Dear reader –

Welcome to 2011 and TheOneRing.net. We have been around for a while now but this is an exceptionally exciting time heading into a year that will finally see the production of ‘The Hobbit’ start in earnest.

2010 was pretty eventful in dramatic and difficult ways. With lots of J.R.R. Tolkien books on our shelves along with our Middle-earth inspired movies, it will be fun to follow the production again as Peter Jackson, Weta and Warner Bros. move a reportedly wonderful two-part scrip from the page into digital 3D (also available in 2D!) The year ahead will bring us plenty of news, ideas, rumors and fun.

While many media outlets world wide will jump on the Hobbit news-reporting bandwagon, we will stay right here in our well-worn and comfortable seats and enjoy the ride.

We look forward to the experience along with you, dear reader. As always, TORn remains not-for-profit and forged by and for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien so thank you all for your past and future contributions and support. This is going to be fun!

We recently got our hands on what we think is some authentic Bilbo casting and production information which seemed to contradict something we knew with absolute certainty: The Hobbit production wanted Martin Freeman for Bilbo and has since as long ago as last year. Seemingly at odds with that fact was apparently concrete casting details about Bilbo and actors still giving audition tapes. Was the role sewn up or not?

A spy has provided an exclusive clue or two about what the role of Bilbo will be like and even a plot detail and a production outline but we were reluctant to report it because of apparent contradictions, but with all the recent Freeman news, it now fits in context. And yes, you have to read on. This is news you must work for, at least a little bit. Continue reading “Exclusive: Bilbo the Brave? Hobbit casting details”

bilboWhat exactly is going on with the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit? The world seems to be holding its breath in anticipation, including us, but as the calendar turned to November, we turned to a trusted rock-solid inside source and found a dragon’s treasure of updates. Continue reading “Exclusive Hobbit update: Casting, monsters, costumes!”

DragonCon 2008Friday is the official kick-off to the annual sci-fi and fantasy fest known as DragonCon in Atlanta and as it has for the last decade, TheOneRing.net will be there to celebrate everything Tolkien and bring you the goings-on to the best of our ability. We will have new Lake Town Archery Club shirts as well as the continuation of the themed shirts introduced at Comic-Con this year. TORn also has a panel about the very latest news on “The Hobbit,” on Friday morning and Sunday. As fast as news is changing, they may even be completely different.
The latest DCon news is Brad Dourif(television and film legend and of course Grima Wormtongue) has just been announced as a late addition-guest to the four-day convention. He will join Craig Parker and Peter Beagle as this year’s celebrities that add to a whole four-day track of Tolkien programming. Continue reading “DragonCon: Dourif! Parker! TORn!”

moneyThe Tolkien Estate and New Line Cinema have reached a tentative settlement in the court battle over money from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy of films that have grossed around $3 billion. TheOneRing.net message board member Voronwë_the_Faithful has written to give us the absolute world-wide scoop. He managed to mine a great nugget of information from the L.A. Superior Court and has written the following:

“A tentative settlement has been reached in the case. The parties have filed a stipulation that explicitly states that ‘the parties have entered into a binding term sheet settling this matter, which term sheet is subject to certain necessary ratifications, which may take up to several weeks to obtain.’

“In other words, a settlement has been reached, but it needs to be approved by certain unnamed individuals/entities. I’m sure it is a complicated settlement, and I’m relatively sure that it includes specifications to ensure that payments are made on the Hobbit films, so I assume that one of the ratifications needs to come from Warner. Continue reading “Exclusive: Tentative settlement reached in Tolkien v. New Line, it appears that ‘The Hobbit’ movie is safe”

3DBilboThe interwebs have been astir with rumors and sources claiming that “The Hobbit” is being planned as a 3D movie experience. An unscientific but fun poll showed conclusively that almost 75 percent of TORn poll takers didn’t like the idea. Then, the same pot was stirred again with more “sources” backing the original information and a flurry of e-mails landed in our inbox (Spymaster@TheOneRing.net if you have a hot tip!) beating the same drum. Not wanting to disrupt the creative process going on around a pair of films based on “The Hobbit,” we nevertheless asked Guillermo del Toro just what exactly, if anything, was up with 3D Hobbit movies. Since he is the director of the films in question (you know, the guy who picks the director of photography, the cameras and formats and all that movie stuff) we thought he might know.
Turns out he did and he told us, “I can safely say that, as of this moment, there are absolutely NO conversations about doing the HOBBIT films in 3D.”
Put that baby to bed and turn off the light.