The next writer of Iron Man appears to be Justin Theroux, the same man who recently wrote another Robert Downey Jr. flick 'Tropic Thunder,' according to Variety || Jonathan Murphy will follow 'October Road' producers Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg to 'Life On Mars' to play Detective Chris Skelton, according to TV Guide || Kristen Bell will return to the third season of 'Heroes' to play Elle Bishop in a multi-episode arc, according to People magazine || Ntare Mwine, who most recently starred in 'The Riches,' will do a nine-episode stint as an 'artistic African' during the third season of 'Heroes,' according to The Hollywood Reporter || Tricia Helfer, who plays Number Six in 'Battlestar Galactica,' has been cast in the Fox pilot 'Inseparable,' according to The Hollywood Reporter || The next writer of Iron Man appears to be Justin Theroux, the same man who recently wrote another Robert Downey Jr. flick 'Tropic Thunder,' according to Variety || Jonathan Murphy will follow 'October Road' producers Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg to 'Life On Mars' to play Detective Chris Skelton, according to TV Guide || Kristen Bell will return to the third season of 'Heroes' to play Elle Bishop in a multi-episode arc, according to People magazine || Ntare Mwine, who most recently starred in 'The Riches,' will do a nine-episode stint as an 'artistic African' during the third season of 'Heroes,' according to The Hollywood Reporter || Tricia Helfer, who plays Number Six in 'Battlestar Galactica,' has been cast in the Fox pilot 'Inseparable,' according to The Hollywood Reporter ||

LOTR strong in advances

Pre-ticket sales across Europe are already huge

By MICHAEL HINMAN
Source: CNN
Nov-21-2001

Hey, anyone think that "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" is going to make any money?

Oh yeah ... Oh. Yeah.

The earliest advance sales of the New Line Cinema film already have begun across Europe with Denmark, Sweden and Norway already pulling in 200,000 ticket orders for the first of three movies that debuts in the United States Dec. 19. While 200,000 might not seem like a lot compared to the huge opening of "Harry Potter" last weekend in the U.S., that number represents 1 percent of those countries' populations. Denmark's tickets went on sale Oct. 18 while Norway had tickets hit the market beginning Nov. 5.

And if Europe didn't have enough to handle, Sweden puts advance tickets on sale Monday to fans, many of whom have waited as long as five days in temperatures that dropped below freezing.

" 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace' was the last time people queued up outside theaters, but it's never been anything like this," said Rasmus Ramstead, president and chief executive officer of Svensk Films, which is distributing LOTR in Sweden. "We had people going out with hot coffee and hamburgers for people standing in line."

The movie got good news in the United Kingdom where LOTR received a PG certificate, increasing its possibility to rival "Harry Potter" since it was initially expected to receive a 12 rating, which would've prevented children under 12 from seeing the film.

Reuters confirmed that the running time for the movie, at least in the U.K., currently stands at 2 hours, 58 minutes. That's 15 minutes longer than exhibitors originally expected.

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