Web series on "Lord of the Rings: War in the North" video game

This 4-part web series about the new video game features commentary by Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Tolkien scholar Corey Olsen and Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar, along with game developers and others. "Lord of the Rings: War in the North" is available starting November 1.

Warning: This game is rated M for violence and gore. Part 4 focuses on the gore!

Part 1: Love of Middle-earth

Great review of And They're Off from LA Times!

Turns out, the movie (filmed locally at Hollywood Park and Pomona's Fairplex Park) is a consistently amusing, sometimes hilarious spoof in the Christopher Guest mold. ... 

Astin, terrific here, gets ace support from a crack ensemble of supporting jokesters including Cheri Oteri as Dusty's hair-trigger, jockey girlfriend; Martin Mull as his supportive, cross-dressing dad; and James ("Little JJ") Lewis as Dusty's goofily gung-ho assistant trainer.

Read the full review here.

Sean Astin and James Cromwell in "Fear Unleashed"

In a bit of appropriate Halloween timing, word is out on a new movie for Sean with his former "Watchbird" co-star, James Cromwell.

"There's nothing to fear but "Fear Unleashed"! Sean Astin and James Cromwell are set to star in the  psychological thriller, "Fear Unleashed", shooting in Massachusetts. The film is about a man whose life gets turned upside down after he loses his job and is involved in a horrific accident. The project, which is also filming in Lousiana, is expected to start in May 2012."

Source

Behind the scenes with Cheri Oteri and Sean Astin

Sean Astin on Good Day LA

Sean talks with some old friends about "And They're Off" and his stint as campaign manager for Dan Adler earlier this year.

Sean Astin Talks "And They're Off": MyFoxLA.com

More Empire Magazine pics of the 4 hobbits!

Source

Interviews, articles and pics about And They're Off PLUS more!

• "Sean Astin Talks 'And They're Off' and 'Goonies' Rumors"

Look up "heart" in the dictionary and you might just see a photo of Sean Astin. Or at least one of the characters he's best known for playing, like Mikey ("The Goonies"), Rudy ("Rudy") or Sam ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy). So it's no surprise that in his new movie, the horse-racing mockumentary "And They're Off…," the 40-year-old plays a horse trainer with – you guessed it – loads of heart.

Lots of interesting tidbits in this interview, including a petition to get Samwise Gamgee in The Hobbit, the news that he plays Rose McGowan's love interest in "Napa", and that he has yet to film his part for "Little Boy." Sean also refers to the upcoming animated movie "Ribbit" in which he voices a frog!

Read more here.

• Here's an article about Dot-Marie Jones (Coach Beiste on "Glee"), who has a small role in "And They're Off" as Dusty Sanders' (Sean) former prom date.

Dot-Marie plays Sean's 1990 prom date!

• Here are some fun behind-the-scenes photos from the Hollywood Reporter. Click each for larger images. (More photos at site.)

Sean Astin interviewed by ReelGayTV

Sean Astin discusses his role in "And They're Off", at the Hollywood Film Festival at the Arclight on Saturday October 21, 2011. Sean also talks about "Rudy" and "Valley of the Dolls" in which his mother Patty Duke starred. Listen how they relate to the gay community.

Watch video here.

Sean Astin on NBC's New York Live and other tidbits

Sean Astin appeared on New York Live yesterday, and sang the theme song to his mother's tv program, "The Patty Duke Show." :-D

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

The entertainment program "Extra" will be covering the opening of "And They're Off" on tomorrow's show. Find your local airtime here. Also, costar Kevin Nealon will appear on the Ellen Degeneres Show tomorrow.

The Louisville Voice-Tribune posted an article about Sean today:

He captured the heart of America as the lovable longshot, “Rudy,” and earned iconic status as the hobbit Samwise Gamgee in “Lord of the Rings,” but Sean Astin is also about to seize the affection of horse racing fans with his film “And They’re Off,” set to release Friday, Oct. 28. 

Read more.

Sean Astin on WPIX morning news

Actor Sean Astin stopped by WPIX Morning News to talk about being in the mockumentary indie comedy "And They're Off" with SNL alum Cheri Oteri.

