TheGreyPilgrim writes: The Venture II, aka Manuia, left the Evans Bay wharf near PJ’s Wellington Studio yesterday and was scuttled in Cook Strait. A sad day for the old vessel which has been slowly dismantled for scrap over the last few weeks. The wharf now looks a tad bare with the Manuia gone – no more happy reminder of King Kong as I drive home each day! More..
Month: February 2010
Woody Woodmass writes: Sir Ian McKellen was on UK TV, ITV ‘Loose Women’ yesterday (9th Oct). Unfortunately this programme is not on their ‘ITV-player’ so did not get a transcript or record it. However, he did indicate that his play would be touring down under shortly, and on completion in New Zealand, he will be making the Hobbit. Of course we all know he will be in it, but the time frame appeared to be within 6 months.
Lord Of The Rings prequel made by a fanatic using her £25,000 life savings scores 500,000 views on the internet. She didn’t have Peter Jackson’s £200million budget, eight years of filming time or the spectacular scenery of New Zealand to work with. But Kate Madison could match his boundless passion – and with it managed to make her own Lord Of The Rings film.
The amateur actress was so inspired by the blockbuster Rings trilogy created by Jackson she wrote, directed and produced a prequel based on material from the original JRR Tolkien books. Her hour-long movie Born Of Hope, made on a budget of just £25,000, is already a success, with more than 500,000 people viewing it for free on the internet. More..
Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” might want to fire up the kettle and get out their map of Middle-earth, that beloved world of wizards, dragons and hobbits created by the fantasy author. Time to pencil in Dalton, Ohio, first home of Hobbit Tea. This tiny Wayne County village near Wooster is where seven young Mennonite and Amish workers are mixing and packaging teas, herbs and fruit into three new blends: Hobbiton Meadow Mint, Gandalf the Gray Tea and Bilbo Baggins Breakfast Blend. More..
Niels writes: I was at the Poolburn Reservoir in the south-island this morning enjoying the scenery where the burning Rohirrim village was shot.
On our way over there through the Ida Valley I already spotted a helicopter, since we’ve seen loads of them on our trip so far I didn’t think anything of it then. But when we were at the Poolburn Reservoir I climbed up on one of the rocks to get a better view of the reservoir below, and the helicopter returned and made a very low pass alongside the reservoir. Continue reading “Poolburn Reservoir Prepping for The Hobbit?”
Over the weekend the MTV Movies Blog caught up with Hugo Weaving who discussed how he might fit in the upcoming Hobbit films.
“Elrond is in ‘The Hobbit,’ in the book,” explained Weaving, who portrayed the Lord of Rivendell and ancient, wise elf in Jackson’s three “LOTR” films. “And yeah, I would love to work on that, with Guillermo del Toro directing.”
Weaving, a huge Tolkien fan, was eager to talk about the key plot developments that will involve his character. Continue reading “How Elrond Fits In The Hobbit”