In an interview withThe Wall Street Journal, Peter Jackson, Executive Producer of the upcoming Hobbit films says of the films’ behind-the-scenes footage that “We’ve been filming DVD material for about a year. Guillermo has been doing location scouts and design work, with the DVD people following him around, so we’ve shot 20 or 30 hours of DVD material so far and we’re still a few months away from the first day of shooting.”
Asked about converting the LOTR films to 3D, he says, “You can do [2D to 3D] conversions well if you take time. If you do it quickly, fast and cheap, it’s not going to turn out well. If we were going to convert LOTR, I’d want to do it properly, which would be a very long, time-consuming, and expensive process.”
Lastly, his opinion on the not-so-positive fan reaction to the recently released Theatrical BluRay version seems to jibe with the majority of the fans. “I agree with the fans”, he says. “I was heavily involved in the DVD process when the films were being released through New Line, but now that Warner Brothers has taken control over the releasing of the films, they just tell me what they’re doing and don’t involve me in the process. [With New Line,] the one thing we never did with the fans was make them feel cheated. Back in the original release, we always put extra material in, extra documentaries — a lot of added value. I so totally understand why the fans would be upset; I don’t disagree with them.”
The Matamata Chronicle got a tour of Hobbiton; the report on Stuff.co.nz has details of the new construction, saying it will look exactly as it did in “The Lord of the Rings.” The bridge and mill are being rebuilt! Take the last line, which talks about shooting dates and 3D, with a grain of salt: It sounds like a wrap-up of previous reports, not all confirmed, rather than fresh news. Read More
Dedicated Maddie Chambers has completed her own tribute to J.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings trilogy by creating a miniature model of hobbit Frodo Baggins home. Maddie, 30, spent a year building her intricate model by hand, making everything from the portraits on the walls to the household furniture and vegetable patch in the garden.
The hobbits Bag End cottage is where the trilogy – one of the most popular books ever published – begins and ends and is home to pint-sized hero Frodo, played in Peter Jacksons record-breaking films by Elijah Wood. More..
Linuxelf sends along another batch of LOTR archive clips: Weta Digital on CGI Animation, Weta Team On Oscar Wins and future projects & Peter Jackson talks about FOTR Premier. Enjoy!
Frederik writes: Hi, I’m a danish fan of the rings and I’m writing to inform you that the cast of the rings has gotten another knight today. In the event of Queen Margrethe II’s 70 years birthday, a good deal of people were knighted and Viggo Mortensen (being half Danish after all) was one of the lucky ones. The title given to Viggo is “Ridder af Dannebrog” which translates into “Knight of the Danish banner”.