Forummer Elven has shared with us a great piece that appeared in MTV Movies Blog. In interview, Doug Jones, a regular in Guillermo del Toro’s movies, and better known for his roles as Silver Surfer, Abe Sapien in Hellboy and the Faun in Pan’s Labyrinth, said that while nothing is official yet,
“There’s been lots of speculation. I wouldn’t want to ruin anything. Guillermo creates things with me in mind and he’s got a better image of what I can do than I do,” […] “However, there might be an elf king, father of Legolas kind of character that I would love.”
That would be King Thranduil of Mirkwood. What do you think? Do you like Doug Jones as the Elven King? Come discuss it in our forums! [MTV Movies Blog] [TORn Forums] [Doug Jones on imdb.com]
Peter Jackson has finished filming The Lovely Bones, and is now moving on to producing the first Tintin film as well as The Dambusters.
Actor Andy Serkis, who will play Captain Haddock in the Tintin films, told BBC radio that filming will begin in September in Los Angeles, with Spielberg as director and Jackson as producer. Serkis, best known for Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, said Jackson will direct the second Tintin adventure, and Jackson and Spielberg may jointly direct the third.
Read the full story at stuff.co.nz.
Message board member Voronwe the Faithful has come through for us once again. He’s the first to report on the results of hearing on New Line’s Demurrer and Motion to Strike, held on June 24.
“Well, it looks like my take on the demurrer that New Line filed in the case filed against it by the Tolkien family and publisher was pretty darn accurate. The court sustained the demurrer with leave to amend within 20 days. The court explicitly held that the allegations in the Complaint support nothing more than a breach of contract cause of action. Assuming that the plaintiffs are unable to satisfactorily amend the complaint to assert new allegations that support the fraud and/or breach of fiduciary duty causes of action (a virtual impossibility), those causes of action are out, and New Line is protected from the possibility of an award of punitive damages.”
If you missed it, be sure to read the article Voronwe shared with us on Clearing up Misconceptions Regarding the Tolkien vs. New Line Lawsuit. And, as always, if you have opinions or concerns to share on the topic, be sure and check out the discussion underway on our message boards.
Defamer is reporting an interesting bit Guillermo del Toro said this week at the Los Angeles Film Festival, first mentioned by Del Toro himself more than a month ago right here on the TORn message boards. When asked about the second movie, Del Toro answered:
We believe there is a second movie, if there isn’t, there will not be. If we find it, we will shoot it, but by God, if we do not find it, we will not shoot it. I am anxious to shoot the book, and I’m willing and able to dedicate myself to shooting the [second film].
Guillermo Del Toro also confirmed what material can be used for building the second film:
In the four books that are in the domain of the copyright, there are appendices and ideas and things that can be traced without risk. But I have to be careful not to overstep. We believe there is a way to create this film and make it interesting, but it’s too early.
The article goes on to mistakenly say Jackson owns the rights to those four novels, but as we know, the rights are owned by Saul Zaentz and can be used by New Line Cinema through a concession. Language warning for those who follow the link. [Defamer]
TheOneRing.net will be providing a segment on this Sunday’s broadcast of ‘Fictional Frontiers with Sohaib,’ on WNJC 1360 AM, Philadelphia at 11AM ET. This week, Sohaib will be speaking with Calisuri about the latest news and rumors concerning ‘The Hobbit’ movies. And of course, we’ll be taking your calls and giving away some gift cards from Sideshow Collectibles. As always, the show is broadcast live via the internet via the WNJC website. Hope you can join us! [Fictional Frontiers] [Netcast] Join us in chat while the show goes on! [Live Chat]
Variety is reporting on New Line’s present and near future status, clearing up several things that have been said in the past several months:
“There’s no mandate to make a particular kind of movie,” Horn states. “We’re not going to wind up bidding against each other across the table. And New Line will not just be doing genre, since that’s a space filled pretty well by Lionsgate, Screen Gems and Dark Castle […] There’s no budget number required. They’ll be doing about six per year, though the number may go from four to seven; it’s not going to be 10.
The article also touches an aspect many have wondered about in our forums:
There are also the two “Hobbit” films and a possible sequel to “The Golden Compass”. The question is how much Warner Bros. will get involved in those tentpoles.
We will just have to wait and see! [Variety]
