You probably have read this news on TheOneRing.net itself. Still, since Xoanon was kind enough to send me the official press release, I’ll pass it along:

We have been spreading unofficial rumors that TheOneRing.net would be presenting a panel at Comic-Con but the official website confirmed it today: At 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 22, in room 7AB founder Calisuri, the incomparable Quickbeam and fan advocate MrCere will present the latest unofficial new about ‘The Hobbit’ movies and everything else there is time for. Guests possible but not promised. If you haven’t heard, returned tickets are now available to the general public from the previously sold out Comic-Con. TORn will also be sharing space with Weta at the Dark Horse booth (#2615) and selling really cool shirts! We hope to see you there.

I was lucky enough to participate in the equivalent panel with these same worthy gentlemen two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the experience–that and meeting John Howe and signing copies of The Frodo Franchise. I’d love to be there again, whether on the panel or in the audience. ‘Tis not to be this year, though I hope next year there will be official Hobbit hype beginning at Comic-Con, and maybe then I’ll get myself out to San Diego to observe and report.

If you have or can manage to get hold of a ticket, do get in line early for the TORN event. It fills up quickly!

By now you probably have heard that Ian McKellen made a surprise visit to the British Film Institute’s marathon trilogy screening and confirmed that he’ll be back in New Zealand for filming starting in March. He expects to receive a script soon and says he knows who has been cast as Bilbo. (He says “Frodo” by mistake, but it’s clear what he means.) Fan Karl Falconer got a huge scoop by filming Ian with his cell phone. The result, posted on Facebook, shows Ian from a great distance, but the spectator can hear his dulcet tones dispensing information.

(I’m not sure whether you have to be a member of Facebook to get through to the clip, which is a little under 3 minutes long. After clicking on the link at TORN, I was asked to login.)

This is all pretty much what we’ve known and/or suspected was happening. Principal photography has long since been announced as beginning in March. Few things were as certain as that Ian and Andy Serkis would be returning. Peter announced at Comic-Con that in three weeks the script for the first part of The Hobbit would be sent to New Line/Warner Bros. for approval. Now, about four weeks later, it sounds as though the writers met their deadline.

In short, movement toward making The Hobbit a reality is happening as expected, and it’s great to hear the confirmation of all that from Ian’s own mouth! I suspect that very soon we’ll be getting a lot more real news.

Loyal reader Paulo Pereira has alerted me to the fact that Empire magazine has big coverage of The Hobbit in its March issue. Check the image of Gollum on the cover here. It sounds from the online description that anyone who has been keeping up on TheOneRing.net, here, and on other specialist sites will be familiar with quite a bit of what’s in this issue. Still, there’s a new interview with Guillermo Del Toro, and he usually manages to drop in a few new facts. The announcement says the issue will be in stores on Friday, January 30. That’s presumably for the U.K. I don’t know if it comes out on the same day in North America, but I for one will be checking.

Nearly three years to go before the release, but I guess we can all start our collections of Hobbit-related magazines now. I’ve added a new category to deal with them: “The Hobbit in the Media.”