'Fellowship of the Ring' Screening at Radio City Music Hall with Live Orchestra & Choir Performing Howard Shore's Score!

Last night, NYC’s Radio City Music Hall played host to a screening of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Howard Shore's original Academy Award®-winning score was performed live to the epic motion picture by the 21st Century Orchestra, The Collegiate Chorale and Brooklyn Youth Chorus conducted by Ludwig Wicki.

Marc Bernardin of PopWatch.Ew.com was at the event and reports that "watching it with a crowd who knew every beat (and some of whom were dressed as their favorite elves or wizards), applauded at every major character introduction (it was a loudness-tie between Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn and Orlando Bloom’s Legolas) and minor cameo (like Jackson’s), and knew when to laugh and then shut up was a hoot and a half."

Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf (left) and Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
© 2002 New Line Productions (Pierre Vinet)

Add to this the spectacle of a live orchestra and choir and this event was an over-the-top treat for LOTR fans! Wish I had been there!

"After the two-and-a-half hours of Fellowship came to an end and the orchestra took their final bows, composer Howard Shore walked out on stage, accompanied by two special guests: Elijah Wood and Billy Boyd. They looked just as tickled by the evening as the audience was."

Great news - for those of you who missed this epic LOTR event, the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers will be screened in the same fashion at Radio City on Oct. 9, 2010. I'm there! Who wants to join me for a LOTR weekend in NYC?

Keep abreast of The Two Towers Radio City Music Hall 2010 event by signing up on the RadioCityLOTRConcert.com site. The signup field is located at the top right hand corner of the site.

Hey Hobbit fans, join the Guillermo del Toro FaceBook Group!

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Source: Popwatch.ew.com, Theradiocitylotrconcert.com

Guillermo del Toro on 3D Hobbit Rumor | Casting Update

The internet has been flooded with all sorts of Hobbit rumors lately. Let's start with the casting rumors first. Sir Ian McKellen is probably one of the few people who’ll make the transition from The Lord of the Rings to The Hobbit. The award winning actor made a recent appearance at London’s BFI IMAX cinema event where they held a Lord of the Rings marathon. While in the presence of the film’s die hard fans, he gave some casting updates on The Hobbit including the status of Bilbo Baggins!

According to SlashFilm, McKellen told the attending audience that he will be returning to his role as Gandalf in the upcoming feature. Filming starts early next year in March, and he will be on set ready for action. He revealed that the role of Bilbo Baggins had been cast and he believes fans will be “very, very pleased.” Who could it be?

Photo by John Shearer, courtesy WireImage.com

James McAvoy has been the most popular Hobbit casting rumor to date. McAvoy has recently signed on for I’m With Cancer and is negotiating for a role in Robert Redford’s Lincoln drama The Conspirator. It appears his calendar may be booked up for next year. If not McAvoy, then who?

Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood is still keeping an eye on Middle Earth. Wood recently spoke with HollywoodOutbreak and talked about [audio] how much he’s looking forward to the Peter Jackson/Guillermo del Toro collab on The Hobbit.

As for The Hobbit 3D rumours, TheOneRing asked Guillermo del Toro just what exactly, if anything, was up with the 3D Hobbit. He is the director of the films and the guy who picks the director of photography, the cameras and formats. For the record, del Toro told TheOneRing “I can safely say that, as of this moment, there are absolutely NO conversations about doing the HOBBIT films in 3D.”

For the latest Hobbit updates join the Guillermo del Toro FaceBook Group.

Source:
SlashFilm.com
HollywoodOutbreak.com
TheOneRing.net

Post-apocalyptic Animated Movie '9': Extended Clip

The Year of 9: Shane Acker's 9 , Peter Jackson's District 9 and Rob Marshall's Nine.

Shane Acker's upcoming animated movie 9 is a weirdly original and surreally beautiful movie produced by Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov and Jim Lemley.

It takes place in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world in which a band of courageous rag dolls battles for the survival of civilization. Featuring the voices of Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer and John C. Reilly. 9 will be previewed at this week's Comic-Con in San Diego and opens in theaters on 9-9-09.

Looks like Pixar's UP will have some serious competition come awards season!

Source: Scifiwire.com