Ok folks, Harry here again. This time with some official info on how things are progressing with the Lord of the Rings films. Word had reached me that perhaps shooting was being pushed back a little bit from the earlier MAY 1999 date we had all heard. Concerned, and hoping that everything was moving ahead as quickly and smoothly as possible I contacted Peter Jackson to see how things were going, and when to begin the 2nd Q and A. Here was the response, which seems to be all thumbs up signs. What's the deal you London and Dublin geeks, you ought to be contacting your local casting agencies to see what's going on, and you folks in Sydney... Well casting started there today according to the man himself. Los Angeles.... New Zealand.... You're next. Things sound pretty darn good to me, well here's Peter.....

Shooting may be August ... we're not sure. We are trying to figure out exactly how long we want to get all of the complex pre-production finished before we start shooting. We want as much time as possible and New Line are happy to support that. If we start shooting without being totally prepared, we'll be stuffed. I don't want to shoot a single frame until we've done a complete animatic for all three movies.

Casting is underway. We've been casting in London and Dublin for a couple of weeks. Sydney casting starts today, with LA and NZ casting to follow shortly.

The casting process will continue well into March next year.

Everything is going very well ... the designs are looking great and we've made vast improvements to the script.

Let's do the next Q&A straight after Christmas.

Ok folks, you heard the man, right after Christmas. So go reread the books, go study, prepare them big questions because Peter is gathering his wits to withstand the intense hot light you'll throw on him. What a brave soul.... P.S. Don't send the questions till I ask for them though or I'll just delete them, I don't need the extra mail crunch till it comes time to handle it. Thanks. Cheerio my friends.