There’s been news going around of the town Rincon de la Victoria in Spain announcing their intentions to build a “theme park” (although it sounds more like a plain old regular park with some minor themed elements) called La Comarca… aka, The Shire. It’s very clearly inspired by the Lord of the Rings, but lacks one key element: approval from the Tolkien Estate or Warner Bros. Whoops! Council representatives behind the park design claim “All the concepts will be original, they will not be able to be considered ‘copies’,” but yet “representatives from the council were accompanied during the presentation by an actor dressed up as Frodo.” Warner Bros. is currently investigating the project. I’m not so sure this park will happen in this form… Read more…
Cookie Monster may have already parodiedThe Lord of the Rings, but has he really confronted the temptation of the One Ring? Sir Ian McKellen joins him in a new video to help explain the word “resist.” But when McKellen shows Cookie Monster the One Ring, he doesn’t see the appeal, since he’s “not much of a jewelry guy.” But a cookie? That could easily be his precious… Read more…
If you’ve already run out of stuff to do in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, take note: the first DLC expansion is now available for $9.99 (or as part of the season pass). The Lord of the Hunt adds more beasts to ride, as well as new quests, nemeses, and other bits. It seems to take place in a separate mode than the main game, but that could possibly work to its advantage. And there’s a new skin to dress Talion in, so use that to cover up his stupid face. Read more…
Peter Jackson is a fickle man, it seems. First The Hobbit changed from two films to three, then the titles got mixed around, and now the third film is getting a name change. Originally it was subtitled “There and Back Again,” but now it’ll be altered to a much more straightforward subtitle: “The Battle of the Five Armies.” I imagine this was mainly because it sounds more interesting and exciting (and promises plenty of battles to audiences), but Jackson also lays out other reasons on his Facebook post: “[…] with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived ‘there’ in the ‘Desolation of Smaug.'” You can read his full reasoning here, but he does mention that “There and Back Again” may return as a box set title in the future. Read more…
The latest game from Monolith Productions is going to be a bit of a departure from their previous work. They’ll be tackling the Lord of the Rings universe, featuring a character traversing the world prior to the events of the main story, as he jumps and fights his way through hordes of orcs. An interesting mechanic they’re promoting is that villains will often escape and return for vengeance later, or perhaps chase you down to avenge a fallen family member. It’s a unique idea, but I have to wonder if they can pull it off. It also appears to take quite a bit from Assassin’s Creed’s style of traversal. Check out the full video walkthrough of pre-alpha footage below. Read more…
“You shall not pass” is a great line from The Fellowship of the Ring that’s perhaps been used a bit too much over the years. It’s still not too old yet, though. Some Norwegians decided to stop a tram, complete with a fully-dressed Gandalf. But what’s cooler is what happens afterwards, as some other people are told to “fly, you fools.” If I was on that tram, I’d be laughing my ass off, no matter how late I was to work. I’d be slightly less enthused if I saw a Gollum cosplayer run across the tracks shortly after. That’s just creepy. Read more…
I said my peace about how awesome Cookie Monster skits are, even as an adult, a few weeks ago with this Catching Fire parody. Now that we’re on the same page, here’s Cookie Monster as “Gobble” in The Lord of the Crumbs. While I might wonder why they don’t feel like parodying The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, it doesn’t really matter. Watch as Cookie Monster argues with himself, tries to get past a wizard, and comments on the special effects. Part of me is looking forward to having kids down the road just to watch these sort of things with them. Read more…
The image you see above is a life-size statue of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings. Yes, life-size. Gollum himself is 3 and a half feet tall, and with the stand included, it is 140 cm. Made out of fibreglass and then hand-painted, this is definitely something made to be a centerpiece of your home. That said, I’m not sure I could deal with having a realistic, life-size Gollum in my house all the time. What happens when you walk downstairs for a midnight snack and get startled by it when you turn the lights on? Alternately, you could leave it at the foot of your bed. Now that would help you get up quick in the morning! If you want to purchase one, head over to Weta’s site and ready your credit card: this sucker is $2999! Read more…
Benedict Cumberbatch is hot right now, and with good reason: he’s a fantastic actor, he’s got a great voice, he’s appearing in great productions like Sherlock, and his name is so charmingly British. I’ve been waiting to hear how he would sound as Smaug in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second Hobbit film due out on December 13. Sure, the Hobbit films seem really padded out and the CGI isn’t as endearing as the camera tricks Peter Jackson used in The Lord of the Rings. But Benedict Cumberbatch is a sly dragon, and that’s all I need. I hope the actual shots of Smaug are limited, but knowing how much additional content needed to be put in to make The Hobbit into three three-hour films, I have a feeling he’ll practically be dancing in front of the camera. Read more…
With the recent release of Star Trek Into Darkness and the constant buzz surrounding 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII, the franchises continue to be big in the public eye. But if these two franchises were stars, how bright would they be? The New Yorker has charted the two franchises, as well as several other prominent franchises throughout the past few decades, to see which franchise has raked in the most money. Unsurprisingly, James Bond wins that, due to there being 24 films in the franchise. But when ranked by what a franchise’s average film earned, Star Wars was the clear winner, as well as in franchise profitability. (Even the prequels couldn’t ruin that!) Since we can’t embed it, you can see the full chart here and find where your favorite franchise wound up. Read more…
LEGO has long done the Ultimate Collector’s Series for Star Wars, and the Modular series of city buildings, but Lord of the Rings hasn’t gotten anything quite so elaborate – until now. The Tower of Orthanc will be the largest LEGO Lord of the Rings model to date, featuring Saruman’s imposing dwelling as well as an eagle and an Ent! I appreciate that the Ent is made out of bricks and not a pre-molded piece. This massive set will run you $200 and is arriving in July of this year. It’s just over 28 inches high and contains 2,359 pieces. Check out more images below! Read more…
