Lots of Narnia-news over the weekend. New Zealand pulp-culture expo Armageddon hosted a panel given by the movie’s SFX crew. The New Zealand herald was there and wrote up an interesting article that can be found here! AICN‘s Quint was there as well, his report is here and they also feature a rumor about the possibility of Sean Connery’s involvement in the movie… [More]
Month: September 2004
The one and only John Cook writes: Just some news you’re welcome to share with your readers – I’ve posted a new Lord of the Rings cartoon parody. This one has a weeping Sam ask Frodo why he’s leaving Middle Earth. Check it out Frodo’s punchline here!
by TORn Staffer Tehanu
Well, I’m being a bit more cautious naming the sets that are springing up around town here in West Auckland, New Zealand. The first one HAD to be a Narnia set– it was sticking out above the fence around the Lion, Witch &Wardrobe lot where the soundstages are. And to make doubly certain, I asked their publicist Ernie Malik about what you see in these first two pictures, and he confirmed that it’s the London house that the Pevensie children lived in before going to their uncle’s house in the country where their adventure started. In one photo it looks like a very ordinary house with a few roses peeking over the fence. In the other photo it’s a bit clearer that only the front half of the house exists, and in the background are the warehouses that house the soundstages for the production. It looks grey and drab and wartime-y.
As for the other mysterious and exciting set that’s out in the country a few miles away, it’s developed a lot in the past week. I was doubtful that it was a Hercules set because it looked like generic medieval European architecture. But suddenly this week it’s sprouted some vaguely classical and pre-classical Greek features — pillars and pediments and so on, and so it does look very likely to be a Hercules set for the new mini-series that Sean Astin is involved with. Also there’s a set-locator sign with a big “H” on it pointing towards it.
The wall with the tower is the right-hand wall of the courtyard, the steps form the centre, and the pillared wall with the upper gallery is the left-hand wall. The tower wall, with its different colour and its arched windows, actually looks like a different building from a different period of history entirely, but maybe when it’s finished it’ll be clearer what’s intended. History buffs can help us all out here — was Hercules a legend from before Homer? Are those Doric columns from after that period? Did the classical Greeks even invent arches? Who cares? I do, but then I care about stuff like the correct use of apostrophes as well.
In this week’s Sideshow/Weta Collectibles newsletter, the company announced it would be retiring these popular items: Gandalf the Grey Figure, Arwen Eventsar Figure and Legolas Greenleaf Figure. This means that once these pieces are sold, they will no longer be making any more. Also, the Balrog, Flame of Udun statue has officially sold out. [Click Here]
frodosgirl writes: I had a lovely time at Armageddon today in Wellington. It had increased in size by quite a bit, and the organizers are having some growing pains, but are managing to more or less pull it off. [More]
Click for more, thanks to Myke for the images!
frodosgirl writes: I had a lovely time at Armageddon today in Wellington. It had increased in size by quite a bit, and the organizers are having some growing pains, but are managing to more or less pull it off. Walked around all the booths first and was pleased to come away with two finds. First off, the publishers allowed Dymocks special permission to sell Sean Astin’s new book at the conference even though it isn’t due out for more than a month. I snatched up a copy. I also discovered that Stansborough Fibres, the company that made the elvish cloaks, is now selling exact replicas of said cloaks. Before they were only allowed to sell scarves and shawls and a different version of a cloak, but Newline has given them exclusive rights to make and sell the cloaks from the movies. You can order online at stansborough.co.nz. The cloaks are really beautiful (I’m ordering mine tomorrow) and the people from Stansborough are so nice. You should all go buy a cloak as they are a steal for $795NZ.
Had the chance to sit through talks with Sean Astin, Andy Serkis and John Rhys-Davies. Sean talked of a number of things, from how much he loves NZ to his experiences on the lotr set to what his Daughter Alexander thinks of Goonies to his latest project, Hercules. Andy talked about Gollum (of course) and a bit about King Kong, including his recent trip to studies the gorillas in Africa. John talked of Gimli and the makeup difficulties plus thoughts on many of his various movies he’s been in, as well as giving us all advice on potential husbands and wives. All of them were very warm and courteous. They each dealt with the diffuculties with the current facility like the professionals they are. Before and after they signed many, many autographs. I had the pleasure of getting to talk to John a bit as things were closing up. He is such a gentleman.