On this episode of Hobbit in 5, we talk about Matamata’s “makeover” for cast and crew of The Hobbit, Weta’s Rivendell Environment is now available for pre-order, a fan builds his own Hobbit hole, Howard Shore receives award, Peter Jackson announces casting of Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, and Conan Stevens, and we continue with another character study!
As reported yesterday from Peter Jackson himself, Stephen Fry has been cast as The Master of Laketown. Here’s a video clip of the local coverage from TVNZ. [[TVNZ]][Video Link]
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.
Sir Ian McKellen is one very cool wizard… um… guy. On his Flickr account today he’s uploaded a picture that’s truly worth a thousand words. It’s been snapped by none other than Peter Jackson on The Hobbit set.
THE HOBBIT is being filmed in 3D. Even wizards have to wear the glasses. Snapped by Peter Jackson in Wellington, 2011.
It’s been more than a month since Sir Ian McKellen posted an entry on his blog “Notes From Imladris” dedicated to his adventures filming The Hobbit. But the wait seems to have been worth it.
His latest blog entry “THE HOBBIT, 2 Elves, and another Wizard” is replete with a picture of Hugo Weaving, who’ll be returning as Lord Elrond, a screencap from ROTK of Bret McKenzie as the Elf Lindir, and a picture of Sylvester McCoy who’s been cast in the role of Radagast the Brown.
Threads of interest follow:
Martin Freeman has left The Hobbit. No worries: he’ll be back in Middle Earth after our first hiatus… The rest of the cast remains on duty for another few weeks, working on hobbit-less sections of the film. These involve dwarves of course but also elves, with Hugo Weaving back for a stretch as Lord Elrond.
Another slim-line elf returning from LOTR, is a local: New Zealand’s actor/comedian/singer Bret McKenzie. Now he is briefly back in Rivendell as a senior official at Elrond’s Court and he has a name “Lindir”, which means “singer”.
And there’s another wizard in town, preparing to make his appearance as Radagast the Brown, the eccentric friend of Gandalf’s, played by Sylvester McCoy. This week he has been trying out his make-up and costume.
The blog post makes for an amazing read, so be sure to click that link above and read the Grey Wizard’s notes in his own hand.