Watch video here.

Sean Astin on Covino & Rich talks The Goonies sequel

This is a short clip from Sean's appearance on the Covino & Rich Show on Sirius XM Radio today.

Sean narrates story of Cody Rye on ESPN's E:60

Sean promotes "And They're Off" on "And They're Off"

Sean is interviewed via phone by Lenny Shulman, host of the online video series "And They're Off" on BloodHorse.com. Sean's interview starts at about 10:00.



Thank you to horse racing enthusiast Ellen for the tip!

Sean Astin on VH1 talks horse racing and Pez dispensers!

TV Shows - Full Episode Video - Reality TV Shows

Sean at VH1 studios

Sean Astin on Fox & Friends: video

Sean Astin was on Fox and Friends this morning, taking about his new movie, "And They're Off" which opens Friday.

Two "Rudy" related news items

Sean Astin (Rudy), Jon Favreau (D-Bob) and director David Anspaugh will do a Q&A following a screening of "Rudy" at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, CA,Thursday, November 17 at 7:30pm.

Details here.

Sean narrated the Rudyesque story of Cody Rye on ESPN's E:60 news magazine. "ESPN chose Sean Astin the star of the movie "Rudy" to voice over story since Cody was a finalist for the Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger award last year."

Sean Astin in ESPN studio

Sean promoting "And They're Off" on TV and radio (updated)

Sean will be in NYC this week promoting "And They're Off" which opens Friday. All times are Eastern unless otherwise noted.

Wednesday, October 26
 7:30 am, Fox and Friends
 9:00 am, VH1 Big Morning Buzz

Sirius XM Radio:
 10:40 am - Broadminded
 11:00 am - Shade 45 with SWAY
 11:25 am - Getting Late
 11:45 am - Morning Jolt
 12:05 pm - Covino and Rich

 3:00 pm, WNBC New York Live

Thursday, October 27
 7:45 am, Channel 11 WPIX Morning News

Sunday, October 30
 6:30 pm (PT), KABC in LA, On the Red Carpet, coverage of Oct 22 premiere.

For last minute updates, including an appearance on MTV's Next Movie, see And They're Off's Facebook page.

See also this fascinating article on Bloodhorse.com about how Alan Grossbard came to write the screenplay for the movie.

More from Empire Magazine on hobbit reunion!

The four hobbits! Click for bigger version

It's ten years on since four little hobbits set off from the Shire on an epic quest that spanned Middle Earth and took in vast battles, demonic monsters, wizardry, Orcs and, ultimately, enough Oscars to fill the Lonely Mountain. ... Obviously this all called for a big celebration so a celebration is what Empire is having. ... Best of all, though, is a gathering of the four hobbits themselves: Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry). It was so momentous it called for its own trailer - and here it is for your perusal pleasure.

This video totally rocks!

Pic from Empire Magazine Hobbit Reunion

Click for larger version

LOTR Hobbit Reunion in Dec Empire Magazine! (updated)

Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd were reunited last month for an Empire Magazine shoot that will be part of their LOTR 10th birthday party feature in the December issue.

Updated image, click for larger version. Source.

We believe the shoot took place in Toronto on or around September 15, just after Sean finished his appearance at the Story 2011 conference in Chicago. Billy and Dom were in Toronto for other events, but Elijah flew east for this shoot.

Update: Some suggest the shoot took place a few days earlier in LA. This seems likely now.

Sean at premiere of "And They're Off"

Sean attended the premiere of "And They're Off" at the ArcLight Theater last evening, part of the Hollywood Film Festival. The movie opens in several theaters around the country this Friday, October 28. Check your local listings for details!

Sean signed autographs for fans. Photo courtesy Mike the Fanboy

Pamela Fryman, Howard Bolter, Mark Moses, Alan Grossbard, Martin Mull, Sean Astin

Sean to narrate segment on ESPN's E:60

Sean will be narrating the inspirational story of Cody Rye on ESPN's news magazine E:60, Tuesday, October 25, 7pm ET.

Partially paralyzed at age five in a car accident, Cody's dream was to play high school football, and like Rudy, he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Check your local cable or satellite provider for schedule details.

