Entertainment
Peter Jackson Is Making A New Lord Of The Rings Movie, It's About Tom Bombadil
By Joshua Tyler
| Updated
New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson is working on a new Lord of the Rings movie, and to make it, he’s teaming up with talk show host Stephen Colbert. This is not a joke or a drill; it’s happening, and they’re already writing the script.
Stephen Colbert, long known as one of Hollywood’s most obsessive Tolkien fans, is co-writing the film alongside his son, Peter McGee, and returning franchise writer Philippa Boyens. They’re using the working title The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past to refer to the project. It’s not clear yet if that will be the movie’s final title.
Here’s the announcement recorded by Peter Jackson…
The story they’re developing is based on six specific chapters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring. Those chapters are numbers three through eight, often referred to as “Three Is Company through Fog on the Barrow Downs.” They involve Frodo first leaving the Shire, encountering his first Black Rider, and, most notably of all, encountering Tom Bombadil.
Tolkien fans will no doubt remember that Tom Bombadil was the biggest omission from the original Lord of the Rings movies. Jackson will now remedy that by making an entire, dedicated Tom Bombadil story.
Tom Bombadil is one of the strangest and most mysterious figures in The Lord of the Rings. Living in the Old Forest with his wife Goldberry, in Tolkien’s book, he appears cheerful and harmless, yet possesses immense, unexplained power. He’s so powerful that he’s totally unaffected by the One Ring.
Bombadil rescues the hobbits from multiple dangers, including the Barrow-downs, but exists completely outside the main conflict of Middle-earth, seemingly untouched by its wars, politics, or even its rules.
Peter Jackson is mostly involved in The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past on the production side, reuniting with key members of the original creative team, signaling that this isn’t a reboot but another attempt to mine unused Tolkien material with the same people who built the franchise the first time. This new project is slated for release after Lord of the Rings: Hunt For Gollum, a feature film in production under the direction of Lord of the Rings alum Andy Serkis.
Entertainment
Tech keeps getting more expensive. Thats why these 4 cheap laptops are so special.
The elegant and long-lasting Asus Zenbook A14 from 2025 is my favorite laptop for most people with a budget cap of $1,000. Its ultralight yet rigid build makes it especially great for frequent travelers and remote workers. I’ll also note that it’s the only laptop on this list with an OLED display, if that’s a spec high on your wishlist.
Look for the ZenBook A14 on sale at Best Buy, where it’s dipped down to as low as $550 before (a steal). It starts with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM.
I’ve been hyping this 14-inch laptop since I first saw it at CES 2025. It’s an amazing Windows ultraportable and an awesome value.
Performance: The Zenbook A14 is a solid performer for the money. The MacBook Neo still beats it in single-core workloads (by about 31 percent), but it’s 28 percent faster in multi-core scenarios. In fact, it doesn’t have any multi-core competition among other laptops under $1,000. Compared to the $699.99 Acer Aspire 16 AI (above), which has a lesser Snapdragon X chip, this one’s Snapdragon X Plus chip offers 14 percent better single-core performance and 15 percent better multi-core performance. If you need a cheap-ish laptop that can do some heavier lifting, this one’s up to the task.
As with the Aspire 16 AI, be mindful of ARM-related software compatibility issues here if you’re buying a laptop for college or gaming.
Battery life: The Zenbook A14 ran for 21 hours and 47 minutes in our video rundown test before dying, making it the eighth-longest-lasting laptop we’ve ever reviewed. Our longest-lasting MacBook died exactly 30 minutes sooner.
Design: Picking up the Zenbook A14 for the first time usually elicits a gasp from people. Asus built its chassis out of a lightweight magnesium-aluminum alloy called “Ceraluminum” that’s scratch-, smudge- and shock-resistant. The base configuration is only 2.4 pounds, or 0.3 pounds less than the MacBook Neo, yet it doesn’t feel frail. The Ceraluminum makes it super durable without weighing it down. It’s slightly thicker than the Neo, but that’s so it can squeeze in an HDMI port and a USB-A port.
