The Hobbit theatrical Blu-ray

‘Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, frightening images and fleeting nudity.’

‘… and fleeting nudity.’ Now that is something to ponder. A glimpse of the dwarves wrecking Bilbo’s bathroom? A scene where Bilbo leaves his house in such haste, he forgets more than his pocket handkerchief?! Being serious for a moment, what could this be? My best guess is some dwarvish high jinks; what do you think?

Thanks to ringer spies kirkempk and An anonymous Ringer for bringing this to our attention!

TORn Staffer Demosthenes adds:

I think there is one possibility from The Hobbit that could fit the situation of fleeting nudity — when the Company bathe and wash their clothes in the Anduin after the Eagles drop them at the Carrock.

After that they stopped pleading. Then they took off their clothes and bathed in the river, which was shallow and clear and stony at the ford. When they had dried in the sun, which was now strong and warm, they were refreshed, if still sore and a little hungry. Soon they crossed the ford (carrying the hobbit), and then began to march through the long green grass and down the lines of the wide-armed oaks and the tall elms.

Queer Lodgings — The Hobbit.

What this means is anyone’s guess.  We know of course that del Toro worked long and hard on the screenplays for the movies when he was in position as the films’ director.  At that time the plan was for only two movies; it seems hard to imagine, however, that it would be possible to extricate del Toro’s contributions to the scripts to such an extent that it could safely be said that he had NO hand in the screenplay for Desolation of Smaug.  Further, del Toro suggested that he would continue to be a part of the screenwriting even after he had left the movies as director; he wrote on TORn’s messageboards, ‘The writing team of PJ,FW,PB and myself will keep moving the screenplays forward.’ (See his post here.)

Perhaps it is simply that the film makers were only contractually obliged to acknowledge del Toro’s contributions in the credits for one movie; movie studios are sticklers for what’s in the contract!  Perhaps del Toro himself asked only to be credited in the first movie - wishing the role he played to be acknowledged but also perhaps wanting to move forward from the project, having made that very difficult decision to leave Middle-earth behind.   Perhaps, as for An Unexpected Journey, he will be credited at the end of the movie as ‘Project Consultant’.  Perhaps he will again be credited as a writer on the third movie, There and Back Again.  We’ll have to wait and see; meanwhile, it’s just one of those things which make you go, ‘Hmmm….’

Well, that’s not the only thing for the new movie that has made an appearance on this very special day.

Weta has just released the first product and it’s a special preview product for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug with this mini barrel-riding Bilbo Baggins statue. This statue fits in line with the mini-statues you’ve seen us review here from The Lord of the Rings. It’s the very first mini-statue for The Hobbit trilogy. This will also be the first in a line of barrel-riding pieces leading up to the release of the film in December. Bilbo is in-stock for $65 so get you order in now to enter for a chance to win 65 Weta dollars and add this amazing Bilbo statue to your collection.

Some you might have already read, some may be an eye opener.

New production video coming soon!

Peter Jackson’s daughter Katie Jackson indicated on her Twitter account on June 9 that “the next Hobbit production vlog will be up within the next 2 weeks”. So it seems we’ll have more to chew over by June 23 at the latest.

Update on the Wellington Premiere kerfuffle

A lot of people were disappointed that Wellington would not be getting the premiere for Desolation of Smaug.

Speaking with TVNZ, Wingnut Films spokesperson Matthew Dravitzki said was never an intention to hold all three world premieres for The Hobbit in New Zealand.

He said: “with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the first film was premiered in London, the second film was premiered in New York, and the third film was premiered in Wellington.” A location for the premiere has not yet been confirmed.

Hobbit cast and crew react to Happy Hobbit

Our own Happy Hobbit video bloggers recorded a live reaction video to the Desolation of Smaug trailer. Peter Jackson apparently stumbled upon it and posted it up on his own faceborg page. But then he went one better and pulled together Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, and Lee Pace (in costume!) and filmed their reaction to to our own Kili and Fili’s reaction.

We think it’s pretty funny — check out the video evidence at the bottom.

Also, TORn staffer Rasputin the Evil Balrog notes that you’ll see Lee Pace is wearing a completely different crown than the one he’s been wearing in every other scene we’ve seen him in. She writes:

‘Obviously the tall “Evening Wear” version is not convenient for battle, so the “Day Wear” circlet comes out along with his full-on armor. He must’ve been in the middle of shooting some Battle of Five Armies goodness with his dirty face and all. Interesting that Orlando and Evangeline are not wearing armor.’