A group of New Zealand film industry workers has petitioned to have the boycott against “The Hobbit” dropped. TheOneRing.net went one-on-one with one filmmakers behind its formation, Chaz Harris, to get the viewpoint of somebody involved on the ground in what is becoming a heated atmosphere that is the latest in a long line of obstacles to ‘The Hobbit’. Read on for questions and thoughtful answers: Continue reading “TORn interviews NZ filmmaker as Kiwi film industry petitions to have ‘Hobbit’ boycott dropped”
Year: 2010
New York Times reporter Michael Cieply, hardly a reporter known to spread rumor, is reporting from an unnamed source close to the production that “The Hobbit” films will be in 3-D (a la AVATAR). Michael was at our Comic-Con 2010 panel where the audience universally despised the idea of the films being created in 3-D. Also in his report, he mentions that the greenlight for the project is close, and more importantly, a rumored release date of December 19th 2012. [Full Story] We know its beating a dead horse, but share your thoughts on a 3-D Hobbit in the comments and through the ‘discuss’ link!
The LA Times is reporting news we’ve all been waiting to hear: “The Hobbit” is finally close, maybe just days away, from getting a greenlight!
“The studios have nearly finalized a deal with director, producer and co-writer Peter Jackson to make the two movies and have resolved most other key issues that have long held up the project, including those related to underlying rights from the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien. The one remaining hurdle is getting an official go-ahead from MGM, which is set to co-finance the movies because under a long-standing agreement it owns half the rights and controls international distribution.”
The story goes on to report that recent issues with various actors’ unions are also close to being resolved. An imminent green light would pave the way for filming to begin in January, keeping the targeted opening date of December, 2012 for the first movie doable. Interestingly, the story lists Peter Jackson as director, something that has yet to be confirmed. Stay tuned here for more on that, and the impending green light! … (Read More)
Story developing: A studio that helped make some of Wellington’s most famous films is on fire in Wellington. A huge fire at Portsmouth Miniatures Studio broke out at 3.10pm. A pall of smoke can be seen all over the eastern suburbs, rising from the building, near Wellington Airport.
The studio’s manager said she was on her way to the scene. No-one was hurt, she said. ”And that’s the main thing.” Crews from all around the Wellington region have gone to fight the blaze. Portsmouth Miniatures Studio has had a hand in many Wellington films. Its facilities were used during the making of Peter Jackson movies including King Kong and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
Update from tvnz.co.nz: It is believed to be the Rongotai studio where he films miniatures, located behind the Kilbirnie Fire Station.
Fire burns a Wellington studio owned by Sir Peter Jackson. – Source: Picture supplied by Matt Kovesdi
Sir Peter Jackson offered to go to an actors’ union meeting last night called over the Hobbit dispute, but was turned down. Spada had attempted to meet with the MEAA to discuss actors’ terms and conditions for over 18 months, without success, he said. The Hobbit’s producers – including Sir Peter – contacted the MEAA and NZ Actors Equity yesterday morning with an offer to attend the Wellington meeting in the hope of finding a solution to the dispute.
After sending several requests asking for a response, the producers were finally told “no” shortly before the meeting started. “It is pity we were not given the chance to have a discussion with the actors, who are the party most affected by the MEAA’s actions,” Sir Peter said. [Read More]
To celebrate the addition of ‘There and Back Again – The Map of Tolkien’s The Hobbit’ by Brian Sibley to the Official Tolkien Online Bookstore, TheOneRing.net and HarperCollinsPublishers teamed up to giveaway 3 copies. And without further delay, the winners are:
Jason F – USA
Izzy C – UK
Stephen W – USA
Winners will be contacted via email shortly to arrange for delivery. (We know there could be a lot of you out there that match the winners names, but please wait for the email before contacting us.) A special thanks to HarperCollinsPublishers for sponsoring this giveaway. If you did not win, please pick up your copy today! [Harper Collins UK]