Happy Birthday Billy Boyd! Billy Boyd (born 28 August 1968) is a Scottish actor and musician most widely known for playing the characters Peregrin “Pippin” Took in the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and Barrett Bonden in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
At the recent gaming convention GenCon, Fantasy Flight Games (publisher of the Lord of the Rings and War of the Ring boardgames) released some new details on the forthdoming ‘Middle-earth Quest’ adventure boardgame, as reported on boardgamegeek.com by one G. Purcell (bracketed
remarks are mine):
It *is* still in development [some feared it had been abandoned]
The time period is after Bilbo left the Shire, but before the Lord of the Rings book [sic - he presumably means 'before the Shadow of the Past visit by Gandalf']
You won’t play the LotR heroes, but will encounter them (i.e. Aragorn, off looking for Gollum)
The box size is … about the size of War of the Ring box [not ultra-huge like their StarCraft and World of Warcraft boardgames]
It contains some exciting new mechanics that they’re not ready to announce yet
It’s being designed by [FFG founder and sometimes game designer] Christian Petersen himself
It has been well documented that Guillermo del Toro will approach the original The Lord of the Rings cast to reprise their roles in Middle-earth should the script call for it. News comes today from the MTV Movie Blog that one such actor, John Noble, won’t be available:
“If they said, ‘Would you come and play Denethor again,’” Noble said, “I would have to say, ‘No, I’m doing [new J.J. Abrams television series] ‘Fringe’! And I certainly couldn’t play a younger Denethor or even Ecthelion now that I’m an older John. Not even with makeup.”
For the full story, jump on over to the MTV Movie Blog. [Read More]
The following video is one of the most unique and creative LOTR themed fan films we have ever seen - so we are super glad to share it with you! The film, shot in black and white silent film style, tells the story of a little orc who happens upon two lost hobbits in Middle Earth. Will they be lead into Saruman’s hands or will the little orc help them find their friends? Check out the video on YouTube or view it below. [YouTube]
Musician ‘Asni‘ sends this along: I’ve been working hard promoting my CD launch in the last few weeks. For those interested, below is my media release. I have finally managed to do a little work on my “Travelguide to Middle-earth” section, at least the photos and the info in this press release are online now, and it looks a wee bit nicer.
If you live anywhere near enough Wellington, please do note the date of the launch in your calendar! It is intended to be a bit of a farewell gig, since I plan to focus on things other than performing in the future - it may be quite a while until you get another chance to see and hear me live! So, do come - and don’t say you haven’t been warned. Read the rest of this entry »
Garfeimao writes: Celebrity Cruises is having a big sale this week to celebrate the upcoming Labor Day Holiday. The November 23 departure on the Millennium, the ship carrying our Cruise to Middle earth group, is one of the eligible sailings. This particular sale includes on board credit of $150 per cabin to be spent on pretty much anything you want on the ship. This particular promotion is only valid for new bookings.
But there are other promotions going on right now as well. Celebrity is now pushing to fill up their sailings down to New Zealand and have a whole host of other price codes available to the discerning Hobbit looking for a last minute vacation. You may qualify for a Regional Sale (depending on your state of residence), a Senior Discount (begins at age 55) or an Discounted Air Promotion (only certain cabin categories on the ship qualify). With all these various promotions going on, the only way to know if the Cruise to Middle earth is doable for you is to call me and get a quote for your specific situation. I’ve already applied many of these discounts to my existing group, where applicable, so now it’s your turn. [More Info]
Ringer Diedye brings us another great FLASHBACK! This week’s flashback details the events that took place in the Tolkien universe between August 17th-23rd. This is a weekly feature that Diedye posts in the forum, so if there is ever a time we don’t post it on the homepage of TORn, make sure to check the Main board in our forums. Click on the link below to transported in time! Read the rest of this entry »
We must also wish a happy belated birthday to John Noble! John Noble (born August 20, 1948) is an Australian film, television actor, and theatre director of more than 80 plays. He was born in Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia. He makes occasional appearances on the television series All Saints. He is internationally best known for his performance as Denethor in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King film. His latest films are White Noise: The Light and One Night with the King. He has recently been cast as scientist Walter Bishop in the J. J. Abrams television series Fringe. He stands 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) in height.
You can watch the series premiere on Tuesday, September 9th at 8pm ET on CTV and ‘A.’
Sideshow Collectibles has just released their latest addition to the Lord of the Rings Legendary Scale Bust line-up: Aragorn! If the prototype pictures are any indication, this piece promises to be one of the more popular Aragorn collectibles on the market. The bust captures the moment in The Fellowship of the Ring when Aragorn discovers and inspects the Shards of Narsil. If you’ve been collecting this line, he’ll make a great neighbor for your Legolas and Gandalf Legendary Scale Busts. Surf on over to SideshowCollectibles.com for complete details. [Aragorn Legendary Scale Bust] [All LOTR Legendary Scale Busts]
August 19th, 2008 by Calisuri
| Source: IGN
| Discuss
There is a great article posted at IGN today that summarizes what we already knew about Guillermo del Toro’s intention to use more animatronics in the creation of the ‘Hobbit’ films. But Ringer Elven points out one small bit of information of which we did not have previous confirmation:
We naturally enquired if he planned on continuing with a CG Gollum: “Absolutely. I think that it worked perfectly on the [Lord of the Rings] trilogy and if it ain’t broke, why fix it?”
Gotta love the ‘Why fix it?’ attitude! Read the full article and discuss in our forums! [IGN]