In his latest blog, Ian McKellen addresses a question he must be getting asked rather a lot of late: “Has Peter Jackson changed?”. His answer? “The basic answer is No: he’s still the same Kiwi, who loves nothing more than making films in his native country, surrounded by faithful colleagues whom he trusts and admires.”
There is one difference apparently.
“Oh, one surprising change I have noticed. Shoes are optional in New Zealand and most days Peter shot LOTR barefoot as a hobbit. But on The Hobbit filming he was always well shod, padding through the leaf mould and rubble of the sets in regular footwear.”
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Tom Cardy of Fairfax NZ News chats exclusively with Martin Freeman about The Hobbit: When I meet British actor Martin Freeman, it’s in a makeshift cafeteria next to a giant temporary sound stage Sir Peter Jackson is using in Upper Hutt that was once a car assembly plant.
Freeman has a rare day off from filming – as he speaks Jackson is right next door shooting a scene with the 13 dwarfs whom Bilbo joins on their quest. But rather than not think about The Hobbit he’s more than happy to talk to talk to reporters for an hour, well beyond the time that was expected of him. Continue reading “A chat with Martin Freeman aka Bilbo Baggins!”
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If you missed them, here are 17 (count them!) fabulous character posters that provide yet another look at the principal characters. In addition to Bilbo, Gandalf and all the dwarves of the party, the posters include Galadriel and Gollum. Maybe that’s a hint of Galadriel’s importance in An Unexpected Journey. Or maybe it’s just indicative of Cate Blanchett’s star power. Continue reading “Seventeen Hobbit character posters you’ll absolutely love”
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Weta’s Ben Hawker is a brilliant guy and he worked with the creative and fun folks at Air New Zealand to create the ideas that became perhaps the most popular airline safety video in the world, collecting 8 million hits since it was launched a week ago. TheOneRing was honored to play a part with Cliff “Quickbeam” Broadway and I (Larry “MrCere” Curtis) appearing to help represent fans from across the globe. Well, they also asked us to chime in on the behind-the-scenes video which features J.R.R. Tolkien’s grandsons Royd and Mike, the genuinely excellent and beautiful airline employees Kara, Mark and Will (plus others not in the video), the film’s director Josh, the soon-to-be superstar Dean O’Gorman, Peter Jackson and that Hawker guy. TORn may have its own version of a story and photos from that set before long but Air New Zealand has a great video to follow up last week’s starting off with a familiar face. Also fun, many of the crew making this video also worked on The Hobbit. Check out the short clip on the next page! Continue reading “A secret look inside Air NZ’s Middle-earth safety video”
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Here’s a lovely new still taken from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: The Movie Storybook with Fili, Kili and Bilbo peering over a decaying log at something, or someone, that’s out-of-frame. Spoiler warning as usual! Continue reading “New still from The Movie Storybook”
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Well, this was indeed the “big secret” we kept quiet for such a long time. TheOneRing.net staffers Larry Curtis (MrCere) and your host Cliff Broadway (Quickbeam) have comedic appearances in the delightful Air New Zealand Safety Video that has taken the internet by storm in the past few days! With a whopping 7.5 million views since Oct. 31st, this video is filled to the brim with charming Hobbity goodness…. a sexy Dean O’Gorman (who plays Fili)…. Tolkien’s great-grandson…. and a Wizard in high tops! Join us on our live webcast today at 5:00pm PST to learn delightful details as the marketing efforts for THE HOBBIT continue apace. WE ALSO HAVE OUR LINE PARTIES GOING FULL TILT! Learn more by joining our Live Event page right here and be part of the chat: www.theonering.net/live or via Stickam at www.stickam.com/theoneringnet
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In his latest blog, Ian McKellen addresses a question he must be getting asked rather a lot of late: “Has Peter Jackson changed?”. His answer? “The basic answer is No: he’s still the same Kiwi, who loves nothing more than making films in his native country, surrounded by faithful colleagues whom he trusts and admires.”
