Breaking news from tvnz.co.nz There has been an industrial accident on the set of Sir Peter Jackson’s film The Hobbit. The fire service says two people received burns in the incident at the Stone Street studios in the Wellington suburb of Miramar. It is understood their injuries are minor. There is no word on the exact cause of the accident. More to follow.
UPDATE: From The Dominion Post Two people have been hurt in a small explosion at the studios where the Hobbit is being filmed. The Fire Service confirmed they were called to an “industrial explosion” at the Stone St studios in Miramar. Wellington Free Ambulance said two people were treated at the scene and were taken to hospital. A small fire followed the explosion but it was out when firefighters arrived.
A spokesman for Wingnut Films said the explosion was in a workshop, not on set, and filming was continuing. An investigation had been launched. The two people were taken to hospital as a precaution, the spokesman said.
Tweeted first by BBC Entertainment Reporter Lizo (here), apparently Bilbo Baggins, aka Martin Freeman, has let slip that fellow ‘Sherlock’ actor Benedict Cumberbatch has a role in The Hobbit. Seems like a good pick for casting, but what role will he play? Share your thoughts in our comments, discussion board and on facebook! (Personally, I think he looks rather Elven. But his name is so Hobbitish!)
Navigating around the Hollywood press-release protocol, Peter Jackson announced via Facebook that he has cast Stephen Fry as the Master of Laketown. From Jackson’s comments it sounds like he and Fry are still working on the “Dambusters” film. “In addition to his writing skills, he’s a terrific actor and will create a very memorable “Master” for us.”
He also announces, “The Master’s conniving civil servant, Alfrid will be played by Ryan Gage.” And, in the “biggest” casting announcement so far (or probably ever) Conan Stevens, a mountain of a man who plays “The Mountain that Rides,” in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” series, will play an orc named Dennis Azog. He was of course the starter of the war between the goblins (orcs) and dwarves and lived in Moria. By casting Stevens, a giant stunt actor, it probably means we can absolutely count on background in the conflict between dwarves and orcs so that by the time the action at The Lonely Mountain comes, we will know and feel the long history of hatred between the races. (On a personal note, this enters into my wildest dreams territory!) You can read the whole of Jackson’s Facebook update right here. He also details the shooting schedule which is pretty insightful.
Peter Jackson has posted a note on his Facebook page announcing the recast of Fili and the much-anticipated announcement of the actor playing Thranduil! Lee Pace will be playing the Elven King Thranduil and Den O’Gorman will be playing Fili. While we create the bio pages for both, check out Peter Jackson’s note! [PJ’s Note] (Thanks to Ringer Beerenberghusky for the heads up!)
Orlando Bloom is confident he will appear in The Hobbit.
The 34-year-old actor hopes to reprise his role as archer elf Legolas in the highly anticipated two-part film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The movies, which will be directed by Lord of the Rings trilogy creator Peter Jackson, have created a flurry of excitement surrounding cast members. Bloom says he would love to return to the fantasy franchise and continue his work alongside the talented director.
“I’m going to bet on it,” he said in an interview with MTV. “But I can’t really talk too much about it at the moment because it’s still sort of in the ether. But I would love to go back to work with Peter Jackson. It would be an honour.”
Sir Peter Jackson has started his direct communication with fans worldwide through his newly created Facebook account! The first article is titled ’48 Frames a Second’ and talks about shooting The Hobbit in the much faster film speed. Here’s an excerpt. Follow the link for the complete article:
Time for an update. Actually, we’ve been intending to kick off with a video, which is almost done, so look out for that in the next day or two. In the meantime, I thought I’d address the news that has been reported about us shooting THE HOBBIT at 48 frames per second, and explain to you what my thoughts are about this.
We are indeed shooting at the higher frame rate. The key thing to understand is that this process requires both shooting and projecting at 48 fps, rather than the usual 24 fps (films have been shot at 24 frames per second since the late 1920’s). So the result looks like normal speed, but the image has hugely enhanced clarity and smoothness. Looking at 24 frames every second may seem ok–and we’ve all seen thousands of films like this over the last 90 years–but there is often quite a lot of blur in each frame, during fast movements, and if the camera is moving around quickly, the image can judder or “strobe.”
Tweeted first by BBC Entertainment Reporter Lizo (