Source

Sean Astin as Rudy

Sean at Wedgwood Circle event, Kinko's and And They're Off premiere

While Sean has been taking a brief break from movie-making, he has not been idle. This week he spoke at the Wedgwood Circle Annual Investor Event in Santa Monica, CA. Sean also participated at last year's event.

Steve Garber and Sean Astin. Photo from Hanna Schmidt.

Sean also had time to pause for a photo with a fan at the Agoura Hills FedEx Kinko's. Thank you, Andrea, for sharing the pic!

Sean and Andrea at Kinko's 

He is also expected to appear at the premiere of "And They're Off" this evening at the Hollywood Film Festival.

High res images of Sean in Love's Christmas Journey

"Love's Christmas Journey," a 4-hour special movie event, premieres at 8pm ET, Saturday, November 5 on the Hallmark Channel.

Click for larger versions of each. Many thanks to Sheri of Hallmark! 

Sean Astin as Mayor Wayne, click for supersize!

Sean promotes new LOTR game

Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Kunal Nayyar (Big Bang Theory) are featured in a video promoting a new game, "The Lord of the Rings: War in the North," due out November 1.

Sean self portrait?

This is Sean Astin's new Twitter profile pic, and looks to be a self portrait from his iPhone. :-D

Sean Astin: Hope Unquenchable facebook page

New! Sean Astin: Hope Unquenchable facebook page! Like me and never miss an update again!

Sean Astin: Hope Unquenchable Facebook Page

Sean heads to "Napa" for new movie (Updated)

Does this man ever rest? Not content with having worked on 6 movies since July, Sean has a role in the upcoming "Napa," which will start filming in Napa and Los Angeles at the end of October.

"Napa" is billed as a romantic thriller, and tells the story of Afghanistan war veteran Scarlett Harding, played by Rose McGowan, who returns home to become the sheriff of her town amid a string of murders and the politics of winemaking. The movie is based on the novel "Three to Get Ready" by University of Puget Sound professor of English Hans Ostrom. It will be directed by Michael Kerr, who co-wrote the script with Ostrom.

Trivia: Rose McGowan's first movie role was in "Encino Man" with Sean!

Sources here and here.

Update: Sean plays the love interest!

Trailer for Love's Christmas Journey (updated)

Premieres Saturday, November 5, 8pm ET/PT, 7pm CT on the Hallmark Channel.

Update: Although originally billed as a 2-part miniseries, the whole 4 hours will reportedly be shown at once.

Sean behind the scenes in "Out West"

Here are some behind the scenes photos of Sean as Cal Calhoun in the upcoming comedy "Out West." 

All photos are courtesy of Kim Lambert, script supervisor. Please do not repost without linking back to this page and crediting Kim. Thanks!

Sean Astin as Cal Calhoun

Sean goes biking

Sean has been doing some biking lately, both on the Cortez trails in Colorado (location for "Out West") and at the motocross track in Gorman, CA.

It's fun to compare this pic with one taken several years ago at the Colorado Adventure Festival in San Dimas, CA.

Mancos CO, October 11, 2011

San Dimas CA, May 4, 2004

Self Portrait from iPhone, Gorman CA, October 13, 2011

(Thanks, Kim, for correction!)

Love's Christmas Journey website (updated)

Mayor Wayne

The Hallmark channel has opened their web site for Love's Christmas Journey, with trailer video, photos, cast bios and more!

http://hallmarkchannel.com/loveschristmasjourney

The 4-hour movie will air on the Hallmark Channel Saturday, November 5 at 8pm EST, and and again on Sunday, November 6 at 2pm.

"And They're Off..." will be off and running in the following locations!

"And They're Off" will be opening in the following theaters on Friday, October 28. Check local listings for showtimes! (This post will be updated as new locations are added.)

Lexington KY: Cinemark Fayette Mall 16
Louisville KY: Cinemark Tinseltown 19

Ontario CA: AMC Ontario Mills 30
Orange CA: AMC The Block 30
Covina CA: AMC Covina 30
Arcadia CA: AMC Santa Anita 16

New York City NY: AMC Empire 25
Middleton NY: AMC Loews Galleria Metroplex 16
Nyack NY: AMC Loews Palisades 21
Elizabeth NJ: AMC Loews Jersey Gardens 20

Grab your glasses and go!

