Hey Xoanon! Quickbeam here.
Today I awoke to the following items in the trades.
From Daily Variety:
Headline: “New Line Reels to its Roots” by Dade Hayes
Text: With its 2000 slate, New Line is returning to its roots: comedy and mayhem, much of it with urban appeal.
The mini-major, along with speciality division Fine Line, unspooled Tuesday the first product reel at ShoWest.
SNIP
By far the best-received part of the presentation concerned three pics that aren’t on the 2000 slate: the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The three are being lensed simultaneously in New Zealand.
“Rings” clips mixed behind-the-scenes footage, cast interviews and a smattering of finished snippets.
The unorthodox shooting schedule will yield a releasable trio sometime in 2001, presenting New Line with a dilemma: When to slot them? Product reel gave an answer, at least for now: Christmas 2001, 2002 and 2003.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Headline: “NL shows off radiant ‘Rings’ at lunch event” by Chris Gennusa
Text: New Line Cinema unspooled a diverse product reel that gave 4,000 ShoWest attendees their first glimpse of the mega-budgeted “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The company said one film in the series will be released each Christmas beginning next year through 2003.
SNIP
The “Rings” trilogy– now shooting in unison in Australia– stars Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. The first installment has a budget of $130 million.
The crowd witnessed a special effects-laden behind-the-scenes “making of” segment with Peter Jackson talking about the film. Many attendees said because of the costuming and scope of the project, “Rings” looked much like an epic “Star Wars.”
Do you believe the errors in this? I mean, The Hollywood Reporter is one of the biggest industry trades, everybody in La-La Land reads it, and they can’t even get the country name right! Or the budget … which was rumored to be up to $190 million for all THREE films, not just one.
Who says you can’t hire good help anymore? **Hey editors at the Reporter, if you need to hire a correspondent who knows the facts AND knows how to write, drop me a note!** (me to! Xoanon needs a new job! – Xo)
Much too hasty,
Quickbeam
