lotr Tagged Articles at Cinematical

If the current financial crisis is getting you down, how about a post-apocalyptic vision of poverty and murder to cheer you right up? Or, then again, maybe not. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Dominic Monaghan (LOTR) and Freddy Rodriguez (Planet Terror) have signed to star in the horror-thriller, Fortuna.

The flick is set in a future of extreme wealth and poverty. The world's elites have devised a way to reduce poverty by offering citizens the chance to compete in a mysterious game known as Fortuna, in which one person will be whisked away to life of riches and luxury -- what could go wrong? Well, if you have ever seen a movie before you can probably guess that maybe the prize isn't all it is cracked up to be.

Writer-director Barthélémy Grossmann will appear alongside Rodriguez and Monaghan as one of the contestants, and the film is expected to start shooting on location in Bulgaria. According to THR the production is already underway, and, "ghetto like sets are being built for a film Zilber compares to 1973's post apocalyptic thriller "Soylent Green."

Grossmann is a relative unknown to most of us in North America, and this appears to his first foray into English film making (but the recognizable faces of Monaghan and Rodriguez should help the project earn a little attention). Even though it might not be the most original idea for a film (I like to think of it as Running Man meets Regannomics) but I guess everyone has financial collapse on the brain anyway, why not turn it into big-screen entertainment?

Wow, this one really sucks and you hardcore LOTR fans will not be happy at all. Heck, I'm not the biggest LOTR junkie, but even I feel as if some gigantic ape creature just kicked me in the nuts ... repeatedly. The One Ring.net has just received an email from Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh that basically says he will not be directing The Hobbit nor this supposed second LOTR-based film. Why? Well, because he'd rather make a prequel to King Kong. (Kidding, but something tells me I'd prefer that move over the one that's going down as we speak.)

Okay, the real reason has to do with a lawsuit Jackson and company have pending against New Line that has to do with "certain accounting pratices" that took place following The Fellowship of the Ring. Recently, there was word that MGM was trying to obtain the rights to LOTR from New Line in order to make two films, one being an adaptation of The Hobbit. MGM claimed they were in talks with Peter Jackson. However, Jackson was not present for these talks, only MGM's vivid imagination was. According to Jackson, New Line will be going ahead with the films, but since Jackson refuses to make them until the lawsuit is discussed, New Line has told him they "would no longer be requiring our services on The Hobbit and the LOTR prequel." And if that doesn't jam the nail straight into the coffin inside our hearts, these final words from Jackson certainly will: "This outcome is not what we anticipated or wanted, but neither do we see any positive value in bitterness and rancor. We now have no choice but to let the idea of a film of The Hobbit go and move forward with other projects."

New Line is currently looking for another filmmaker to bring The Hobbit and that LOTR prequel to the big screen. That's the good news. The bad news? Both films will probably suck.

[via AICN]

Yeah, so what's up with all the dragons lately? First, there's Eragon (due out in theaters this December), and now Peter Jackson, of all people, has dipped into some discretionary funds to option Temeraire, a historical fantasy series written by newbie Naomi Novik.

I've never read the books, but apparently the saga "reimagines the world of the Napoleanic Wars with the addition of an air force of dragons and valiant aviators." Looking to explore his post-King Kong career, the Lord of the Rings director (who, personally, should instead write a book telling us how he lost so much damn weight) has been circling several projects as of late, including The Lovely Bones, The Dam Busters remake and The Hobbit.

Currently, Jackson hasn't decided what to do with the books yet, whether he'll make one movie, all three or introduce them through other media first. Honestly, I think they sound pretty sweet (in fact, I may go out and purchase them this week), though this doesn't look good for The Hobbit. If anything, I'd expect Jackson to come on as some sort of producer/creative consultant, but not director. Unfortunately, it might be time for you LOTR fans to, well, just let go.

According to their director, the brand-new documentaries that appear on the Lord of the Rings special edition DVDs Scott told us about a couple of week ago have been edited without his input or consent. Costa Botes claims that he was essentially locked out of the editing room when New Line went to work on his docs. The director shot over 800 hours of footage during his unrestricted access to Peter Jackson's film sets, and seems to have produced his own final cut, which he then turned over to the studio. There was some footage, however, to which they objected, including a scene of orcs singing Stand By Me (Not too creepy, but the rights to the song were too expensive.), other shots that involved music (presumably for the same reason) and footage of the tops of New Zealand's Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe, which are apparently sacred to the country's indigenous Maori's people.

So yeah, it sounds like the cuts were made for practical reasons, rather than in an effort to hide on-set debauchery or something -- no scandal here. The most troubling thing about The Guardian's report on Botes, really, is the fact that his deal with New Line means that he'll get NO ROYALTIES from sales of the DVDs featuring his work. Doh!

Remember the awesome series of knitted zombies that we linked to last year? Well, compared to this latest example of obsessive fandom, knitting zombies is about as easy as picking your teeth. You want do something that really shows your devotion? How about creating a massive, incredibly meticulous, dollhouse reproduction of Bag End (AKA the Baggins family home)? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

Livejournal user 'Obelia medusa' really, really loves The Lord of the Rings, so much so that she decided to devote 18 months of her life to making a hobbit house. From what I can tell, she combined information from both the movies and Tolkien's novels to come up with a floor plan, and to dictate her interior details. And I emphasize the word "details" - you think you're obsessive? Check out this status update from August: " The past year or so I've spent wiring (my hobbits need their candlelight, after all!) and installing wood paneling and flooring." Holy. Crap.

If you've got some free time today, go check out the pictures. While any obsession taken to this level is maybe just the slightest bit creepy, the devotion and craftsmanship - there are STAINED GLASS WINDOWS and TILE FLOORS, for the love of God! - are truly mind-blowing.

[via BoingBoing]

Typically I don't bother writing about the endless parade of merchandise cranked out in an effort to take money away from the ever eager fanboys and girls wanting to saturate their bedroom/dorm/house with geek pariphinalia*- if I did that, I'd be writing several posts a day on action figures alone. However, every now and then items come along which are just too interesting/appealing to ignore. Now, I'm not saying that I'd purchase them (or advise others to do so), as the price tags for merch like this tend to be astromical; I'm just saying that it's neat stuff.

• DC Direct has announced they will be releasing a limited edition, hand-painted cold-cast porcelain replica mask based on the mask used in V for Vendetta. The replica will run at an extremely limited 500 item release, and will go on sale February 22 with a pricetag of 200 dollars.
• Code 3 Collectibles is producing a fancy looking replica of Darth Vader's TIE Fighter in its Signature Series. It'll be "an authentic reproduction of the TIE Advanced X1 Starfighter to date; complete with battle damage. Every detail of the original starship has been meticulously captured." It weighs in at a hefty 450 dollars.
• Finally, Sideshow Collectibles announces their Lurtz Premium Format LotR figure, rendered at 1/4 scale. The figure is a blend of polystone and leatherwork and was sculpted by Steve West. Shipping in third quarter 2006, you can buy a Lurtz of your very own for around 350 dollars.

For full details and images of these shiney toys and others, head on over to Cinescape's toy section.

*I'm not making fun of you, eager fanboys and girls. Okay, well, I am...but only tongue in cheek. After all, I've got a Mega Man action figure on my computer tower at work.

[via Cinescape]