Source

Witches of Oz in theaters early December?

The theatrical version, now called "Dorothy and the Witches of Oz", with upgraded special effects, 15 minutes of new footage and one hour less total running time, is reportedly due for limited release in early December. Home video should follow shortly thereafter.

Sean Astin and Ethan Embry as Frack and Frick

The movie also stars Paulie Rojas as Dorothy, Billy Boyd as her love interest Nick Chopper, and Christopher Lloyd as the Wizard of Oz.

It will be the first time since The Lord of the Rings that two hobbit actors have been in a movie together, although their parts were filmed at different times. But through the magic of CGI, they do appear in a couple of scenes together!  

"Sean Astin's Nightmares and Laughs"

In an interview with Marilyn Beck and Stacy Janel Smith, Sean talks some of his recent eclectic projects, from the nightmare-causing work in "The Boys of Abu Ghraib" (Sean plays a prison guard), to the hilarity on the set of "And They're Off" ("I had to put my face in my hands to keep from laughing out loud"), and "Amazing Love," a story of "fidelity and unconditional love" in which he plays a youth pastor.

Read the interview here.

Sean on horseback!

Sean certainly has been into horses lately. Here he is on the set of "Out West."

"And They're Off…" production notes

From the Production notes for "And They're Off…":

The opportunity to work in the mockumentary genre excited Sean Astin. “It took me about a sixteenth of a second from when my agent told me what this movie was, for me to want to do it,” the actor remembers. “All he needed to say was that it was a mockumentary about horse racing. I said I'm in, I'm in.” 

Sean at Super Megafest in Boston

Sean is scheduled to appear at the Boston Super Megafest 2011, November 19-20, 2011, along with other notables such at Patrick Stewart (Make it so!), Peter Tork (Hey, hey we're the Monkees), Robert Vaughn (The Man from UNCLE), Sala Baker (Sauron in Lord of the Rings) and many others. (And yes, I am dating myself with these selection!)

"Spend the day with all your favorite celebrities from Comics, TV, Movies, and Rock & Roll. The Super Megafest also features an incredible dealer room with one of the largest selections of DVDs, posters, autographs, comics, toys, videos, non-sports cards and memorabilia from TV, Movies, and Rock & Roll that you will ever find on the East Coast."

http://www.supermegafest.com/

There will be Q&A sessions, autograph and photograph opportunities. The schedule for appearances has not yet been posted, so stay tuned!

Want to be an extra in "Out West"?

The producers of film OUT WEST are looking for extras this Saturday, October 8th 2011 at the Majestic Dude Ranch in Mancos, CO from 2pm to 7pm. Please bring a few choices of clothes to wear, the scene is a barn square-dance-party/gala event where you will be playing big-wigs and celebrities out to celebrate the opening of the dude ranch (before it is shut down). Please wear nothing white, or with stripes or logos. There's a chance you could get wet. Invite others if you can. You must contact outwestmovie@gmail.com for more information first!

There's no pay, just credit and meals.

More "Love's Christmas Journey" photos

A couple more behind the scenes photo from the 2-part miniseries 4-hour movie "Love's Christmas Journey" which airs on the Hallmark Channel starting November 5. Here's a better version of a picture that I posted a few weeks ago.

Sean Astin and two of his young costars, Gabriel Suttle and Danielle Parker.
Note anachronistic iPhone in Mayor Wayne's pocket!

"And They're Off" premieres at Hollywood Film Festival

"And They're Off" will have its first screening at the Hollywood Film Festival on Saturday, October 22, 5 pm at the ArcLight Theater.

Sean Astin and Cheri Oteri star in "And They're Off"

Source
Ticket info

Sean's role in "Out West"

Here's some background information about the plot of "Out West" and Sean's role in it:

Rich heiress Prissy Alcott seems to have it all. She’s living the luxe life in Vegas with her teacup piglet, Baby. Life is perfect - until she gets the call from Momma that the family is broke and selling the family ranch to their next door neighbors, Bonnie and Cal. Bonnie is Prissy’s childhood friend who has always carried a passive-aggressive desire to be Prissy. Now her "frienemy", Bonnie and her whipped husband Cal have offered to bail the Alcott’s out by buying their ranch.