In a market saturated with boring silver laptops, I think the Zenbook A14’s modern-organic look is refreshing. It has a tan “Zabrinskie Beige” finish with a matte, almost ceramic-like texture, and it’s accented with gold reflective logos. It’s different without being too obnoxious for an office. Top that off with a bright, vivid OLED display, and this laptop is quite the looker.
Value: I’d have no qualms about paying full price for the Zenbook A14 — it’s a really solid value (but all the better if you can find it on sale). Raising your budget to the upper end of the “cheap” spectrum eliminates any build quality concerns and nets you a great blend of power and stamina for everyday productivity, even some light creative work. Plus: OLED!
Note that Asus released an updated Zenbook A14 with the Snapdragon X2 Elite chip for 2026. It has much better performance and an even longer battery life than the original model, but it starts at $1,349.99. It might go on sale for under $1,000 eventually, though it only just launched in April, so don’t hold your breath.
Entertainment
How to watch Gauff vs. Potapova online for free
TL;DR: Live stream Gauff vs. Potapova in the 2026 French Open for free on France TV. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The 2026 French Open has served up major surprises, particularly in the men’s singles. Both No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner and No. 3 Novak Djokovic were stunned by unseeded players, which led them to leave Roland-Garros unexpectedly early.
The women’s field isn’t quite as open, as world No. 4 Coco Gauff will be keenly aware, though No. 2 Elena Rybakina has already been eliminated, so Gauff — the defending women’s French Open champion — may feel confident about claiming the title for a second consecutive year.
Before she gets to the title she’ll have to get past a third-round match against No. 28 seed Anastasia Potapova. Can the 25-year-old Austrian knock out Gauff and cause yet another upset?
If you want to watch Gauff vs. Potapova in the 2026 French Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
How to watch Gauff vs. Potapova for free
Gauff vs. Potapova in the 2026 French Open is available to live stream for free on France TV.
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France TV is geo-restricted to France, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in France, meaning you can stream the 2026 French Open for free from anywhere in the world.
Live stream the 2026 French Open for free by following these simple steps:
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Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
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Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
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Open up the app and connect to a server in France
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Connect to France TV
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Watch the 2026 French Open for free from anywhere in the world
$12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer pretty generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Roland-Garros without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream the 2026 French Open before recovering your investment.
If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming platforms from around the world, you’ll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.
What is the best VPN for sport?
ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:
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Servers in 105 countries
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Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
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Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
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Up to 10 simultaneous connections
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A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).
Live stream Gauff vs. Potapova in the 2026 French Open for free with ExpressVPN.
Entertainment
Meta plans to make an AI pendant and more smart glasses soon
Meta is looking to give customers even more ways to wear its logo on their bodies.
The Information reported that Mark Zuckerberg’s company is planning to develop and test an “AI pendant,” which would most likely be something you clip on and wear so that it can use an on-board microphone to record everything you say throughout the day for the purpose of generating AI summaries, just in case you ever need that. The description of the device is not entirely speculative, as Meta recently acquired a company called Limitless that was responsible for a device literally called “Pendant” that did exactly those things.
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Beyond that, The Information reported based on an internal Meta memo that the company plans on releasing several new pairs of smart glasses by the end of 2026, to go along with a possible enterprise-focused subscription service called “Wearables for Work.” The subscription part is not a surprise, given that the company just launched consumer-focused payment plans for apps like Instagram and WhatsApp this week.
Anyway, the internal memo referenced four glasses models to be released this year, all under the following codenames: Modelo, Luna, RMB2 Refresh, and Mojito VIP. “RMB2 Refresh” is obviously another Ray-Ban model, but the others are more mysterious. Expect plenty of AI features and possible privacy concerns to be included in those glasses, if nothing else.
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