Things have quieted down a bit in the world’s media, but nothing has been settled yet on the two-part “Hobbit” production and a dispute with actors. What has changed is that both sides have gone mostly quiet in the press while government officials from both New Zealand and Australia have stepped in to comment or mediate. Meanwhile, Sam Neil says the whole thing could be resolved over a cup of tea.
But could ‘The Hobbit’ really leave New Zealand? Could it really walk away from the landscapes and the people who were the heart and soul of the LOTR trilogy? Isn’t this all a bluff in negotiations that everybody knows will be resolved? A spy close to the production tells us the possibility is absolutely real. The studios, after finally getting all the ducks in a row, want to greenlight and shoot these films and they are willing to leave New Zealand if they must. Canada believes it, so does Scotland and ironically, so does Australia. TORn is lacking a translator for most Eastern European languages but Romania and its neighbors also seem like a possibility. (I would throw Utah in the hat too!)
And the online petition we reported on, initiated by film industry pros in New Zealand, has at least has been noticed. In an interview “Hobbit” co-writer and co-producer Phillipa Boyens said,
“I tell you one thing that’s been amazing and that’s the support and it has I think personally made a huge difference, is the New Zealand industry has started to rally around to save this and they have the online petition . . . that’s been fantastic and Pete’s been reading that and taking heart from it.”
Keen eyes will discover many familiar names on the petition list, including a “confirmed” Elijah Wood. As always, TORn will bring you the latest news as it gets reported.
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Shaky Isles Theatre presents MY INNER ORC by Allen O’Leary – A play about actors, Lord of the Rings and the fans who love them. Set in Croydon. Following sell-out performances at the Riverside Studios and the Camden Fringe, Shaky Isles Theatre return to the Pleasance for a limited two week run of Allen O’Leary’s My Inner Orc. In an affectionately satirical new play, two actors find themselves pitted against Lord of the Rings fans with plans of magic and mayhem. Model-turned-actor Karl must grow up fast and find his ‘inner orc’ to help the star and organiser of the Convention escape two over-zealous fans threatening seduction, extortion and black-mail.
O’Leary’s play took its starting point from the actors he knew who worked on Peter Jackson’s trilogy of films and came to London to capitalise on their experience at Conventions. In Rings fans he found a world of people with a sense of camaraderie, nobility and a higher purpose, attracted to the simplicity of an epic life. Continue reading “Stage: My Inner Orc”
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From Wired.com: District 9 scored last summer as a breakthrough sci-fi film that fused the mundane grit of a politically dysfunctional society with classic alien elements. Operating simultaneously as apartheid metaphor, personal drama and shoot-’em-up spectacle, the movie coalesced through an intensely creative collaborative process that was rife with trial and error.
As documented in upcoming book The Art of District 9, Weta Workshop practiced the design equivalent of Method acting. Beyond crafting cool-looking effects, artisans working under the direction of Peter Jackson’s go-to effects expert — The Lord of the Rings Oscar-winner Richard Taylor — embedded behavior and motivation into their freakish models of aliens, weapons and spaceships. More..
Pre-Order ‘The Art of District 9’ on Amazon.com today!
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Gordon Campbell with Scoop.co.nz has weighed in on recent events concerning what he phrases as the end game for The Hobbit. He states the actors boycott is really just a “sideshow” and what matters is “the production incentives available in New Zealand compared to elsewhere in the world” as well as “the late intrusion of the 74 year old corporate raider Carl Icahn into the sale of debt-burdened MGM, which owns a major stake in The Hobbit project.”
You can read the entire article here.
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Sharon Waxman at TheWrap.com has posted an exclusive on her blog, Wax Word, that a deal for Peter Jackson to direct “The Hobbit” is all but complete:
“Now his deal is all but complete, according to individuals close to the project. Both Jackson’s directing fee and percentage of the gross have been settled, though a number of lesser deal points remain outstanding.”
Confirmation that PJ will be adding the director role to his writing and producing duties can’t come soon enough for fans who have been hoping PJ would take over the director’s role for since Guillermo Del Toro announced earlier this year that he was vacating the position. The pieces are falling into place for “The Hobbit” to get back on track!
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Sir Ian McKellen was one of the many celebs at the “Les Miz” 25th anniversary show on Sunday night at London’s O2 Arena. Just finished with a stage production of “Waiting for Godot,” Sir Ian is now Waiting for Peter Jackson. He’s supposed to appear in Jackson’s “Hobbit” movie, and is hopeful that the lawyers involved will have papers for him to sign soon so he can reprise the pivotal role of Gandalf. “It’s still a matter of MGM and Warner Bros. sorting things out, but I’m told they’re close.” More..
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