Wired: “Why the Hobbit Trailer Creeps Me Out”

January 13th, 2012 by Demosthenes | Source: Wired | Discuss | | 22 Comments »

Wired’s Erik Wecks makes a compelling case for Tolkien fans to not get too excited about the Hobbit.

What’s he on about? Well, he noticed something in the teaser (one that many other people did as well), but he’s gone a step further and drawn some interesting parallels to one of the most controversial and bizarre changes that Walsh and Boyens made for The Return of The King. Of course, this being the internet, your mileage may vary. Naturally, there are movie spoilers.

Read the full article on Wired.

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More about Cate Blanchett, Characters, Fran Walsh, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Movie, Ian McKellen, Lord of the Rings, LotR Books, LotR Movies, Philippa Boyens, Production, Return of the King, Sean Astin, The Hobbit

Mikael Persbrandt Talks A Wee Bit About Beorn

January 10th, 2012 by Earl | Source: MovieZine.se | Discuss | | 6 Comments »

Anton S. alerted us to an interview with Mikael Persbrandt in Swedish site MovieZine.se where he talks a little bit about his role as Beorn in The Hobbit.

Here’s the translation of the relevant bits that Anton sent along.

MovieZine: Are you finished filming the Hobbit?
Mikael P.: No, absolutely not. I’m going back there in February.

MovieZine: Do you have a part in both films?
Mikael P.: Yes I have. The role is more or less what it is in the book. I’m not going to talk much more about it because they’ll get angry at me, but read the book and you see… and then maybe there is a little more.

MovieZine: How is your character Beorn created? Make-up or some kind of motion-capture?
Mikael P.: As I said before I intended to survive the night. Otherwise I guess I’ll get a missile after me. It’s exciting to be a part of it. You’ll see later, its barley a year left until the premier in December.

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More about Characters, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Mikael Persbrandt, The Hobbit

Bret McKenzie Talks About Figwit and Lindir

January 5th, 2012 by Earl | Source: ComingSoon.net | Discuss | | 2 Comments »

Bret McKenzie, who unofficially played “Figwit” the Elf in The Lord of the Rings, spoke with ComingSoon.net about his role as Lindir in The Hobbit.

“I’ve got a cameo as an elf. Or another cameo. My character is called Lindir. I hang out with Elrond… I’ve got a few lines in Elvish.”

In answer to the question about whether Figwit and Lindir are one and the same, here’s what Bret had to say:

“You’ll probably see, I’ve got slightly different ears. That’s how I differentiate my elf characters. The big difference for this character is that he’s in 3D. He’s a character that’s a lot more three dimensional.”

ComingSoon.net promises the full interview will be available soon.

Thanks to Ringer spy Daniel J. for the heads-up.

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More about Bret 'Figwit' McKenzie, Bret McKenzie, Characters, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Lord of the Rings, LotR Cast News, LotR Movies, Movie Fellowship of the Ring, Movie Return of the King, The Hobbit

Stephen Fry Talks “Cowardly, Greedy” Master of Laketown

December 16th, 2011 by Earl | Source: digitalspy.co.uk | Discuss | | 2 Comments »

Digitalspy.co.uk has just this morning put up a video interview with Stephen Fry discussing his role as the Master of Laketown in The Hobbit.

Besides descriptions of the look of the Master, there’s also mention of Bard the Bowman being a horserider, and hints to the design of Laketown itself, a “smelly city that’s on stilts in the lake below the mountain where Smaug the Dragon lives”.

We wonder if the geography has been changed for dramatic effect. What do you make of that!?

Watch the video HERE.

By the way, our message board members are discussing this video even as you watch it. Feel free to join in!

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More about Characters, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Peter Jackson, Production, Stephen Fry, The Hobbit

Bard’s Son Bain to be Seen in The Hobbit?

