9/12/00: Vanity Fair, the magazine which brought us the first picture of hobbits in costume, has scored again with nine amazing cast pictures. TheOneRing.net has scanned in high resolution versions of the shots, which feature the hobbits, Gandalf, Arwen and Aragorn.

9/07/00: Cirdan of the German site Der Herr der Ringe broke the final piece of major casting news: Australian actor John Noble, unknown to moviegoers in the rest of the world, will play Denethor, Steward of Gondor. The decision is timely, as shooting at Minas Tirith is due to begin in the near future. Read more about Noble on Cirdan's site (scroll down for an English translation), peruse a short bio of Noble on TheOneRing.net, or view John Noble's entry on our Cast Page.

9/01/00: The September Force of Hobbit update features a look behind the scenes of set design and construction with production designer Grant Major, and a brief interview with Sean Bean (Boromir). In addition, E-Online reveals that Sam's eventual wife Rosie Cotton will be played by Sarah McLeod. McLeod has previously appeared in the New Zealand TV series "Get Real."

8/24/00: A few new pictures have surfaced on the net, like fish thrown to a starving shark. Check out a new picture of Strider, and a first look at the set for Edoras. Hopefully, the official site will one day be updated with the long-promised production features.

8/15/00: It's official: the composer for the Lord of the Rings trilogy will be Howard Shore. With an eclectic range of films under his belt (everything from Silence of the Lambs to Big), Shore's music has been praised for pushing the boundries of traditional film scores. View Shore's filmography on the Internet Movie Database, or go to The People for information.

8/08/00: Ian McKellen (Gandalf) has updated his home page with another installment of The Grey Book. In this update, the actor talks about working with Ian Holm (Bilbo), filming at Mt. Ruapehu, and his impressions of the New Zealand landscape.

8/01/00: The August update of E-Online's Force of Hobbit features, at long last, an interview with Sean Astin (Sam Gamgee). Read it in this month's On Location.

7/28/00: It sounds like we have a new cast member: Mark Ferguson, a New Zealand actor, revealed on the Good Morning show there that he had played the role of Gil-Galad, the last high king of the Noldor, during the recent shooting at Mount Ruapehu. The shooting there was of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, so it is safe to say that Gil-Galad will be seen during the prologue to Fellowship of the Ring. View Ferguson's entry on our Cast page.

7/24/00: Some music-related news has recently broke. TheOneRing.net has received official word as to where the music in the Internet trailer came from: find out where on our page The People. In addition, a report on Soundtrack.Net claims that composer Howard Shore (The Game, Se7en, Silence of the Lambs) has been picked to score all three Rings films. Though as of yet unconfirmed, if true Shore would have beat out such high-profile composers as James Horner for the job. Read the article on Soundtrack.Net or view Shore's Internet Movie Database entry.

7/10/00: At the VSDA convention for home video retailers in Las Vegas, the New Line booth featured a surprise treat: an exhibit featuring several pieces of armor and a dwarf model created by WETA in New Zealand. View two helmets, two shields, and the dwarf model on TheOneRing.net.

7/09/00: Word from the recent DragonCon convention has revealed that the first time a Lord of the Rings trailer will be seen on the big screen is this November, possibly before the New Line comedy Little Nicky. Now Aint-It-Cool News has reported a full preview release schedule: the first three teasers will be seen this Christmas, at Cannes 2001, and in July 2001 respectively, and the first full trailer (probably for Fellowship of the Ring) will be out in September 2001. While you're waiting, visit our Links Page to find out how to get the exclusive Internet preview.

7/01/00: Force of Hobbit's July update features an interview with Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), where she talks about how she will be playing the elven queen and her thoughts on the production in general. Read the Blanchett interview at E-Online's Force of Hobbit. In addition, Tolkien Online has some similar information from Brad Dourif (Wormtongue), obtained from his recent appearance at a convention. Read the Dourif story on Tolkien Online.

6/30/00: A U.K. magazine called "3D World" has announced that animator Carlos Rosas, who was the lead animator on the recent acclaimed documentary Walking With Dinosaurs, has joined WETA to do 3D animation on Lord of the Rings. The hiring of such a good animator is a great sign that computer-generated characters in the films, such as Gollum and the Ents, will seem realistic and natural. Visit the official Walking With Dinosaurs web site or view Rosas' entry in the Internet Movie Database.

6/21/00: New Line has been shopping around the Rings trilogy to advertizers and the industry in the past few days. A number of new promotional images have been sneaked onto the net as a result. Take a look at a poster and a booklet from TheOneRing.net, an alleged poster (which may be fan-made) courtesy of Dark Horizons, and a bookmark at Fandom's Ringbearer. They contain some interesting artwork, giving fans a taste of the advertizing we'll see in coming years.