With The Hobbit still fresh in everyone’s minds, there’s still plenty of time for fan parodies. In the vein of Epic Rap Battles of History, we see Smeagol taking on Gollum in a battle of words. If only things were this simple in all of Middle-Earth. While I won’t spoil who wins, they both receive a little help from a famous pop singer (not really). Read more…
Brotherhood Workshop is back to their old tricks again, creating excellent LEGO stop-animations featuring Lord of the Rings characters duking it out or engaging in other silliness. Their latest work is recreating the battle of Helm’s Deep for the Machinima Interactive Film Festival – except there might be a few little changes along the way. Legolas certainly does his best to help out Gimli so he can see over the wall, that’s for sure. Also keep an eye out for Chewbacca… he’s hiding in a few places in there! Read more…
The amount of work that goes into feature-length films these days is really incredible – you only need to look at all the names in the credits to realize that. The series of videos that the documentary team has been putting together following the making of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey have been a great look into the whole creative process. This latest one focuses on post-production, and how the concept artists, audio tech, CGI artists, and all the other crew composite everything into the finished product. While it looks stressful (only 8 weeks left in the video) they also seem to be enjoying themselves. Watch the video below. Read more…
“I’m going on an adventure!” The new trailer for The Hobbit hit all the right notes for me: excitement, some epic scenery, fantasy characters, and a solid dose of humor and light-heartedness. I’m sure most of you have seen it by now, but what you might’ve missed is that this new trailer had 4 other endings different from the one featuring the dwarves in the main release. Appropriately called Gandalf, Bilbo, String, and Gollum, all of these alternate ends are quite funny, especially the clip with Gollum conversing with Bilbo. Watch them below! Read more…
I’m still quite wary of Peter Jackson’s decision to split The Hobbit into not just two, but three films. It seems like the pacing might move as fast as a glacier, with tons of details expanded upon that don’t need the additional exploration on film. However, I can’t deny that every other bit of PR is getting me really excited. This whole week is being called “Tolkien Week,” in honor of not only the book’s 75th anniversary on Friday, but both Bilbo and Frodo’s birthdays on September 22. First up on the celebration: new pictures! Read more…
Two bits of movie news popping up this weekend: first off, J.J. Abrams’ second Star Trek film is slowly coming together, and now we’ve got a solid idea of the title. Multiple sources have rumored that the film will be called Star Trek Into Darkness. No colon? What a bold prospect! With a teaser trailer on the horizon, we should find out for sure soon. On the other side of things – The Hobbit! New pictures of all the characters, mainly the dwarves. I’ve got to say, the costume design is outstanding. Read more…
You’ve probably heard that Warner Bros. loves money – er, I mean, Peter Jackson wanted to film more and expand the two Hobbit films into three. Well, they did, but that’s old news. What’s the new news? They’re moving thing around a bit in regards to naming the films: the second film will now be called The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and the third will take the old name, There And Back Again. Confusing? Probably, but it’ll be old hat by the time December rolls around. Also, after the break, take a first peek at Thranduil and the White Council! Read more…
Of all the amazing props Weta helped to create for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I’m sure this ring has been the most requested. It’s no surprise, really. Setting aside the lore, and the fact the entire series centered around the ring itself, it’s one of the few props you can wear in public without drawing too much attention. Until now, Weta only offered a solid gold version which retailed for ~$3,300.
The video game we all knew was coming has now got a trailer, thanks to the massive E3 week about to roll through. Plastic Gandalf faces off against the Balrog, Frodo carries the hilariously-oversized One Ring, and Boromir once again laments the presence of a cave troll. The use of voice clips from the movie works for a trailer, but I wonder how the characters will be voiced in-game, if they’re voiced at all? Anyway, the LEGO games have been solid so far (if a bit too numerous to count), so I’m sure this will be another great addition to the collection. LEGO Lord of the Rings will arrive in October this year, just in time for the Hobbit marketing blitz.
I love behind-the-scenes and production videos. It’s especially great when someone like Peter Jackson gives you details into the work behind the upcoming Hobbit film. It’s really impressive how nicely made these video blogs are, too. This is the sixth one so far, and it details Andy Serkis’ work as the second unit director, dwarves fooling around, almost getting swept away in a flash flood, beautiful New Zealand landscapes, and oranges. Lots and lots of oranges. Click through for the full 12-minute video. Read more…
Here’s a quick teaser for Lego’s Lord of the Rings product line. Why does Lego taunt me with such awesomeness? They knew I outgrew my building phase years ago, yet they’ve waited until now to land this epic license. While I’m sure I won’t have nearly as much fun as I would have if I were still eight years old, I’ll definitely consider picking one up when they hit stores, and judging by how great the characters look, I’m sure they won’t disappoint. I do wonder if this also means we’ll be seeing some Hobbit-themed sets this holiday season. Be sure to visit the official site for more info on the upcoming sets. Read more…
Here’s bit of sad news to start out the new year. Bob Anderson, Hollywood Sword Master and former Sith Lord passed away on Monday. The 89 year-old Olympian choreographed some of Hollywood’s most memorable fights, but is best known for his role as Darth Vader, having donned the mask for many of his iconic duels.
LEGO has their hands in everything these days. From the immensely popular LEGO Star Wars and Harry Potter lines to Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story, they’ve tried their hardest to embed themselves in current pop culture. It’s served them well, especially with the success of the LEGO video games series, which have done a pretty good job of appealing to pretty much everyone. So what’s next? Lord of the Rings, of course! Read more…
