by , 1:00 PM EDT, May 10th, 2004
LaurieF is one of our New Zealand forum members, and his eagle eyes spotted a very interesting story from a New Zealand magazine, STUFF. According to STUFF, there was once a time when "pre-release sequences" of The Lord of the Rings (the magazine doesn't specify which of the three LoTR films was involved) was in danger of being lost to thieves when it was being transported to England on an iPod. From STUFF:
Pre-release sequences from The Lord of the Rings nearly fell into the wrong hands when Duncan Nimmo, the IT manager of Peter Jackson's production company Three Foot Six, was chased by muggers in Soho.
Mr Nimmo was carrying the film on his iPod pocket computer when he was approached by two big blokes in London's Soho district at 5am, he told MIS magazine.
"I walked faster and they walked faster, then I broke into a jog and they started running. I could not have the iPod with the film taken off me, so I ran and got away."
There's more in the full article at the STUFF's Web site.
Of course, it fortunately remains to be seen whether or not the movie sequences would have been in any real danger of being found. It's highly doubtful the thugs in the story knew who Mr. Nimmo was, which means that either they or the eventual buyer of the stolen iPod would have had to find the files, figure out what they were, and then know enough to try and do something with them. How many street thugs, or their customers, are likely to be able to do that? Stranger things have happened, though, and we are glad Mr. Nimmo simply got away.
In the meanwhile, thanks to LaurieF for the heads up on this story!