Cal Calhoun (Sean Astin) is Bonnie's serious, businessman hen-pecked husband. He's goaded by his over-ambitious wife into buying the Alcott's ranch. Intent on transforming the Alcott property into a cattle slaughterhouse, Cal is not nearly as obsessive about the idea as is his driven spouse.

Sean begins filming his scenes next week. Behind the scenes pics and news should be available! :-D

Official "Out West" press release, web site, social sites

The producers of the upcoming comedy "Out West" have issued a press release officially announcing the movie, and launched a variety of social media sites for fans to keep up on the filming and post-production process.

From the press release:

"OUT WEST", a micro-budget indie comedy starring Jennifer Elise Cox, Sean Astin, Beth Grant and Daniel Baldwin commenced principal photography in late September and is set to complete production by late November. ... The film is Executive Produced by Jim Vallely (Arrested Development, Golden Girls) and is currently shooting in Mancos, Colorado at the Majestic Dude Ranch through October and Las Vegas through November, with an expected release date in 2012.

Sean Astin calls in UK radio show

Sean called into the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio in the UK last night, hoping to win money for the Make a Film Foundation.

He defends his character of Lynn McGill on "24," talks about how fun it was making "The Goonies," how working on "The Lord of the Rings" brought out the best in everyone, why "Back to the Future" is one of his favorite movies of the 80s, and other topics.

It's a lovely interview.

Listen here

Please note there may be an opportunity to vote for Sean as the favorite 80s star interview of the week to benefit the Make a Film Foundation. I'll post more information about that later if Sean is a finalist!

New movie: Sean heads "Out West"

After Sean completes the filming of "Amazing Love" today, he'll head to Colorado for a supporting role in the movie "Out West."

"Our film stars Jennifer Elise Cox as Vegas celebutante Prissy Alcott, who has a penchant for all things luxury, but leaves her Vegas life behind for her Colorado home when she learns that her family has gone broke and is selling the family ranch. She tries to reboot the family enterprise as a dude ranch with the help of three gay dudes: her ex-fiancee Charles (played by Paul Bartholomew) and his friends Travis (Sam Pancake) and Billy (Michael Traynor). 

Think City Slickers meets The Hangover with a dash of Legally Blonde and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Ok, maybe Kinky Boots too.

We have a great list of actors helping bring the quirky supporting personalities from the page to screen, including:

Sean Astin, Beth Grant, Ray Wise, Danny Baldwin, among many others."

Source

Cast of "Amazing Love" attends "Courageous" screening

The entire main cast of "Amazing Love" attended a screening last evening of "Courageous," starring their director, Kevin Downes. "Courageous" had the fourth biggest box office for the weekend, and the largest for a newly opened movie (source).

Sean Astin, Erin Bethea, Creagen Dow, Savannah Jayde, Kevin Downes, Kenton Duty, Sammi Hanratty, Terrance Hardy

Photo from Kenton Duty.

Meet Caveat from "And They're Off!" and more!

Dusty Sanders meets Caveat.

Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com

Several more clips here: http://www.movieweb.com/movie/and-theyre-off/videos/clips

Sean Astin and mom Patty Duke on "Amazing Love" set

Here are a couple of photos of Sean Astin and his mom Patty Duke on the set of "Amazing Love: The Story of Hosea" today.

Acting family Patty Duke and son Sean Astin

Sean and family at Disneyland

Sean took a break from filming "Amazing Love: The Story of Hosea" Sunday by visiting Disneyland with both his real and his on-set families.

Christine Astin, Isabella Astin, Sean Astin, Erin Bethea, Bill Shafer (Erin's husband)

Forgot his razor? ;-)

There are only 2 more days of shooting on Amazing Love. Today, Sean's mom Patty Duke will be filming her scenes.

One source has Sean moving immediately to another movie project in Colorado. Stay tuned for more info!