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☆ ‘Lord of the Rings’ franchise has a new movie coming in 2026
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The Oscar-winning team behind the nearly $6 billion blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies is reuniting to produce two new films. The first of the new projects from Sir Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens is tentatively titled “Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” Warner Bros. Walsh and Boyens have been tapped to write the screenplay, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. Warner Bros. is owned by CNN’s parent company. Jackson made history with “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously.

Persons: Sir Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Gollum, ” Warner, “, Andy Serkis, Walsh, Boyens, Phoebe Gittins, “ Yesssss, ” Serkis, ”, Peter, Fran, Philippa, ” Jackson, Tolkien’s, Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy, Jackson, King ”, Serkis, Jackson’s Organizations: CNN, ” Warner Bros . Discovery, Warner Bros, Warner Bros . Pictures, Globes

☆ Opinion | From ‘Dune’ to Decadence (and Back)
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There are three great novels that I read as an early adolescent that I would take to a desert island if I ever needed to be set up for decades of rereading: The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Watership Down” and “Dune.” I’ve written more in the past on J.R.R. Tolkien’s work and even on Richard Adams’s great rabbit epic than on Frank Herbert’s magnum opus. So I can’t let the occasion of “Dune: Part Two” and its imperial command of the box office pass without some kind of comment. The first is about the story’s contemporary resonance. What’s getting less attention, and what I want to highlight, is the larger civilizational dynamic that the book sets up, and how it speaks to our own moment.

Persons: Richard Adams’s, Frank Herbert’s, Denis Villeneuve’s, What’s

☆ Now you can visit a real-life ‘Hobbit Hole’ in New Zealand
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Francesca Street | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Tolkien’s imagination – and therefore sadly off limits to tourists – the Hobbiton Movie Set provides a pretty good substitute. The Hobbit sets – mostly facades built into landscaped hillsides – have operated as a tourist attraction in some capacity since 2002, but until recently most of the Hobbit Holes have been out of bounds to visitors. The Hobbiton Movie Set formed the backdrop to the "Lord of the Rings" movies and the subsequent Hobbit trilogy and is now a tourist attraction. Shaun JeffersNow, two fully decorated Hobbit Holes have opened to the public for the first time. Shaun JeffersExploring the Hobbit Holes is now included as part of the Hobbiton tour experience.

Persons: J.R.R, Peter Jackson, –, Shaun Jeffers, Hobbiton, “, it’s, ”, crouch, Doom, Conor McNish, Lane, Aragorn, Gandalf, King Théoden, Rohan, ’ ”, ” CNN’s Thomas Page Organizations: CNN, Getty, CNN Travel, Mount, Sunday Locations: New Zealand, Matamata, Waikato, “, Auckland, Hobbiton, LOTR, Zealand, South, Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu, London

☆ Little-known life of Moomins creator Tove Jansson explored in new exhibition
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Aurore Laborie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Paris CNN —The Moomin characters may be internationally famous, but a new exhibition in Paris shows a lesser-known side to the Finnish artist who created them. The show takes an intimate look into the life of Tove Jansson, both as a prolific artist and an advocate for female independence. Courtesy The Community and Moomin Characters Ltd. Using illustrations, cartoons, photography, music, writings and letters, the exhibition shows Jansson as a multifaceted character who could — and did — make art out of almost anything. Tove Jansson's Moomin character "Little My" paper doll.

Persons: Tove Jansson, ”, Sini, ” Tove Jansson's, Jansson, “, Thomas Zambra, —, Signe Hammarsten, Viktor Jansson, Tove Jansson’s, Tove Jansson's, Summers, Hitler, Stalin, “ Garm, Lewis Carroll’s, Alice, Tuulikki Pietilä, Tuukka Laurila, Pietilä, Zambra, Tove Jansson ”, Louis Organizations: Paris CNN, CNN, des Beaux Arts, Nature, Espace Mont Locations: Paris, Finnish, Kanto, Tuukka, Stockholm, Scandinavia, Finland, “, Helsinki, Wonderland, Espace

☆ In U.S.-China AI contest, the race is on to deploy killer robots
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +26 min

