LEGO has picked up the rights to some of the biggest movie properties around including Star Wars, Spider-Man, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Batman.  Now they have another big title (technically two titles) on the way: The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.  I can only begin to dream of the massive, time-consuming glory these sets will offer.  It will probably cost well over $100 for the set, but I want to spend an entire day building Helm’s Deep (I can’t confirm they’re going to offer it, but I’d be shocked it they didn’t).  But think of the possibilities: The Shire. Rivendell. Mirkwood. Rohan. Minas freaking Tirith.

Hit the jump for the press release and sound off in the comments about what you can’t wait to build.  The release of the LEGO sets is timed to coincide with the build up to the first part of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit adaptation, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which opens December 14, 2012.  Part two, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, opens December 13, 2013.

With Black Friday later this week, Amazon has started their annual holiday sales a bit early.  All week they’ve got great deals on a wide assortment of DVDs and Blu-rays, but they’ve also got a number of other selections that aren’t on their main page.  For today’s other deals, Amazon’s got:

• The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Blu-ray $49.99 (which is 58% off)
• Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy Blu-ray $29.99 (63% off)
• Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (Star Trek I, II, III, IV, V, VI + The Captain’s Summit Bonus Disc) Blu-ray $39.99 (60% off).
• X-Men: First Class (+Digital Copy) Blu-ray $9.99 (75% off)
• Rio (Blu-ray/ DVD Combo + Digital Copy) $11.99 (70% off)
• 127 Hours Blu-ray $10.99 (73% off)
• Despicable Me (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) $10.99 (73% off)

Since these aren’t Gold Box deals, I’ve got no idea when the sale will end so don’t wait too long.  Hit the jump for the list of extras on the box sets and remember you get free shipping if you spend over $25.

It’s finally here. For those who’ve held out hope for the extended editions of Lord of the Rings series on Blu-ray, Warner Brothers has now put out a fifteen-disc set of the franchise, with each film getting a new mastering. Peter Jackson’s triumphant version of the J.R.R. Tolkien books won big at the Oscars (seventeen awards in total, including best picture for Return of the King) and the box office, and did so for a reason: it’s great. Watching them again, the films still feel perfect, and though there may be some bad jokes, and perfectionists may wish that more of the books made it on screen (or were added to the extended cuts), the sheer scale that Jackson gets to by the final chapter is one of the great achievements of cinema. Yes, the guy who directed Bad Taste had the right stuff. One wonders if he’ll ever be as good again.  Our review of  The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Edition on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

Back in December, we reported that Orlando Bloom might reprise his role as Elven sharpshooter Legolas for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit.  Today on his official Facebook page, Jackson confirmed that he had Legolas bow:

Ten years ago, Orlando Bloom created an iconic character with his portrayal of Legolas. I’m excited to announce today that we’ll be revisiting Middle Earth with him once more. I’m thrilled to be working with Orlando again. Funny thing is, I look older—and he doesn’t! I guess that’s why he makes such a wonderful elf.

Bloom is the latest Lord of the Rings cast member to join The Hobbit.  While Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Elrond (Hugo Weaving), and Gollum (Andy Serkis) actually appear in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, Jackson has apparently made room for Legolas, Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), old Bilbo (Ian Holm), and Frodo (Elijah Wood).  Hit the jump for the synopsis of the novel.  The two-part 3D film is set for December 2012 and December 2013.

As a way to build awareness for the upcoming Blu-ray release for the Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions, Warner Bros. will be theatrically releasing the extended editions in to AMC Theaters this June.  TheOneRing reports that The Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition will open June 14th, The Two Towers: Extended Edition will open June 21st, and The Return of the King: Extended Edition will hit on June 28th, the same day that Blu-ray trilogy of the extended editions hits stores.  Now the real question is whether or not these films will feature intermissions or if the hardcore LOTR fans will happily sit through a four-hour feature.  I’m betting on the latter.

Hit the jump for a list of special features included on the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: Limited Extended Edition Blu-ray.  The 15-disc set has an SRP of $119.98.

If you get tired of seeing the same names over and over again on Forbes’ annual list of the wealthiest people in the world, well you just might be in luck. The business magazine has compiled a comprehensive 2011 list of the 15 wealthiest fictional characters, complete with bios and the net worth for each character. Topping the list, naturally, is Scrooge McDuck with $44.1 billion after taking into account his massive gold fortune.

The list also includes Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, Mr. Monopoly, Jeffrey Lewbowski, Smaug (yes, that Smaug), and of course, C. Montgomery Burns. The 15 characters are worth a combined $131.6 billion, with an average wealth of $9.7 billion. Hit the jump for the details and bios on some of the characters that made the list.

Warner Bros. has sent out a press release announcing the release date and special features for the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy.  For starters, only Fellowship of the Ring is getting a restoration, and while the regular-edition Blu-ray release proved that it needed one, it’s weak sauce that Warner Bros. isn’t bothering with cleaning up The Two Towers and Return of the King.  As for the special features, the majority are DVD-only and are being ported straight from the already-released extended editions.  The only new features are behind-the-scenes documentaries from director Costa Botes.  So essentially if you buy the Blu-ray extended editions, you’re getting 15 discs, but if you bought the original extended edition DVDs, you already own two-fifths of this “new” set.  And what’s the price tag on this bad boy? $119.98 SRP.

Hit the jump to check out the list of special features.  The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy hits stores on June 28th. Click here to pre-order it.

