LOTR Movie news archives from August 4, 2000 through August 21, 2000

The Company of the Ring is reporting that older, bearded men are being called in to work as extras at the Mt. Potts Edoras location for Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' movies.
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The Evening Post is reporting that Alan Seymour, the Silverstream resident who has publicly complained about security guards at the Moonshine Bridge location of Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' three-film production, says he visited the set twice.
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The Company of the Ring long ago announced that what was probably Edoras was being constructed at a location near Mt. Potts in New Zealand. Word now comes that a battle is to be filmed on the Edoras set. Battle? What battle?
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The Evening Post is reporting that another local resident, not Alan Seymour, who is now alleging that security guards working under contract to Three Foot Six Production's on the 'Lord of the Rings' Moonshine Bridge location assaulted him twice.
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The Company of the Ring reports that both the scene with the Balrog and the scene with Shelob have been filmed. But wait, aren't Sam and Frodo in both scenes? [more]

TheOneRing.Net has published a couple of scans from the Upper Hutt Leader, a local newspaper. The article says the Regional Council has discussed the behavior of security guards at the Moonshine Bridge location with Three Foot Six Productions.
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Cirdan has another spy report with some neat if unspectacular information about the production of Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' movies. [more]

Tolkien Online caught a Sydney Morning Herald report about Hugo Weaving collapsing during a performance in Sydney. [more]

Most fantasy movie villains turn out badly. As a literary villain Sauron is unusual but successful. So what will it take to bring him to life in Peter Jackson's three LOTR movies, and to make him convincing as a strong, powerful, and terrifying villain?
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When TheOneRing.Net mentioned the article we felt it was nice but not newsworthy. Now other sites are talking about the Salon article and some are even claiming it was one of the best written Tolkien articles in the media. Well, Xenite.Org has a few things to say about the article, and 'best written' is not how we would describe it.
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Xenite.Org and other Web sites reported that a New Zealand newspaper had published a picture of an impaled wizard. The photograph has generated a lot of discussion on the Internet. [more]

In what is sure to be deemed another departure from Tolkien by hard-core purists, TheOneRing.Net's super Ninja spy Galadriel has provided a review of weapons and armor for the movies and revealed that some soldiers will be using very un-Tolkien-like crossbows and pikes. But there is good news, too.
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It's official. Howard Shore will be doing the soundtracks for the three 'Lord of the Rings' movies Peter Jackson is producing in New Zealand.
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TheOneRing.Net has reported that the promise of a LOTR preview DVD in the first issue of Total Movie magazine was simply for the purpose of a mockup.
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Xenite.Org has received a lengthy complaint from someone claiming to be a recent visitor to one of the movie sets. Xenite.Org cannot confirm or refute this account. We do not endorse rude and threatening behavior, sexual harrassment, or poison pen campaigns. But clearly there is a great interest in what is going on in New Zealand, and we feel the complaint is newsworthy if unverifiable (we are located in the United States).
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The New Zealand Herald has a report on one man's quest to bring Wagner's opera to the little screen in a 28-minute television special.
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Well, maybe. Dark Horizons is reporting that New Line Cinema has paid $5,000,000 for the distribution rights in the United States, but we've been unable to confirm the report in the chain of Web site links starting from their report.
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Joram at Ringbearer has finally located a fan of the television show 'Dark Knight' in a letter to the editor of The Evening Post which mentions Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' movies.
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Several Tolkien Web sites carried the text of am Evening Post roundup article covering online speculation over the Wizard-on-a-stake picture last week. Xenite.Org didn't feel the roundup itself was newsworthy, but now we've found something interesting.
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Tolkien Online found a story about fandom's own Johnny Grindlay, webmaster of The Realm of the Ring, and his visit to the Moonshine Bridge LOTR movies location in The Evening Post.

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TheOneRing.Net has published a picture of the infamous Moonshine set where allegedly dangerous LOTR film crews have stirred up the local populace in what may be the silliest controversy to strike Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' production yet.
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TheOneRing.Net and other Web sites are reporting that Bruce Hopkins, one of New Zealand's most active actors, has been cast as Gamling the Old, the Captain of Westfold (the officer Erkenbrand left in charge of the Hornburg). [more]

This week's Suite101 article tackles the sticky issues of how to define a Tolkien canon and how one might go about redefining J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Silmarillion'.
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A new television series hailed as having computer effects comparable to those of Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' movies has not induced fans to create Web sites or start discussions on the Internet.
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Sign up for a free trial issue of Total Movie and get a free DVD with the first 'Lord of the Rings' trailer on it.
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August 10, 2000 - Decipher Inc. of Norfolk, Virginia, announced today that it has been granted the worldwide, exclusive rights to create and market trading card games and digital trading card games based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings.
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USA Today has published its top 150 selling books, based on numbers reported by more than 3,000 American booksellers (online and offline). [more]