In this high-tech contest, seizing the upper hand across fields including AI and autonomous weapons, like Ghost Shark, could determine who comes out on top. This could become critical if the United States intervened against an assault by Beijing on Taiwan. Cheap and expendableThe AI military sector is dominated by software, an industry where change comes fast. Still, the available disclosures of spending on AI military research do show that outlays on AI and machine learning grew sharply in the decade from 2010. The Costa-Mesa, California-based company now employs more than 1,800 staff in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Persons: America’s, Shane Arnott, Anduril, ” Arnott, Arnott, ”, “, Mick Ryan, Eric Schmidt, hasn’t, Lloyd Austin, –, Stuart Russell, Russell, Kathleen Hicks, “ We’ll, Palmer Luckey, Luckey, ” Arnott didn’t, Biden, Tsai Ing, Frank Kendall, Datenna, Martijn Rasser, Feng Yanghe, Feng, Palmer, ” Anduril, Arnott wouldn’t, David Lague, Edgar Su, Catherine Tai, Peter Hirschberg Organizations: Australian Navy, Ghost Sharks, Sharks, Reuters, Defense, Australian, Chinese Communist Party, Beijing, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Department of Defense, Pentagon, Australia’s Department of Defence, Australian Defence Force, Technologists, University of California, U.S ., U.S, Teledyne FLIR, Facebook, VR, Military, . Air Force, FH, U.S . Central Intelligence Agency, Department, Statistics, Harvard University, Biden Administration, Special, Command, Ministry of Defense, Veteran Locations: China, Australia, United States, Sydney, Britain, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Europe, Asia, Ukraine, ”, America, U.S, Taiwan, East Asia, Beijing, Russian, Berkeley, Fort Campbell , Tennessee, Kenya, “, Russia, Colorado, Zhuhai, Netherlands, Costa, Mesa , California, United Kingdom, Virginia, Canberra, Washington

☆ Opinion | The Subtlety of J.R.R. Tolkien
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

The devil appears to some people as Lucifer the light-bringer, yes — but his darker visage finds worshipers as well. Ours is no longer the world in which Tolkien grew up, nor even the one in which he spent his last years. Tolkien himself was very careful to note that the Shire is not self-sustaining, dependent as it is on outsiders for security. I obviously endorse this point, but I think the last line undersells how much Tolkien subjected his own pastoral nostalgia to critique. Because Tolkien is a reactionary, the solution to that sickness is the return of a king of ancient lineage.

Persons: Tolkien, Soviet Union didn’t, Adolf Hitler’s, Joseph Stalin, Hitler, Lucifer, unrealism —, Tolkien’s, Philip Larkin, “, King Charles III’s, Niall Gooch, Hobbitism, Bilbo, It’s, Gondor, Anárion, that’s Organizations: Gorgoroth, Jackson Locations: Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, England, Tolkien’s, Isengard, Shire, Britain

☆ Post Malone Buys the One-Of-A-Kind ‘One Ring’ Trading Card
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A unique trading card that spawned a frenzied search and multiple seven-figure offers has been sold to pop singer and rapper Post Malone. The sale—of a one-of-a-kind card from the “Magic: The Gathering” game depicting the enchanted “One Ring” from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” epic—concludes a saga that began in earnest when the set containing the card was released in June. A New York card shop had offered $1 million to whoever found it; the owner of a store in Spain bid about twice that.

Persons: Post Malone, Tolkien’s Organizations: New Locations: J.R.R, New York, Spain

☆ Butterfly group named after 'Lord of the Rings' villain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The “distinctive fused orange rings” that encircle black-and-white eyespots on the hindwings of this group led the researchers to name the genus Saurona, according to a recent study published in the journal Systematic Entomology. The Eye of Sauron glows in the 2001 film "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." … It’s a very fine scientific paper.”Distinguishing a special groupThe researchers documented two new species in the Saurona genus, named Saurona triangula and Saurona aurigera. Female saurona butterflies have slightly more rounded wings than males, but are otherwise similar in pattern, the authors found. Giving newly described genera or species names drawn from pop culture can draw attention to underappreciated species, Huertas said.