Though the two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit has been fraught with delays and difficulties, Warner Bros. has announced that production has finally started.  There were concerns that The Hobbit would leave New Zealand due to a labor strike, but the 3D movies will indeed be shot consecutively against the familiar backdrops from The Lord of the Rings.  As a prequel to the award-winning trilogy, The Hobbit takes place in Middle-earth 60 years prior to Frodo receiving The Ring. Instead, the two-part adaptation will follow Frodo’s Uncle Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he is swept up in a quest of his own.

Hit the jump for the full press release, synopsis and two production images.

When The Lord of the Rings was released on Blu-ray last year, many fans were upset that only the theatrical versions were hitting Blu-ray and not the extended editions.  I didn’t have a problem with the release since I love the theatrical versions and wanted to see them in high definition (unfortunately, the transfers were only mediocre and Peter Jackson said he wasn’t involved with the Blu-ray).

But now those unhappy fans can be sated as Warner Bros. has announced The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Limited Extended Edition + Digital Copy) on Blu-ray.  Like the theatrical Blu-ray, the Limited Extended Edition will come with digital copies.  Also like the theatrical Blu-ray, it looks like all of the special features have been ported over from the DVD with no new additions.  There’s no word if Peter Jackson oversaw this transfer, but seeing as he’s been busy with The Hobbit, I doubt it.  Click here to pre-order The Lord of the Rings: Limited Extended Edition , which is due out in 2011 or 2012 according to Amazon (most likely late this year).  Hit the jump for a full list of the special features.

In case you need reassurance that The Hobbit movie is actually, for realsies, finally happening, some images have hit the web showing the construction of one of the sets down in New Zealand. Peter Jackson’s adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkein novel that preceded The Lord of the Rings is set to start filming on March 21^st. Much of the cast has already assembled on the island, as evidence by the cast photo that was released last week. Hit the jump to check out the set photos.

Some folks last year were dismayed that Warner Bros released no-frills, theatrical-version-only Blu-rays for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  They complained they were being ripped off by a product no one was forcing them to buy.  But with The Hobbit finally moving forward and Warner Bros. wanting to put Middle-Earth back in the minds of audiences, it looks like the Extended Editions might be on the way.  The Digital Bits reports that they have sources at Warner Home Video and New Line Cinema saying that Warner Bros. is planning to release The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Extended Editions on Blu-ray this year.  It’s currently unknown whether these editions will have new special features or if Peter Jackson will oversee the transfers.  If I had to guess, I would say these Blu-rays will have the same special features as the DVDs and if we’re getting more LOTR special features, it probably won’t be until there’s an “Ultimate” set which also includes The Hobbit.

The Digital Bits says to expect an announcement on the Extended Edition Blu-rays in the next several weeks along with an Blu-ray announcement for Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita and Barry Lyndon.

With 2010 coming to a close, and the imminent arrival of an entirely fresh, unexplored, and unpredictable decade of cinema, what better time to start bombarding you with top ten lists of past highlights? We’ve done top ten posters, top ten trailers and top ten Christmas movies (and an alternate Christmas list for those who disagreed with the first).

This time: scores and soundtracks. There is a distinction between the two, but it’s murky, and as more and more films are using a mix of both original scores and pre-existing tracks, who are we to try to keep them separate?  Hit the jump for more.

Today in Not Really At All Surprising News, it looks like composer Howard Shore, who won three Oscars for his work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will score Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit.  Shore told The Province [via TheOneRing], “It looks like finally it’s going to be happening. I’ll be working on it for the next three years — it’s going to consume a lot of my time and work now.”  As we’ve reported on numerous occasions, The Hobbit will be broken into two parts.  Obviously, getting Shore back brings a nice bit of musical continuity, but I’m eager to hear what new pieces he’ll compose.

The Hobbit is set to begin filming in February in New Zealand.  The films will star Martin Freeman, James Nesbitt, Richard Armitage, Rob Kazinsky, Aidan Turner, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow and Peter Hambleton.  Hit the jump for a synopsis for the book.  The films are set to be released in 3D in December 2012 and December 2013.

Due to an ugly labor dispute, it was looking like Peter Jackson’s two-part adaptation of The Hobbit was going to leave New Zealand  That no longer appears to be the case as New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced that The Hobbit (and its $670 million budget) would be staying in his country.  You know a movie is a big deal to a country when they get the prime minister to hold on a press conference on it.  The New Zealand government is even introducing legislation “to clarify the distinction between independent contractors and employees as it relates to the film industry only.”  That’s how important these films are to the country.

Hit the jump for more concessions the government made in order to keep Middle-Earth in New Zealand, which is where The Lord of the Rings trilogy was famously shot.  Surprisingly, changing the name of the country to “Middle-Earth” wasn’t one of them.  The Hobbit is set for release in 3D in December 2012 and December 2013.  The films star Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Rob Kazinsky, Aidan Turner, Graham McTavish, John Callen, and Stephen Hunter.

Andy Serkis has been cast as Ceasar, the main ape in Fox’s upcoming Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Apes, in a performance capture role. The news was broke in the form of a tweet from the studio saying “This is cool. Gollum reteams with Weta. Andy Serkis to star as Ceaser in “Rise of the Apes” portraying chimp who leads the simian revolt.” Serkis is best known for his performance capture portrayal of Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As referenced in the tweet, Serkis’ role of Gollum was made possible by Jackson’s effect house Weta Digital, who will also work on Apes. The film will co-star James Franco, Freida Pinto and John Lithgow under the direction of Rupert Wyatt.

Serkis’ role of Ceasar won’t be his first primate role, as Serkis played King Kong through performance capture for Jackson’s 2005 remake. Serkis will next be seen in John Landis’ Burke and Hare (live-action) alongside Simon Pegg and in Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (performance capture). For more on Rise of the Apes continue reading. Rise of the Apes is expected to be released June 24, 2011.