The Evening Post has run a story claiming that a number of incidents with rude or threatening security guards at one of Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' film sets have been reported.
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Tolkien Online is reporting that Joel Tobeck, best known internationally among Hercules and Xena fans as the actor who portrayed the sleazy, murderous god Strife, has been cast as the young Smeagol in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" movies being filmed in New Zealand.
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One of the more useful online sources of information about LOTR movie happenings in New Zealand has been The Otago Daily Times.
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Weathering some harsh criticism from their online rivals by continuing to post more detailed coverage of LOTR film news, Stuff reports that the stuntman who surrendered 17 videotapes may be named.
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Tehanu at TheOneRing.Net has reported that the 36-year-old former stuntman who was brought to court last week has been sentenced to 12 months supervision. The sentence is considered lenient, with consideration for the fact he surrendered another 17 videotapes not found by the police in their month-long investigation.
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The United States' third largest theater chain has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. The move, one often taken by large corporations which find themselves in financial trouble, relieves the company of debt payment obligations while it seeks to reorganize its finances as a necessary step toward eventually paying off debts. And other theater chains may also be in financial difficulty.
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New pictures and information have been posted to Ancanar.Com, the official Web site for Elemental Films' Tolkien-inspired fantasy action/adventure movie.
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That seems to be the rumor circulating at Dark Horizons.
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Although we cannot (will not) name our source, we now have reason to believe that the lawsuit anonymously alleged to have been brought by Sierra On-Line against the Saul Zaentz Company is more than just a rumor.
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The name sounded familiar, but where had we heard about Zealot.Com before? They had a passing mention in a Dragoncon report on another Web site, as well as in a Web Watch list. Well, it turns out Zealot has been zealously commenting on Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings'. As commentary sites go, this one is good.
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Tehanu has already been contributing columns related to Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' movies, but now Scoop has created a special Lord of the Rings section which will be partially fed by TheOneRing.Net's spy network as well as Scoop's own journalist corps of news hounds.
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They seem to think everything in Middle-earth has to be set in the Shire or have something to do with Hobbits. So it's probably a very good thing that Scoop has formed a partnership with TheOneRing.Net. Their latest scoop is purportedly of a LOTR film set featuring two eagle statues.
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Tolkien Online brought our attention to an article on Stuff today about the scouting of the town of Twizel.
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Get over to http://www.mckellen.com/cinema/lotr/000808.htm right now and read the latest entry in the Grey Books. Sir Ian tells us his impression of Sir Ian Holm (who plays Bilbo in Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings') movies, and he confirms in no uncertain terms the fact that the Grey Havens sequence has been filmed.
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In August 1998 Xenite.Org broke the news to the world (well, those who were reading us) that New Line Cinema had picked up financing Peter Jackson's then floundering "Lord of the Rings" project. Tolkien-Movies.Com takes a look back at a New York Post article from the same period.
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Here we just said Tolkien purists would be pleased with the Isengard confrontation and Stuff goes and publishes a picture of what appears to be Gandalf impaled on a wheel.
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Peter Jackson's first Middle-earth movie, 'The Fellowship of the Ring', is scheduled for world-wide release on December 14, 2001. Film industry executives are alarmed that by that time, up to 1,000,000 people per day may be able to download newly released movies from the Internet.
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Excite, the Web portal, has just introduced Moviemate, free software available for download which enables anyone to create digital video movies with many of the same slick special effects we've come to expect from Hollywood.
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We previously reported that The Company of the Ring would be uploading footage of the television show 'The Money Game'. Beren tells us the footage is now available. [more]

The Hutt Hobbit's latest spy report for TheOneRing.Net confirms beyond all shadow of a doubt that the Wingate set is indeed Isengard.
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Will the Mario brothers invade Middle-earth? Is a kick-boxing elf or dwarf in your video game future?
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Since millions of people are probably going to see the upcoming film 'Thirteen Days' just to get a glimpse of the first promotional trailer for Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' epic, we thought this news article might be interesting.
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At first we felt Tehanu's report on the Money Game was sufficient, but she missed part of the show. Now it turns out that Beren at The Company of the Ring has captured some video (which was not yet available when we checked the site). [more]

Credit the dedicated souls at Tolkien Online for bringing this travesty to our attention. The Irish Times has outdone Terry Pratchett, The Sunday Times, and even the Tolkien Sarcasm Page.
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If anyone in the world ever comes through and delivers on a massive multiplayer online game based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, tens of thousands of marriages will be put to the test, ultimately transformed, and consumer demand for more Internet access will skyrocket.
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The Company of the Ring has been told by an insider that the Mt. Potts filming schedule has been changed. [more]

The Hutt Hobbit has checked in with a report on the doings at the Wingate set, where the spiked wheel was recently spotted by Realm of the Ring recently.
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TheOneRing.Net found an interesting article on Loop.Co.Nz profiling Peter Jackson's special effects companies.
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SciFi Wire is reporting that LOTR producer Barrie Osborne is working on a Greek mythology-based fantasy movie that has grabbed Keanu Reeves' interest. [more]

The New Zealand Herald Online is reporting that Craig Parker, who was selected to play Haldir, the march-warden of Lorien in Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' movies, will a supporting role in a movie with American Actress Kelly McGillis.
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New Zealanders have been able to purchase personalized or vanity license plates for their vehicles since 1988, and Lord of the Rings themed plates are becoming popular, according to an article in The Evening Post.
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This week's Suite101 Tolkien and Middle-earth article discusses the parentage and history of Gil-galad, and what is canonical or not regarding the character.
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The Scotsman is reporting that Stuart Townsend has been named to replace Wes Bentley as the vampire Lestat in 'Queen of the Damned'.
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PR Newswire reports that Howard Stern tops the list of searches at E! Online for July searches. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' ranked 14th.
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In an article reviewing the popularity of prequels among movies and books, The Guardian covers stories from Hawthorne's 'Scarlet Letter' to Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'.
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The Independent took note of its rivals' mistakes in print and provided a catalogue of recent gaffes from United Kingdom media.
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The Independenthas reviewed the recently announced survey which places 'The Lord of the Rings' as the most popular book in the United Kingdom and J.R.R. Tolkien as the twelfth most popular author. [more]

We have been unable to confirm a report that Sierra On-line, a division of Torrance, California based Havas Interactive, one of the top three PC software publishers in the world, has filed a lawsuit against the Saul Zaentz Company in California.
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