Monday 7 February, Wellington – Production company, 3Foot7 Ltd, is pleased to announce that the first day of principal photography for THE HOBBIT will be Monday 21 March, 2011.
This date has been chosen following practical considerations of the filming schedule requirements, actor availability and the NZ seasons. Shooting will take place at Stone Street Studios in Miramar and on location around New Zealand.
Confirmed cast include: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Rob Kazinsky, Aidan Turner, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, Mikael Persbrant, Sylvester McCoy and Elijah Wood. Director, Sir Peter Jackson, comments: “Despite some delays we are fully back on track and very excited to get started.”
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In a 13 page feature on ex-Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro, The New Yorker magazine offers some tasty morsels concerning Guillermo’s vision for Smaug, directly from the director’s own notebook.
But, fans please do remember, del Toro left the production after this interview was granted and things have likely changed. He is repeatedly on the record as supporting whatever decisions Peter Jackson and crew make after his departure and he is one of the two-film production’s biggest fans. Just remember to read the story in that context.
*Possible Spoiler Alert!*
I paused at what looked like an image of a double-bitted medieval hatchet. “That’s Smaug,” del Toro said. It was an overhead view: “See, he’s like a flying axe.” Del Toro thinks that monsters should appear transformed when viewed from a fresh angle, lest the audience lose a sense of awe. Defining silhouettes is the first step in good monster design, he said. “Then you start playing with movement. The next element of design is color. And then finally—finally—comes detail. A lot of people go the other way, and just pile up a lot of detail.”
The article is a marvelous read, so we aren’t going to just copy and paste the good stuff. That just wouldn’t be right! Jump over to The New Yorker’s website for the complete article and more juicy details, including Del Toro’s vision of Thorin. [Full Article]
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Shooting of Sir Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films will begin in Wellington next month and a possible start date is one that fans would love – St Valentine’s Day.
Wellywood insiders have told The Dominion Post February 14 is when cameras will start rolling on the two films. However, Sir Ian McKellen – who is reprising his Lord of the Rings role as Gandalf – said via his website: “I am happy to say I start filming in Wellington on February 21, 2011.” Film publicist Melissa Booth confirmed filming would start next month but said the exact date had yet to be set. The films’ stars would soon be arriving in Wellington to launch the production. “It will be for a significant number of the actors. I don’t have a date yet, but I am hoping it will be in a couple of weeks’ time.” More..
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Our sources are telling us that the always reliable (and great) film-on-disc website www.digitalbits.com is correct its Lord of The Rings Blu-ray news. Bill Hunt released the info in his column today. We had not heard a final decision had been reached but Hunt knows his stuff and can be trusted. This is both good and bad.
The good: Expect the extended-edition version of all three LOTR films in 2011. Warner will attempt to do these in (obviously) extremely high quality transfers that will fix minor items here and there and still likely put one movie on two discs rather than cram data to one disc and let quality suffer. Continue reading “LOTR Extended Blu-ray coming in 2011”
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From Sir Christopher Lee’s Official Site: Slowly but surely, Peter Jackson has managed to secure the return of the majority of the major stars from The Lord of the Rings franchise for his soon to be shooting prequel, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
Sir. Christopher Lee had been in talks to reprise his role as the wizard Saruman and it now looks certain, providing that he is in good health, that he will be appearing in the movie.
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ELIJAH WOOD AND ANDY SERKIS TO JOIN THE CAST OF PETER JACKSON’S “THE HOBBIT”
Los Angeles, CA—January 10, 2011—Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis are set to join the cast of Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic “The Hobbit.” The films, which are scheduled to commence principal photography in February 2011, mark Jackson’s return to Middle-earth following his Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The announcement was made jointly today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema, Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. and Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Jackson, who directed all three “Lord of the Rings” films, will helm the two films back-to-back, telling the story of “The Hobbit” in two parts from a screenplay by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro.
Elijah Wood (“The Lord of The Rings” trilogy, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) will be returning to play Frodo Baggins the young cousin of Bilbo Baggins and Andy Serkis (“The Lord of The Rings” trilogy, “King Kong”) will be returning to play the character Gollum. Continue reading “It’s Really Official Now: Wood & Serkis Press Release”
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