December 2nd, 2011 by xoanon | 4 Comments »

Otaku-sempai writes: It seems that Bain, the son of Bard, will be included in the films. Actor Michael Fowler has allegedly been cast as the Tall Scale Double for the character. Michael Fowler on starnow.co.uk

Son and heir of Bard the Bowman who.. Spoilers!!! highlight to read! killed the dragon Smaug, and a king of Dale. He was succeeded by his son Brand.

Official Release: HarperCollins Publishers Releases Enhanced eBook of The Hobbit

December 2nd, 2011 by newsfrombree | Source: HarperCollins Publishers | 5 Comments »

As we excitedly reported last week, HarperCollins Publishers have released an Enhanced eBook version of ‘The Hobbit.’ Today, for your viewing pleasure, we have the full press release about this new digital release. You can read it below. As before, if you’d like to download your own copy it is available from their Facebook Tolkien eBook Store, Apple’s iBookstore, Kindle and Nook. Enjoy!

HarperCollins Publishers Releases Enhanced eBook of The Hobbit

David Brawn, Publisher of Estates at HarperCollins, said: “It is customary for publishers to release new editions of books to commemorate milestone anniversaries, and as we entered The Hobbit’s 75^th year, we felt we should acknowledge its success not only in print but also in the eBook world. Many thousands of readers have embraced The Hobbit in the two years since it was first released as an eBook, and with the growing availability of color-enabled devices, we felt it was time to offer an alternative edition, complete with Tolkien’s color pictures from our popular Deluxe edition. Together with J.R.R. Tolkien’s now famous half-hour recording of Bilbo’s encounter with Gollum, the recent discovery of three further unreleased extracts – one long and two short – meant we have been able to enhance the eBook even further. At a time when there is so much speculation about how others are visualizing The Hobbit, it is rather special to be able to read the novel with Tolkien’s own pictures and with parts of it read in his own voice, for a truly authentic experience.”

NZ Herald: Actors journey to Middle-earth

December 1st, 2011 by linuxelf | Source: NZ Herald | 1 Comment »

The New Zealand Herald has written this nice piece on ‘The Hobbit’ actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Mikael Persbrandt:

They might be leading men in their respective countries but it’s not their famous faces which have got them heading to New Zealand to join the cast of The Hobbit.

English actor Benedict Cumberbatch – best known as the latest television incarnation of Sherlock Holmes – will be motion captured as dragon Smaug as well as delivering the voice of Necromancer (later known as Sauron in The Lord of the Rings trilogy). The other, Swedish star Mikael Persbrandt, is already in the South Island playing Beorn, a shapeshifting mountain man who is sometimes a bear. While The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a career launchpad for many actors, both Cumberbatch and Persbrandt come to The Hobbit with established profiles. Read More…

Ian McKellen Updates “Hobbit” Blog

November 29th, 2011 by Earl | Source: McKellen.com | Discuss | | 6 Comments »

Ian McKellen‘s new blog entry, titled “Moving On“, chronicles a portion of his travels along New Zealand’s North Island where location filming for The Hobbit is currently on. Excerpts follow:

Our first filming destination was Matamata, where eleven years ago Gandalf the Grey made his entrance into The Fellowship of the Ring, greeting Ian Holm’s Bilbo on the doorstep of Bag End. 

All our trucks, trailers, generators, dining tent and loos were hidden behind and below the surrounding hillocks but it was nostalgic to clamber up the path that leads to Bag End where this time Martin Freeman’s Bilbo will be surprised by Gandalf.

We filmed there for less than a week, this time leaving everything behind, so future visitors do not have to guess at but actually see Hobbiton in its glory. They will even be able to get a snack at the Green Dragon.

Read more of Gandalf’s adventures by clicking the link provided above.

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More about Characters, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Ian McKellen, Lord of the Rings, LotR Cast News, Production, The Hobbit

Viggo Mortensen will not be in ‘The Hobbit’

November 22nd, 2011 by MrCere | Discuss | | 2 Comments »

Nobody can be shocked or even surprised but some fans were still holding out hope that Viggo Moretensen‘s Aragorn character would return in some form or fashion for the two part presentation of Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit.

