How The Hobbit killed that Elfquest pic fans have been waiting for

January 25th, 2012 by xoanon | Discuss | | No Comments »

For a good long while, there has been talk of a feature film based on Wendy and Richard Pini’s Elfquest comics, which they’ve self-published since the ’70s. Warner Bros announced it was making one back in 2008. Four years later, it’s deader than Denethor. And you can blame Peter Jackson.

Well, sort of. See, Warner Bros. feels that three films with elves is one too many and, with the sure-to-be-a-massive-hit-twofer The Hobbit coming this December, they pulled the plug on Elfquest. Or, at least, that’s how Wendy Pini put it on the official Elfquest Facebook page:

“After close to four years of suspense—and longer than four years of your much-appreciated interest and support—the word has come down from Warner Bros. And the word is ‘no.’ Their simple explanation is that they don’t want to compete with The Hobbit. This was a possibility, among several, that we were prepared for. It is a relief, at last, to know.”

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TheOneRing.net: A Look Back at 2011

January 1st, 2012 by maegwen | Discuss | | 2 Comments »

What a great year! And things are about to get even more exciting! As we begin 2012 with anticipation that will continue to grow and grow, TORn staffer Justin takes us on a tour of all the events and activities TORn fans participated in during 2011. Read on!

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UPDATE: Call before viewing Tintin to see Hobbit

December 22nd, 2011 by MrCere | No Comments »

A big thanks to everybody who sent in theater information about The Hobbit trailer.  While we are sorry you didn’t get to see it on the big screen, we are glad you wrote in to help out.  We are no longer updating the page, so while your emails are appreciated, no further action will be taken.

We recommend calling your local theater to see if they have attached the trailer.  The trailers have been sent out to local cinemas but it is up to individual cinemas when and where they use them.  Be a proactive consumer.  We did hear back from Warner Bros. on this issue and are pleased to share their statement with Hobbit fans.

Warner Bros. appreciates the interest in the trailer for THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, and has let us know that it is in approximately 90% of the theaters playing TINTIN.  The studio understands if any fans were disappointed not to see it in their local theater, and they suggest that everyone looking for the trailer check with the theater first to make sure it’s playing on that screen.

And Happy Holidays!

LEGO Lands ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’

December 16th, 2011 by newsfrombree | Source: LEGO | Discuss | | 34 Comments »

LEGO fans rejoice! LEGO has secured the rights to develop build-and-play construction sets based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit! Check out the release below. They’ve even set up an official site for the line at  TheLordoftheRings.LEGO.com! (Thanks to Ringer Dayhiker for the heads up!) 

BURBANK, Calif., Dec. 16, 2011 — Warner Bros. Consumer Products and The LEGO Group announced today a partnership that awards the world’s leading construction toy brand exclusive rights to develop build-and-play construction sets based on THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT™.  The multi-year licensing agreement grants access to the library of characters, settings, and stories for THE LORD OF THE RINGS property, as well as films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  LEGO® THE LORD OF THE RINGS construction sets are slated for a rolling global launch beginning in June 2012 in the United States, with LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY scheduled for later in the year.

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Hobbit SFX Supervisor Joe Letteri Talks Gollum to MovieWeb

December 16th, 2011 by newsfrombree | Source: MovieWeb.com | Discuss | | No Comments »

MovieWeb has had a chance to discuss ‘The Hobbit‘ with senior effects supervisor Joe Letteri. In the article, Mr. Letteri talks about working with Andy Serkis on ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ and how technology has advanced since we last saw Gollum on the big screen. Specifically, he discusses how the film-makers can now capture Andy’s performance on set or on location, without a follow-up motion capture stage performance. Check out the full article at MovieWeb.com. [Read on]

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EXCLUSIVE: Hobbit Trailer Details Revealed

December 15th, 2011 by newsfrombree | 42 Comments »

Thanks to Ringer Duff Man for sending in this exclusive summary of what we can expect to see in the upcoming ‘Hobbit’ trailer. Read on for his report. Warning: Spoilers lie ahead.

Update – At the request of the Peter Jackson and the production, we’ve been asked to remove the trailer description. Look for the trailer in theaters and online soon!

New WB press release and a mystery bit of casting

December 14th, 2011 by Garfeimao | 16 Comments »

An official WB press release came out today that includes some Plot detail. One new Cast member is in the list, a John Bell, who appears to be about 10 years old or so. No official listing on IMDB yet for this casting, so no idea if he is Bain or Estel, or some other youngster. I’m including a link to an interview with the young actor under the press release.