☆ New Butterflies Are Named for Sauron, ‘Lord of the Rings’ Villain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Chris Stanford | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A new genus of butterfly, with dark, eye-like spots on its distinctive orange wings, has been named after Sauron, the arch-villain of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic “The Lord of the Rings,” whose gaze lingers malevolently over the lands of Middle-earth. An international team of scientists identified two species in the new genus — Saurona triangula and Saurona aurigera — but said there were most likely more, the Natural History Museum in London announced on Sunday. The practice of naming new species after celebrities, fictional characters and others has a long history, and “giving these butterflies an unusual name helps to draw attention to this underappreciated group,” Dr. Blanca said. “It shows that, even among a group of very similar-looking species, you can find beauty among the dullness.”

☆ Orlando Bloom auditioned for 'Moulin Rouge' six times before breakout 'Lord of the Rings' role
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Imagine if Orlando Bloom was seen on the big screen serenading Nicole Kidman in “Moulin Rouge!” in 2001 instead of Ewan McGregor. It was a real possibility according to Bloom, who told Howard Stern in a resurfaced 2019 interview that he actually auditioned for the iconic role of Christian in director Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-winning film six times. “I thought that was going to be the one that was going to go my way just before ‘Lord of the Rings,’” Bloom said, adding that the “Moulin” audition was “around the same sort of time” as his “Rings” audition. Bloom told Stern that the “Moulin Rouge!” filmmakers were originally planning to cast unknown actors, saying, “obviously, I’d have been the unknown” given that he had only a few professional acting credits under his belt at the time. Regardless of the low payday for the original “Rings” trilogy, Bloom knew the value of how it impacted his career, and told Stern that the role of Legolas was “the greatest gift of my life.”

☆ New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movies Are in the Works, Warner Bros. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Gareth Vipers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ian McKellen, left, as Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo in the Peter Jackson directed “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is doubling down on Middle-Earth, announcing that a new raft of “Lord of the Rings” movies are in the works. The company has brokered a deal to make “multiple” films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” books, chief executive David Zaslav said in an earnings call Thursday.

☆ Jules Bass, producer and director known for ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ and ‘Frosty the Snowman,’ dies at 87
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The three prominent holiday specials, “Rudolph,” voiced by Burl Ives, “Frosty” starring Jackie Vernon and Jimmy Durante and “Santa Claus,” voiced by Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney, all debuted during the 1960s and 1970s. NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesBass was known for his longstanding creative partnership with director Arthur Rankin Jr., who died in 2014 at 89. Bass and Rankin’s first production was a syndicated television series titled “The New Adventures of Pinocchio,” which premiered in 1960. In addition to numerous holiday specials, they served as producers of series including “Thundercats” and “The Jackson 5ive” animated series. The January death of Bass’ daughter, Jean Nicole Bass, preceded his own.

☆ 'Rings of Power' series reveals another underdiscussed aspect of representation
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Polynesian scholars are pointing out “Lord of the Rings” productions have traditionally been filmed on their land, but with Pacific Islander actors relegated to the background. The new prequel on Amazon Prime did slightly better with representation, but experts stopped short of declaring it true progress. Na'puti pointed out that the Māori community experienced significant land loss, now holding just roughly 5% of all land there. McCartney also said that indigenous, Polynesian representation means incorporating the culture into the writing, given the Māori displacement in the country. And so if you’re on it, you have a responsibility.”Ultimately, Young questioned the necessity to continuously adapt the work of Tolkien, who wrote the “Lord of The Rings” series in the early 1900s.

☆ 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' season finale: Amazon has more battles to come (SPOILERS)
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers about “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” season finale. CNN —“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” has ended its first season, with plans for several more to come. Yet the real battle for Amazon could be convincing everyone that its very expensive – and mostly underwhelming – gamble on J.R.R. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was personally involved in acquiring rights from the Tolkien estate way back in 2017, reflecting the company’s high-stakes bet. It’s become popular to refer to certain large corporations as being “Too big to fail,” and in TV terms, “Rings of Power” is about as big as they come.

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