In an interview with Movies.com, the actor addressed the question directly and says that while he was once asked if he was willing to be involved, nothing has moved forward at this point. That may not be official, but its about as confirmed as information gets.

“I’m not in it unless it there is some last-minute plan they have, but I thought I would have heard of it by now.”

During the Middle-earth portion of the interview he mentioned the “bridge film” that was once part of the two-movie plan for The Hobbit but was later abandoned when the writing team of Jackson, Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro wrote the episodic children’s book into a two part movie. The mysterious bridge film was dropped. Moretensen also spoke of his third film with director David Cronenberg, titled A Dangerous Method, where the actor portrays Sigmund Freud.

The full article is available right here.

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More about Casting Rumors, Characters, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, The Hobbit, Viggo Mortensen

Remember the first LOTR teaser? We do! Now its time for a ‘Hobbit’ version

November 22nd, 2011 by admin | Discuss | | 2 Comments »

Movies.com features a Hobbit Countdown feature every other week written by our own staffer Larry D. Curtis. In the latest writing he speculates on what might be included in the coming Hobbit teaser and he looks back a decade ago when fans rocked the internet and went to see film Thirteen Days just to catch the first glimpse of Middle-earth. We included the LOTR tease below but here is a hint of what one writer speculates will be in the clip rumored to be with the new Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows December 16th. Despite inquiries no official confirmation has been issued. Variety broke the story on Twitter when Jeff Sneider tweeted, “Expect to see THE DARK KNIGHT RISES trailer in front of SHERLOCK HOLMES 2… And MAYBE even a HOBBIT teaser,”

Take that “MAYBE” as you will.

Below is a block of text from the Movies.com speculative article about the hoped for tease. You can read the whole thing right here. And, if you want to see TheOneRing.net archives about LOTR trailers, we have that too.

Plan on something about a ring to be sure. Andy Serkis’ Gollum will be back to give less-fervent fans a reminder of what the connective tissue between LOTR and the Hobbit is. Martin Freeman’s earnest face will surely get the most screen time as the title character but expect the beloved Ian McKellen as Gandalf to be close behind in terms of time. With location shooting scheduled to turn to studio work early next year and last until June, it is clear that large portions of the adaptation have yet to go before cameras.

Finally, we included the original teaser from a decade ago. Did you see it first at theaters or on the web?

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More about Characters, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, The Hobbit

Smaug to be performance capture not just voice work says Benedict Cumberbatch

November 22nd, 2011 by MrCere | Discuss | | 1 Comment »

Benedict Cumberbatch will not only provide the voice of the dragon Smaug The Magnificent, he will perform the role using the motion capture technology pioneered by Andy Serkis and Weta Digital, according to the actor himself.

The design of the most iconic villain in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and indeed probably the greatest literary great worm of the 20th Century, remains a secret and a key ingredient of Peter Jackson’s two part movie adaptation due in December 2012 and December 2013. The actor, the title character acting opposite Martin Freeman in the BBC’s Sherlock, revealed to Collider during a press junket that he hasn’t done his Hobbit stint yet and that he will not only provide the voice for the creature but perform him as well. You can see the video or read the interview right here.

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More about Benedict Cumberbatch, Casting Rumors, Characters, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Movie, The Hobbit, WETA Digital

TORn talks ‘Hobbit’ with Fictional Frontiers

November 22nd, 2011 by MrCere | No Comments »

Its been a week but TheOneRing.net had a nice chat that aired last Monday on Fictional Frotiers with Sohaib. Senior Staffer MrCere is a regular guest on the program which broadcasts in Philadelphia and then is available on the web. The radio broadcast featured a shorter version of the conversation because of the magic of the interwebs, the longer 30-minute conversation is available right here.