Wellington, NZ, March 21, 2011—Production has commenced in Wellington, New Zealand, on “The Hobbit,” filmmaker Peter Jackson’s two film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s widely read masterpiece.
“The Hobbit” is set in Middle-earth 60 years before Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”
The two films, with screenplays by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson, will be shot consecutively in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Filming will take place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.
“The Hobbit” follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Continue reading “PRODUCTION BEGINS IN NEW ZEALAND ON THE HOBBIT, PETER JACKSON’S TWO FILM EPIC ADAPTATION OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN’S TIMELESS CLASSIC”
Just as cameras are about to roll on two Peter Jackson movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” the official blog has gone live online. Brought to us by “The Hobbit Team”, it features a photo of the cast including Martin Freeman which will probably help the world become familiar with its new heroes of Middle-earth.
The site was kind enough to include TOR’s latest “Hobbit In 5,” on the site as well and we will watch it carefully leading up to the production of the two films, scheduled for release in 2012 and 2013. You can find it right here. For fans, the production signals an end to long years of waiting and anticipation filled with highs and lows. The fate of the films seemed in doubt during lawsuits, studio financial troubles and the search for and the loss of a director. The story of how the movie got to this point is high drama all on its own. And of course, TheOneRing will follow the every detail of the production and beyond.
From DigitalSpy.com: It’s been a turbulent few years for The Hobbit (director changes, studio implosions, Peter Jackson’s hospital visits), but any day now the long-awaited Lord Of The Rings prequel will go in front of cameras in New Zealand. James Nesbitt, who can soon be seen in medical drama Monroe, will be one of many recognisable faces in the cast as dwarf Bofur. We got on the phone to James to chat about his ‘dwarf training’, group bonding and immersing himself in J.R.R. Toklien’s Middle Earth. More..
Cricket Wellington boss Gavin Larsen believes the Basin Reserve could be sold out within the next 24 hours after “stunning” opening day sales for Sunday’s earthquake charity game featuring Shane Warne. The spectator-friendly ground has a capacity of 8000 and nearly half those tickets were snapped up for the Twenty20 game before Larsen went home last night.
“We’ve been blown away by the level of interest and I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t a sellout,” Larsen said. “The ground was recalibrated three years ago and the capacity is 8000, which I get the feeling we are going to reach a lot quicker than we thought.”
The big names continue to be unveiled by organiser Stephen Fleming. All Blacks Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith are the latest to lend their support, the pair confirmed as umpires for the match between the Canterbury Legends XI and Wellington Legends XI. Fleming said the All Blacks pair would rotate umpiring stints with actors Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins) and Mark Hadlow (Harry in King Kong)…British actor James Nesbitt has been attached to the Wellington lineup as coach, pitting him against Russell Crowe, who Fleming snapped up as Canterbury coach. More
Irish actor James Nesbitt, cast in the role of the Dwarf Bofur, spoke with the Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio this morning about the time he’s spent so far in New Zealand, reports BeeHiveCity and ContactMusic.com.
From BeeHiveCity:
“We’ve been here for training, because I’m going to be here for a year so the amount of work and the work we’ll be getting up to means we all have to be fit, you know, and a few of us are getting on a bit, so we’ve been training and horse-riding and doing stunts and all that kind of thing, and then we start.”
From ContactMusic.com:
“We haven’t started filming, we got here mid-January and we were supposed to rehearse, doing lots of horse-riding and framing and stunts and all that, but then Peter got ill, he had a perforated ulcer, so filming was delayed for a few weeks. Filming starts in about three weeks and I start in a month, but it’s been great, so I’ve had lots of time off. A typical day will be little bit of training, doing a bit of that, trying to get strong, and then doing lots of stunt fights and movement, then going out and horse-riding. I mean, it’s basically playing is what we’re doing.”
On this episode of Hobbit in 5 The Dwarves and Bilbo make there first press appearance since arriving in New Zealand a month ago. Also Sir Christopher Lee receives a Bafta Award, location scouting, character studies and much much more!
Ok so maybe it ran a little long this week but there was a lot to cover!
From 
Cricket Wellington boss Gavin Larsen believes the Basin Reserve could be sold out within the next 24 hours after “stunning” opening day sales for Sunday’s earthquake charity game featuring Shane Warne. The spectator-friendly ground has a capacity of 8000 and nearly half those tickets were snapped up for the Twenty20 game before Larsen went home last night.