My friend and colleague J. J. Murphy recently alerted me to the fact that the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords is currently airing an episode that parodies The Lord of the Rings. I’m not an HBO subscriber, but with the help of another friend and colleague, Jeff Smith, I was able to see the program.

LOTR parodies abound, of course, but this one carries an extra little frisson for fans who are aware that Bret McKenzie, half of the comic musical duo “Flight of the Conchords,” played “Figwit” in Jackson’s film trilogy. (The other half of “Flight of the Conchords” is Jemaine Clement, who also starred in the recent Kiwi film Eagle vs. Shark.) more »

I’ll be doing a brief reading, Q&A, and signing at the University Bookstore, Hilldale (Hilldale Mall, corner of Midvale and University) on September 19 at 7:00 pm.

Penguin is currently releasing The Frodo Franchise in New Zealand.  I’ll be doing a couple of radio interviews next week:

Tuesday, September 4 at 9:10am, local time, with Chris Burn on The Breeze in Manawatu

Thursday, September 6 at 9:20 am, local time, with Nicky Hunt on Radioworks in Otago.

I am adding several links and will continue to do so as I run across sites. Some of these are general Lord of the Rings fan sites. Others are more specifically related to the content of The Frodo Franchise and to some of my interviewees.

The cover

The cover illustration for the U.S. and U.K. edition of The Frodo Franchise is by Victor Juhasz, a prominent caricaturist who has contributed to such publications as The New Yorker. I described the image I had in mind and provided some photos and objects to be used as models, and Vic came up with a wonderful image that conveys exactly what I wanted it to. It’s not an easy phrase to illustrate, but that cover says Frodo + franchise. Check out some of his other caricatures on his website. more »

There hasn’t been a lot of news about the Hobbit film project lately, though I’m sure that behind the scenes negotiations continue to move forward. The launch of the Frodo Franchise blog offers a good occasion to summarize what scraps of information have surfaced since my last update.

First, The Hobbit has its own page on the Internet Movie Data Base. The release date given is December 1, 2009. The source of this date isn’t given; New Line officials have spoken of 2009 as the year for the film’s appearance.  Of course it’s far too soon for firm release plans to be set. As far as we know, no script, no designs, and no casting are in progress. Such an ambitious project would take at least two years, and that means starting ASAP. more »

Part I: www.henryjenkins.org/2007/08/the_frodo_franchise_an_intervi.html

Part II: www.henryjenkins.org/2007/08/the_frodo_franchise_an_intervi_1.html

Part III: www.henryjenkins.org/2007/08/the_frodo_franchise_an_intervi_2.html

www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/6/1186444191

In his July 31 newsletter, Tolkien illustrator John Howe mentions The Frodo Franchise:

www.john-howe.com/news/more.php?id=194_0_1_0_M

Pieter Collins of “Tolkien Library” (a reference and news site devoted to Tolkien’s work) interviewed me via email shortly before the book came out:

www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/Frodo_Franchise_Interview.php

In my July 20 entry, I cited a statement by Ian McKellen concerning possible progress in the ongoing legal dispute between Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema. The dispute is the reason given by the studio’s president, Bob Shaye, for Jackson’s not being asked to direct the film adaptation of The Hobbit. There Sir Ian said, “I detect that there is movement and it’s movement in the right direction.” That interview went online July 19.

more »