There is just one week until Comic Con 2012 starts with Preview Night on Wednesday, July 11. But aside from the TORn panel and WB’s panel for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, you may be wondering what else there is for a Hobbit fan to do. The Official SDCC website has put up schedules for panels, autograph sessions, films and portfolio reviews (aspiring artists, please take note). So here is your handy, dandy TORn guide to all things Hobbit and Lord of the Rings related at comic con this year (after the break)

Continue reading “SDCC is coming, what’s a Hobbit to do at comic con 2012?”

Popwatch has just revealed the cover for Entertainment Weekly’s forthcoming Comic-Con edition, and the lead feature is The Hobbit.

Their blurb says that the mag will feature “exclusive images and on-set scoops from the first movies — An Unexpected Journey — including interviews with Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), and director Peter Jackson.”

Even better, EW has also posted a brand-new gallery of set and promotional photos that we think might reveal some nifty new details of what we can expect from the movie! Go check them out!

We suggest not visiting the gallery if you are SPOILER averse!

Choice quote from Martin Freeman: ‘I don’t think I’m particularly hobbit-y,’ says Freeman. ‘But I do like comfort and I’m quite private, so in those ways, maybe I am.’

[EW Cover | [EW Gallery]

SAN DIEGO – Warner Bros. today announced what has been suspected and rumored: the studio is bringing “The Hobbit,” to the San Diego Comic-Con in a big way. Most surprising is just how big as director Peter Jackson, producer and co-screenwriter Philippa Boyens, actor and director Andy Serkis along with featured actors Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen and Richard Armitage are all expected at the Saturday, July 14 Comic-Con panel hosted by Warner Bros. The film sharing the three-hour slot with “The Hobbit,” is none other than “Hobbit” co-writer Guillermo del Toro‘s “Pacific Rim.” The director is also expected to be in attendance. TheOneRing.net’s team of 13 staffers (a lucky 13 that works nicely with the source material) will be reporting from the scene as much as possible, bringing the emotions, news, photos, video and quotes to the online audience.

The studio has been relatively quiet on the publicity front considering the budget and cultural size of the two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” (celebrating its 75th anniversary in print this year) releasing a single trailer, a series of character photos and letting Peter Jackson’s own production diaries on his Facebook page function as pre-film publicity. That seems to be changing in a single moment as WB drops an atomic bomb of Middle-earth star power at the central event of the popular-culture calendar. Continue reading “‘Hobbit’ lineup announced for Comic-Con includes Jackson, McKellen, Serkis, Armitage, Freeman, Boyens”

Ian McKellen. Photo by Brendon Doran. This account of Ian McKellen’s one-man-show the other night at the Opera House in Wellington in aid of the earthquake-struck Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch features some glorious photography of the performance.

We mingled with the Hobbit cast, Martin Freeman expressing his general surprise at what was happening “We had no idea about this” (though with a grin on his face) and everyone then crowded in around Ian as he explained what would happen next.

Photo to the right by Brendon Doran. See bigger, better versions by following the link below.

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Addendum: there’s also this review over at The Dominion Post.

Ian McKellen’s one-man show to raise funds for the benefit of Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged Isaac Theatre Royal is in Wellington this weekend for its final few shows. Here’s a snippet of video from the last night’s show at the Opera House that features cameos from cast members from The Hobbit, and the locals.


Thank-you to RichardArmitageNet for information on images and video.

Ian McKellan has given an interview about his stage tour of New Zealand, a fundraiser for the earthquake-damaged Isaac Royal Theatre in Christchurch. In it, he drops some news about The Hobbit. An excerpt from the article on stuff.co.nz.

McKellen expects shooting to be completed on The Hobbit by the end of next month. He says it’s likely he will return next year for a small amount of additional shooting for the second part The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

He adds that premieres are planned London, New York and Berlin and Tokyo for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in addition to Wellington. He doesn’t yet know which ones he will be attending.

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