The newly appointed film director of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit Guillermo del Toro has revealed that Andy Serkis is set to join Sir Ian McKellan in reprising their roles of Gandalf and Gollum for the back-to-back films.
"We really want to take the state-of-the-art animatronics and take a leap 10 years into the future with the technology we will develop for the creatures in the movie. We have every intention to do for animatronics and special effects what the other films did for virtual reality," he added.
Eddie Izzard, the well known British comedian and actor is to use his vocal talents in the role of Reepicheep in Disney’s adaptation of CS Lewis’s Prince Caspian. Reepicheep will be brought to life using computer-generated animation with Izzard supplying the voice. Eddie Izzard read and fell in love with the CS Lewis books as a child, The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe being amongst his favourites.
Reepicheep appears in Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and also in The Last Battle. He is a large, dark, talking mouse who carries a rapier, and wears a red plume tucked in his golden circlet.Reepicheep is descended from a group of mice who gnawed through the ropes that bound Aslan to the Stone Table after the White Witch had killed him; as a result of their service, they became talking mice.
And looking again at Reepicheep I realised that he has always been recorded in a high, slightly camp voice because of the overt language that he uses and his chivalrous nature, but actually he is a murderous little so-and-so of a mouse. I see him as the Mad Max of mice.
Eddie Izzard
ABC news in the US are planning to film a documentary featuring a behind the scene look at the life on JK Rowling. Airing in November the documentary will feature interviews, the book tour following the release if the final Harry Potter book and an insight into what the future holds for Harry.
UK production company RDF Media will work with ABC on the Rowling 20/20 instalment.
The Carnegie Medal was established in 1936 and is the UK’s oldest children’s literary honour. Past winners have included Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights and CS Lewis’s The Last Battle.
This years nominations are
- Crusade - Elizabeth Laird. A 12th century tale of the Saracens and the Christians during the third Crusade.
- Apache - Tanya Landeman’s. The setting is the 19th century and features and 14 year old girl warrior fighting for the survival of her land and her tribe.
- Here Lies Arthur - Philip Reeve. A re-working of the Camelot story.
- Ruby Red - Linzi Glass. A love story set in Johannesburg against the backdrop of the Soweto riots in 1976.
- Gatty’s Tale - Kevin Crossley-Holland. A pilgrimage to the Holy Land set in the 13th century.
- What I Was - Meg Rosoff. A tale of friendship set in East Anglia.
- Finding Violet Park - Jenny Valentine. A 15 year old boy explore the life of Violet Park - he is lead to this through finding her ashes in a cab office.
The Independent featured an article on the rise and fall of Bob Shaye and New Line Cinema. Screen adaptations of fantasy novels have been instrumental in both the good and bad times and the article looks into all this is great detail.
Don’t forget that is was Bob Shaye and New Line Cinema that gave Peter Jackson the chance to make the Oscar-winning trilogy of JRR Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, it was also New Line behind the woeful adaptation of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass (Northern Lights).
The article is excellent, charting the 40 year history of New Line Cinema. It also goes through the films that succeeded and the turkeys that sunk without trace.
On the 1st of May 2008, Alzheimer’s Trust Research will be hosting a dinner with Terry Pratchett attending as a special guest. Terry Pratchett and Dr Raj Persaud will spend time talking to the guests and in particular about Alzheimer’s, its effects and there involvement in the Trust.
Places at the dinner are be auctioned to the highest bidder and pledges can be made by email to terrypratchettdinner@alzheimers-research.org.uk or by letter to
The Alzheimer’s Research Trust, The Stables, Station Road, Great Shelford, Cambridge, CB22 5LR or fax to 01223 843325.
The closing date is the 3pm on the 21st of April and the successful bidders will receive notification by the 24th of April.
Judge Robert Patterson Junior, hearing the copyright trial of JK Rowling versus Steven Vander Ark and the Harry Potter Lexicon announced during the trail that he tried reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone to his children but only got half way through due to the book being "filled with strange names and words that would be gibberish in any other context."
He went on to state that JK Rowling’s work was more complex than Dickens and that there was genuine worth in an encyclopedia like the Harry Potter Lexicon.
JK Rowling believes that the publication of the Lexicon will open the floodgates and asked "Are we the owners of our own work?"
A verdict is not expected for another few weeks and the outspoken judge has urged the two sides to settle out of court and avoid "years of appeals and misery"
The Elf Fantasy Fair is Europe’s largest fantasy event and will be held at Castle de Haar Haarzuilens in Holland on the 19th and 20th of April 2008. Robin Hobb will be in attendance on both these dates and is looking forward to having a wonderful time.
The Elf Fantasy Fair has been held every April since 2001 with approximately 25,000 people attending. For more information and to book tickets online - http://www.elffantasy.eu/?langswitch_lang=en
In an online Harris poll in the United States of America The Bible is still the most popular book. However, the fantasy genre performed strongly: The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien was voted the second most popular book amongst men and the Harry Potter series the second most popular amongst eighteen to thirty-one year olds.
Lord of the Rings book review
JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series
JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, received an outstanding achievement award at the Galaxy British Book Awards (dubbed the ‘Literary Oscars’).
The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, said in a video message that Rowling "has joined a distinguished line of British authors whose work has got the whole country reading, and whose books will be read for many years to come by successive generations".
JK Rowling biography, bibliography, book reviews and interviews