If 3 years seems too long for The Hobbit movie and your next visit to Middle Earth, help is at hand in the form of an independent movie telling the story of the Dúnedain, the Rangers of the North, before the return of the King.
It features Arathorn and Gilraen, the parents of Aragorn and follows them from their first meeting through a turbulent time in their people’s history.
It was inspired by a couple of paragraphs written by Tolkien in the appendices of the Lord of the Rings and is to be called “Born of Hope.”
It hasn’t been granted copyright approval but is not being produced as a commercial venture, instead being released online free of charge.
Don’t let that fool you though, the folks behind it and in it are Tolkien fans and the movie has been a product of love.
Richard Taylor, the boss at Weta Workshop was suitably impressed when he saw a preview and said:
“Amazing stuff, It’s incredible to see what craftsmanship, sensitivity and attention to detail is being brought to bear on this ambitious project. Everything so far looks amazing and I can’t wait to see the finished film.”
Although Aragorn was raised by Elrond after his parents died the Director/Co-writer/Producer told Middle Earth fans:
“I do not wish to replace actors who have already created characters we’ve all seen, so unless Liv and Hugo happen to be in the UK in the next few months and are willing to work for free then I wouldn’t hold your breath guys. You will however see Elladan and Elrohir.”
Born Of Hope is out soon and I’m looking forward to it. You can check out their website at BornOfHope.Com
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
There’s also the ‘Hunt for Gollum’ – another fan-made film to be released early 2009.
Absolutely brilliant!
I’m really surprised they haven’t been able to raise more money than they have. They’ve proven the ability to produce a quality product on virtually nothing. There are millions of LOTR fans and there aren’t even 10k people willing to donate $20-$50?
I see Obama raise $600 million. Hilary raise $200+ million. Heck, even Ron Paul raised millions in a single day. When you get a group of people together who are really passionate about something, the potential to fund ventures like this become so much easier.
Yet we can’t get avid Tolkien fans to raise even a couple hundred thousand dollars? we should have been able to do that in a single day.
Someone in this community needed to do a serious fund raising campaign. Maybe people were just focused on politics and other economic issues.
Is it too late at this point? It seems like a lot of the movie is already complete.
No, it is not too late! Visit the site and donate. I’m sure they will greatly appreciate it. Production costs still exist for what is essentially a “historical” drama, even when putting together a fan film on a shoestring budget. So if you want to help make this fantastic project a reality, donate! I have (twice!)
I checked out the trailers and have to say that I am quite impressed with this production! This is definitely some LoTR eye candy until get to see The Hobbit movies.
After reading Truth’s comment, I am in total agreement. If every Lord Of the Rings fan donated $1.00, can you imagine how that would make a difference!? How many people search for a snippet of information on the Hobbit?? I saw each movie over five times in the theatre! There has got to be a way to reach LOTR fans.
Born of Hope is about to be released! Look for it online Dec. 1 at http://www.dailymotion.com or http://www.bornofhope.com.