The Hobbit Teaser is coming, soon

December 14th, 2011 by Garfeimao | 14 Comments »

What we know: Peter Jackson began rolling film on The Hobbit back in April, 2011 and will be adapting this story as a Duology, two films instead of just the one like the book. They’ve had periods of shooting in the studio, a hiatus on filming while post production was being done, and now they are in the midst of Location shooting, with another hiatus and more studio shooting scheduled through June of 2012. The existence of the first Teaser was mentioned by both Andy Serkis and Elijah Wood several weeks ago, and it had its world debut at BNAT13 this past weekend. The mass release of the Teaser has not yet happened, and that is where we pick up our story.

HOBBIT Teaser TRAILER Shown at BNAT13 Film Fest!

December 11th, 2011 by Quickbeam | 12 Comments »

While our intrepid reporter MrCere is currently in New Zealand — back in the States a very big surprise was revealed to audiences at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon geek film festival (held in Texas by AICN founder Harry Knowles).  That’s right, THE HOBBIT teaser trailer was unspooled less than 24 hours ago and quickly the Twitterverse began sparkling with reactions.   Comments included such tweets as:

• “Is it a spoiler to tweet that Gandalf magically sent @EricVespe to us with THE HOBBIT trailer and @woodelijah was the trailer bearer? ”

Ringer fans were waiting (im)patiently for the footage to arrive in U.S. theaters this Christmas, but lo and behold!  Elijah Wood was there to help present as Mr. Vespe (“Quint”) brought the most anticipated footage in all geekdom back to Austin.  Mr. Wood himself tweeted today:

• “Didn’t that trailer kill? So excited to see it…”

More than the opening few minutes of DARK KNIGHT RISES, and much more than any AVENGERS tidbit, this teaser trailer is pretty much the Holy Grail for HOBBIT fans who have waited a decade to see a first glimpse of Peter Jackson’s return to Middle-earth.  We will post more info and share reactions as they come in.  But the wait is finally over (for those who were there)!

UPDATE: Nordling, AICN staff, writes:

Yes, we saw THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY trailer thanks to Gandalf The Grey magically transporting Quint from the beautiful landscapes of Middle-Earth to the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas. No, I can’t talk about any specifics except to say that something I always treasured from the original book is in the trailer in a big way and I was very happy to hear it. The trailer will play in front of THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN and it’s simply sublime. It’s more character-based than epic, but it’s like slipping into a warm embrace from a very old friend that you haven’t seen in many years. Truly wonderful.

 Update #2: Tolkienbritta

One book, many films: Movie studios evolve with financial times

December 6th, 2011 by xoanon | 1 Comment »

When it comes to literature, can there be too much of a good thing? Hollywood film studios are putting the old adage to the test. An increasing number of book-to-film adaptations are being broken into multiple parts, a recent trend in blockbuster filmmaking.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was one novel, but it was released as two separate films, the second half of which was released on Blu-ray and DVD in November. Following the trend, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1″ hit the big screen on Nov. 18 and the second half is slated for a November 2012 release. More..

Netflix will become exclusive streaming provider of many MGM films in UK, Ireland

November 7th, 2011 by xoanon | No Comments »

Netflix and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) this morning announced a multi-year licensing agreement that will make Netflix the exclusive subscription streaming service in the UK and Ireland for most first-run feature films from the movie studio.

Starting in early 2012, when Netflix is set to make its debut in the UK and Ireland, registered members will be able to watch available content instantly on their television sets, tablets, game consoles, computers and mobile phones. Pricing for the service in these regions has yet to be announced.

Appearing exclusively on Netflix within one year of their theatrical release will be such MGM films as “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” the prequels to the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Zookeeper”, and “21 Jump Street”.

A selection of MGM catalogue titles will also be available on Netflix in the UK and Ireland, including “Fargo,” “The Usual Suspects,” “West Side Story” and “The Amityville Horror”.

New Zealand extends WB’s special Hobbit deal to other productions

November 1st, 2011 by kristin | Source: Variety | Discuss | | 1 Comment »

Thanks to The Hobbit, New Zealand’s government is now offering additional incentives to attract other big-budget productions. According to Variety,

The changes to the Kiwi incentives have opened up the country’s Large Budget Screen Production Grant (LBSPG) to allow for an additional grant for very large productions ($200 million-plus) as a direct result of the tussle over the “The Hobbit” films last year, when Warner Bros. sought financial incentives to make the big-budget production more attractive.

Now, an additional $NZ9.75 million ($7.75 million) is available to these big productions, and this new grant covers expenditure that may be excluded under the current LBSPG rules.

This move merely formalizes the negotiations thrashed out by the government last year, when it fought to keep the Hobbit pics in N.Z., and is the same deal that Warner Bros. negotiated at the time.

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