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) UK
Sean Bean (Boromir)
Airborne (1998) When Saturday Comes (1996) UK Shopping (1994) UK Jacob: A TNT Bible Story (1994) (TV) How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989) UK Stormy Monday (1988)
Hugo Weaving (Elrond)
The Matrix (1999) UK Babe: Pig in the City (1998) UK
Karl Urban (Eomer)
Heaven (1998)
Miranda Otto (Eowyn)
What Lies Beneath (2000) The Jack Bull (1999) (TV) UK The Thin Red Line (1998) UK
David Wenham (Faramir)
Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999)
Elijah Wood (Frodo)
Black and White (1999) The Faculty (1998) UK North (1994) Forever Young (1992) UK Internal Affairs (1990) Child in the Night (1990) (TV) Avalon (1990) UK
Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)
Pushing Tin (1999) The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) An Ideal Husband (1999) UK Elizabeth (1998)
Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
X-Men (2000) Apt Pupil (1998) UK I’ll Do Anything (1994) Six Degrees of Separation (1993) Windmills of the Gods (1988) (TV) Walter and June (1986) UK Alfred the Great (1969) A Touch of Love (1969) UK
Au Pair (1999) (TV) UK Secret of the Andes (1998) UK Bloodsport 3 (1996) Sunset Grill (1993) The Seventh Coin (1992) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam (1987) (TV) Firewalker (1986) UK Nairobi Affair (1984) (TV) UK Victor/Victoria (1982) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Topsy-Turvy (1999) Among Giants (1998) UK Mojo (1997) UK
Bruce Spence (Mouth of Sauron)
Sweet Talker (1991) Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Sean Astin (Sam)
Kimberly (1999) Dish Dogs (1998) Bulworth (1998) UK The Long Way Home (1997) UK The Low Life (1994/I) Teresa’s Tattoo (1994) Rudy (1993) Encino Man (1992) UK Toy Soldiers (1991) UK The War of the Roses (1989) Staying Together (1989) White Water Summer (1987) UK The Goonies (1985)
Christopher Lee (Saruman)
Jinnah (1998) UK Tale of the Mummy (1998) UK Moses (1996) (TV) Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1990) (TV) Mio min Mio (1987) UK Howling II (1985) UK Safari 3000 (1982) An Eye for an Eye (1981) UK 1941 (1979) UK Return from Witch Mountain (1978) UK The Three Musketeers (1973) UK The Wicker Man (1973) UK Nothing But the Night (1972) Horror Express (1972) UK Julius Caesar (1970) Scream and Scream Again (1969) Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968) Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) UK Amère victoire (1957) The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) Private’s Progress (1956) UK The Battle of the River Plate (1956) UK The Cockleshell Heroes (1955) Scott of the Antarctic (1948)
Bernard Hill (Theoden)
True Crime (1999) UK A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) UK Mountains of the Moon (1990) Gandhi (1982) UK
Brad Dourif (Wormtongue)
Interceptors (1999) Bride of Chucky (1998) UK Urban Legend (1998) UK Best Men (1997) Death Machine (1995) Amos & Andrew (1993) Hidden Agenda (1990) Blue Velvet (1986) Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) (TV)
Jim Rygiel (SFX)
Anna and the King (1999) Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) UK Cliffhanger (1993) Batman Returns (1992) The Last of the Mohicans (1992) Alien³ (1992) UK Solar Crisis (1990) UK Ghost (1990)
Howard Shore (Composer)
High Fidelity (2000) The Cell (2000) Analyze This (1999) UK eXistenZ (1999) The Game (1997) UK Cop Land (1997) The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996) UK Crash (1996) UK Ed Wood (1994) Guilty as Sin (1993) Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) UK Single White Female (1992) UK Prelude to a Kiss (1992) UK The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Postcards from the Edge (1990) She-Devil (1989) Big (1988) Moving (1988) After Hours (1985) UK Places in the Heart (1984) UK
To get more information, use the sites I use like:
Ringer Spy jon peeps in with his knowledge on screen numbers versus theatre numbers. Check it out, and try not to tie your fingers into a pretzel counting on them 🙂
It appears the author has confused screens with theaters. The numbers quoted for other feature films were their theater numbers. Screens counts for blockbusters generally are 1.5 times greater than the theater count.
That said, the 10,000 print launch of LotR would by far still be a record but I think coming in Dec this is HIGHLY unlikely. Not only are screens at a premium but it would amount to 40% of the entire North American screen total.
I think it more likely could be that NL is planning a 10,000 print world wide launch day-and-date with North America. This could involve 5-6,000 screens in the U.S. (about 25% better than SW Ep1, MI:2, The Grinch and so on. With 4-5,000 screens in foreign markets that could embrace just about every major market. This is also kinda backed up by the NZ release date that has been quoted.
Screen counts are rarely quoted by movie studios for the simple reason that a theater-average looks far better on paper than a screen average these days. The last time I saw a screen count confirmed by a studio was “Twister” in 1996 and its 4,000 screens. That year MI:1 opened in 4,400 screens. Think in the days of Star Wars hogging 5 screens at many sites (even here in the UK) shows just how many prints studios can release.
Hope I have geeked myself out with all those stats.
As time goes on we’re going to see a lot of these; all credit to Josephina for getting the ball rolling sooner than most. Here’s her invitation:
“Dear Tolkien fans all over the world,
We have started to work out the details for the Fan Fellowship Gathering in Dallas, Texas to celebrate the release of the first LOTR movie “The Fellowship of the Ring,” together as fans from all over the world.
If you are already on the attending list please send me your email address so I can contact you and keep you personally posted. If you are not yet on our list and wish to join us please send me an email. And please send me your true name also – it will look better on the list we send to the contact people . Your email address will not pass me. Only your names for attendance information. Thanks .
I will arrange a Motel for fans to stay at the night before and the night after the movie. ( you will have to provide the costs yourself but I will see if I can make this as cheap as possible for you )
As far as we know the date is SET for the 19th of December 2001. Let us have a tad more confirmation on that, hopefully within the next week or so, then we can start ordering our flight tickets.
We have wonderful contacts and it looks like this is going to be a promising event.
Information so far.
Tolkien Fan Fellowship Gathering To Celebrate the release of The Fellowship of the Ring Fans from all over the Globe Dallas, Texas 19 December 2001
Thank you Deanna and Peta, and the sites helping us out, for your support, and to our Contact people also many, many thanks .
Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)
Liv Tyler (Arwen)
Ian Holm (Bilbo)
Sean Bean (Boromir)
Hugo Weaving (Elrond)
Karl Urban (Eomer)
Miranda Otto (Eowyn)
David Wenham (Faramir)
Elijah Wood (Frodo)
Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)
Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
Andy Serkis (
Bruce Spence (Mouth of Sauron)
Sean Astin (Sam)
Christopher Lee (Saruman)
Bernard Hill (Theoden)
Brad Dourif (Wormtongue)