TORn reported a grass roots effort by some of working folks who call Weta Workshop home. Not sponsored by the effects studio, its owners or bosses, this was an effort by “the people” with a call out to fans to demonstrate why New Zealand was the right place to make “The Hobbit.” Just as the message was set to unleash on the world, Warner Bros announced its decision. But the video lives. Read on:
Hi all,
I’m sure everyone has heard the absolutely brilliant news that the Hobbit will now be staying in New Zealand. I firmly believe this is in no small part due to the massive show of support the public of New Zealand and the world, has shown over the past week. It truly is a tribute to what the filming of The Hobbit in New Zealand means to us all.
As part of the effort to keep the Hobbit where it belongs, we asked people to send in their videos of support. As a celebration of these messages, we have cut together a short film to thank not just those who sent in their videos but, everyone who showed their support at the march, the rally, on the facebook pages, in the Newspaper message, and in all the other forms people put their hand up for our cause. Thank you all!
The video is available for viewing on the YouTube channel where the videos were uploaded here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciW7xzQb5S4
Cheers,
videosforclip
It’s been a long time coming, but there was finally cause for rejoicing in Middle-earth last week when director Peter Jackson announced he’d cast several key roles in his adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel, The Hobbit. The casting of Martin Freeman of the UK Office fame as Bilbo Baggins was widely expected, but some Tolkien fans were surprised and slightly befuddled to see English actor Richard Armitage, best known for the BBC series MI-5, cast as Thorin Oakenshield, the gruff leader of a company of dwarves. What was Jackson doing hiring a hunky actor to play a character most often depicted in illustrations — and in the 1977 animated Hobbit movie — as a squat, crabby, Wilford Brimley-ish old dwarf with a long white beard? In an interview (after the jump), Jackson tells EW the choice is actually right in line with the casting of Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn and Orlando Bloom as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. 