Thanks to Barlimans regulars Gollum and SamGamgee from elfenomeno.com for providing a link to what looks to be an early version of the official internet preview. Follow the following link and click on the LOTR Trailer at the bottom of the page. [More]
After just viewing this low quality real video file a few times, this is what we have have noticed is different:
1. Gollum with skin – The second and a half of Gollum matches up with earlier pictures we have seen, but this time with skin and hair. We are not posting a still image of Gollum at this time because of a promise to the artists at WETA. You can see Gollum in the Real version though.
2. Aragorn Fighting the Nazgul – We have seen a similar scene with this image from the scrapbook. [842]
3. A new shot of Liv.
4. An extended shot of the running Troll.
Where this version came from, its anyone’s guess. We are also NOT sure if this is even legit. Hopefully we’ll be getting more info about it shortly!
Months ago some rumours surfaced in the media about the alleged mistreatment of horses during the making of LOTR. It was left to the American Humane Association to prove or disprove the allegations, as concrete evidence seemed very hard to pin down at the time. The LA Times has a long article here on the AHA’s animal-rights work on film sets and LOTR is mentioned:
“More recently, AHA officials waited months to weigh in about persistent reports that horses were abused during the New Zealand filming of “Lord of the Rings,” part of New Line Cinema’s long-anticipated $270-million trilogy. The allegations sparked local news reports and investigations by New Zealand government officials, who found nothing.
Despite receiving dozens of e-mails since October alleging mistreatment on the set of “Lord of the Rings,” AHA officials did not contact or initiate a meeting with New Line executives until mid-January.
Barrett said the AHA is stretched too thin to look into the non-SAG production–among Hollywood’s most expensive projects ever. “We frankly didn’t have the resources to go and beat down the door and try to argue with them about it,” she said.
In a meeting last month, AHA officials “asked questions and we answered all of them,” said New Line spokesman Steve Elzer. “They were more than satisfied with our answers.” Nevertheless, Barrett said that none of the three “Lord of the Ring” films will receive the association’s endorsement, since no AHA monitor was invited to the set.”
Tuor wants to spread the word on a production of ‘The Hobbit.’
“The Hobbit: 13th – 17th February, Created for stage by Glyn Robbins, All done by Jim Henson puppets, £7.50 on the Stall (ground floor area) £5 in the gallery
A note about the play: It will be a two hour and twenty minute show all done by puppets with humans working them, all covered in black, and also, when Bilbo puts on the ring, it will look as if he disappears because they put a black cloak over in a very, what’s the word……stylish way.
Reviews:
“An excellant show” – Birmingham Express & Star
“Delight and surprises from Middle Eearth” – Liverpool Daily Express
“Baggins full of action. A vivid fast moving show.” – Nottingham Evening Post
He says he’ll send us a pic of the programme if he gets one. I think this same version of ‘The Hobbit’ has been touring all over the world to very positive reviews.
The Searching for the Hobbit website has posted up some videoclips including an interview with publishers Harper Collins – they estimate how many copies of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ have been sold, and the figure might surprise you. Another clip shows a closeup of a special edition of the trilogy -signed by the film actors! The auctioneer who handles the copy wouldn’t like to guess what that will be worth one day.
Anyone who hasn’t checked out the MP3 of Flowinglass doing their version of that song that proved the Hobbits’ downfall in Bree, have a listen and see if you agree with me …that’s EXACTLY the way I’d imagined it! “There is an inn, a merry old inn, Beneath an old grey hill…”
The Message-Board got some amazing and surprising stories in response to the question ‘How has reading Tolkien affected your life?’
IMDB’s “Studio Report” has expanded on last week’s “Dominion” article on what the NZ Army was paid for taking part in LOTR – that story is on Stuff and a quick read between the lines shows that it’s an attempt by a marginal political party to topple the NZ Government by discrediting them. It’s a valiant effort but so far nobody’s taken to the streets in protest at the Govt’s shocking mismanagement of the armed forces. I have yet to meet anyone that gives a toss, quite frankly.
The Australian papers took up the story because it is sort of funny – after all, what kind of wussy country is it that allows its military personnel to dress up in funny costumes and run round with outdated weapons? Don’t worry, we’re used to it.
By the time IMBD got hold of the story it read like this:
“Rings Producers Bought Soldiers For $8.83 Per Day. Controversy has erupted in New Zealand following the revelation that the country’s Defense Force, the combined army, navy and air force, was paid only $91,000 for the use of 15-250 men, mostly as extras, each day during the filming of Lord of the Rings. The figure breaks down to $8.83 per man per day. A spokesman for the political party New Zealand First, which has been pushing for an increase in pay for military personnel, told the NZPA news service, “If we are going to insist the Defense Force operate in a business-like manner … then pay it what (the personnel) are worth. … I’d now ask the Prime Minister to transfer funds from allocations to the film industry to compensate the army for the loss of its resources and its time.”
I like that ‘Controversy has erupted’ line. Perhaps it’s erupting away quietly under our tightly-buttoned stiff upper lips or something. Anyhow, I’ve failed to notice it. There’s another story going on behind this one, though, which relates to Hollywood’s alarm at the number of ‘runaway’ productions that are made in cheaper locations such as Canada, Mexico, Australia and now NZ., which hosted both LOTR and ‘Vertical Limit.’ Quickbeam, a film industry insider working in LA commented:
“I’m quite sure the intention of having this story on IMDb today was to have Hollywood-ites be grateful they have a Union to protect them from the evils of foreign film productions. And of course to bring embarrassment to New Line for even taking this project out of Los Angeles in the first place. The climate here regarding Canada, New Zealand, and Australia stealing productions from L.A. is incredibly sour. This is a non-event to you & I, but any story that reinforces the impact of “runaway productions” is press-worthy to an industry nervous about its future.”
There’s been some new developments at the Assassin Films website Searching for the Hobbit. For a start, the website is now offering free access to everything including the ‘making of’ documentary downloads. Producer Mark Morgan said “At the moment because of the hype surrounding the LOTR films and all the upcoming merchandising, we felt that we did not want to be seen as yet another commercial entity capitalising on the author’s works. We have therefore made the site free so everybody has the opportunity to take part in and view the documentary in progress.”
Regular visitors to the site will remember that ”Searching for the Hobbit” is a documentary being made to celebrate the world of Tolkien fandom and Hobbit culture worldwide. Visitors to the site have the chance to download clips from interviews that the ‘Hobbit’ team have conducted with an ever-growing range of people whose lives and work have been influenced by JRRT.
This is such a huge subject to cover that they have decided to make another change to the website. What used to be the Inspiration Room has been renamed the Gallery and focuses on ‘Rings’-inspired artwork. A new Inspiration Room will be set up where visitors are invited to share their personal (and true!) stories with other Tolkien fans. Morgan hopes that people will talk about their own Search for the Hobbit. “When did you last visit Middle-earth?” he asks. So far this question has produced some beautiful stories from all kinds of people.
The very best stories might form the basis for further interviews when the ‘Search for the Hobbit’ continues.
Please post all stories to webmaster@assassinfilms.com
![\[ Aragorn Fighting Nazgul \]](http://img-www.theonering.net/images/021601_ntr_aragorn1.jpg)
![\[ Liv Tyler \]](http://img-www.theonering.net/images/021601_ntr_liv1.jpg)
![\[extended troll sequence\]](http://img-www.theonering.net/images/021601_ntr04.jpg)
