Following the success of the #Hobbitathon where Andy Serkis – who played Gollum in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings film trilogies – raised over £300,000 for charity, HarperCollins decided to release an audiobook of The Hobbit with Serkis’s narration. Due to that popularity, a brand new and unabridged audiobook of The Lord of the Rings will be released in three parts in September. More here.
In an article about the upcoming Amazon Middle Earth TV series, Corey Smith expresses his reservations and hopes. Can and will it remain true to Tolkien’s themes?
Details of the FORBES article delineating the financial success of the Trilogy can be found here .
To be taken to his blog, to read Tolkien Scholar Michael Drout’s review of The Hobbit; The Battle of the Five Armies, click here .
A number of fans, apparently unhappy with the deaths of certain characters in Tolkien’s The Hobbit, have started petitions to attempt to get PJ to change the results in the Movie.
Details of the various petitions can be found here.
Insurance Company Allianz has once again estimated the costs if claims were submitted for repairing damaged caused during the Desolation of Smaug. Details can be found here.
J.R.R. Tolkien passed away on September 2nd 1973, yet his writings have never been more popular. To read his obituary from the New York Times click here.
Click here to read about Christopher Lee’s new ‘Heavy Metal’ music release. (submitted by BerethEdhellen)
Oxford’ Bodleian Library has just opened it’s new summer exhibition, “Magical Books: from the Middle Ages to Middle-earth”. The exhibits include a number of manuscripts and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien and features the manuscript of ‘The Fall of Arthur’. More information on the exhibit can be found here.
For the official HarperCollins announcement of the release of ‘The Fall of Arthur’ you can look here.
Click here for an early look at some of the characters to be found in ‘The Hobbit; The Desolation of Smaug’.
On his ‘Facebook’ page, seen here, Peter Jackson has announced gathering everyone for the last bit of filming for the ‘Hobbit” trilogy.
Click here for part 1 of the ‘Into The West’ interview with Tolkien artist Jef Murray. Once you read Part I you can click here for Part II.
Click here for an explanation of Benedict Cumberbatch’s enthusiasm to able to take a role in ‘The Hobbit’ and click here
For a summary of the weekend box office standings click here.
Click here to see the Visual Effects Society awards for which ‘The Hobbit; An Unexpected Journey’ was nominated.
You can click here to read a commentary from a reviewer who prefers ‘The Hobbit’ movies over ‘The Lord of The Rings’.
Click here to read about BBC America`s new show, starring Dominic Monaghan.
You can click here to read why `The Hobbit`movies are not attracting many tourists to Tolkien`s birthplace.