6/09/00: The Wall Street Journal announced today that the Marvel Enterprise unit Toy Biz has won the master toy license for the Lord of the Rings films. This means that Toy Biz will be producing all the action figures, plush toys, watches, and other similar merchandise for the trilogy. No toys are expected to be released until closer to the first film's release date of December 14, 2001.

5/29/00: Over the past few weeks, several unofficial images have appeared of cast members and filming. New Zealand Woman's Weekly magazine featured eight pics of filming near Mt. Ruapehu, featuring Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Sean Astin (Sam), director Peter Jackson, and extras in orc makeup. The Realm of the Ring has posted a spy pic showing Gandalf leading a charge down a hill. TheOneRing.net has scored pictures of Arwen and Saruman, as well as an exclusive first look at Gimli. Additionally, the world's first glimpse at the computer-generated Gollum has surfaced, though without any of the skin texture or lighting that will be applied to the final model. The picture was originally posted on TheOneRing.net, but after controversy over whether it would spoil the surprise of seeing the creature on the big screen, it was removed.

5/16/00: A few new cast members have been added to our Cast Page. John Leigh is rumored to be playing Hama, the doorward of Theoden; Nathaniel Lees will play Ugluk, captain of the orcs who take Merry and Pippin prisoner; and Paul Sutera will play Lotho Sackville-Baggins, Frodo's unpleasant relative who inherits Bag-End. Note that none of these three cast members have been officially confirmed.

4/29/00: Another update at E-Online's Force of Hobbit offers an interesting look at what's currently happening with the trilogy filming. Check it out for the latest on filming at Whakapapa National Park, a description of what Sauron looks like (sort of), and a few new pictures from the sets.

4/7/00: After years of waiting, Rings fans finally get their first glimpse at footage from the trilogy. On the official site, New Line has released a two minute preview featuring shots from the film as well as behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. The clip originally appeared in a longer form at March's ShoWest convention. Download the preview from the official site, or view stills from the clip at TheOneRing.net.

3/27/00: Several pieces of casting news have broken in the past few weeks. New Zealand actors Marton Csokas and Craig Parker have been cast as the elves Celeborn and Haldir, respectively. Bernard Hill, best known for his role as Captain Smith in Titanic, has been confirmed in the role of King Theoden of Rohan. Finally, the latest word on Faramir is that Ethan Hawke is out, and Australian star David Wenham is in. Visit our Cast Page for pics and info on Hill, Csokas, Parker, and Wenham.

3/9/00: The first full picture of cast members in costume has been published by the magazine Vanity Fair. The pic shows the four hobbit members of the Fellowship, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, in costume and on set. Vanity Fair promises more shots will be forthcoming in future issues. View the picture here or check the Gallery for more pictures.

3/1/00: Two new pieces of casting news have just broke on E-Online's Force of Hobbit. Hugo Weaving, best known for his role as the villanous Agent Smith in The Matrix, has been cast as Elrond Halfelven, and Mirando Otto, an Australian actress who starred in The Dead Letter Office, will play the human princess Eowyn. The March update to Force of Hobbit also includes a look behind the scenes at Orthanc, and an update on what's happening now on the Rings production. Visit our Cast Page for pictures of Weaving and Otto, or Force of Hobbit to read the original articles.

2/19/00: At long last, the official New Line LOTR site has been updated! New graphics, a shockwave animation, and a Real Audio peek behind the scenes at Hobbiton are available for the new site's launch, along with a promise of more to come. Even more new graphics and animation can be seen at the German version.

2/09/00: The DVD release of The Astronaut's Wife, a New Line film, contains a special surprise: a "Lord of the Rings" themed web browser from NeoPlanet. The browser features Rings-themed graphics and sounds. You can download the three megabyte file from TheOneRing.net or see a screen shot here. (You will need at least a 200Mhz machine to run the browser.)

2/01/00: The cast of the Rings films speaks up, with Ian McKellen posting some thoughts on playing Gandalf on his web site, and Elijah Wood discussing his character of Frodo for the E-Online site Force of Hobbit. Both interviews are worth a read, providing insight into how the films are taking shape, and what day-to-day life is like on the set.

1/25/00: Yet another on-set report has surfaced, this time provided by Tehanu at TheOneRing.net. After a recent incident where she was falsely accused of trespassing on the film's set, perhaps the film company is trying to make ammends with the online community by inviting the New Zealand webmistress to visit. Read the report of her visit, one of the first by an actual Tolkien fan, or check out TheOneRing.net's main page for all the latest scoops.

1/12/00: E-Online has launched a new section about the Lord of the Rings movie, called Force of Hobbit: An Insider's Guide to the Lord of the Rings. Though containing little new info, it does have an interesting look at a day on the set of the production, with a promise to have new entries every month. As we wait for the film's official website to be updated, it's an interesting diversion. Read the article here.

See news from 1999