I’ll be kicking off a new, temporary, regular column that I’m calling An Unexpected Journey because that’s exactly what it is.
A little over a month ago an email arrived asking of my interest in embedding myself on the set of The Hobbit for the entirety of their location shoot, spending over 2 months in New Zealand rolled in with the crew and writing up their adventures, hassles, triumphs and tribulations as they traveled all over the country shooting bits and pieces from the upcoming two-parter (sic) prequel to Lord of the Rings.“
There were all manner of animals on the set ranging from goats to roosters, pigs, oxen, horses and all of them had handlers there to make sure they were fed, watered and safely munching on the lush green grass of Matamata. They would quickly duck out of frame whenever shots would go up.
If you’ve watched the appendices on the Extended Editions of the Lord of the Rings films you should recognize Kiran [Shah]’s name. He’s a much loved character around the set. He’s an actor, stunt man and scale double. On Rings he doubled Elijah Wood. [In The Hobbit, Shah will be Martin Freeman’s double.]
[Kiran] Shah will also be a Goblin in the film.
So what do you all think? Share your thoughts and speculations on our message boards.
This week’s ‘Hobbit in 5’ gives us the details on the Hobbit shoot in New Zealand, the new video game ‘Lord of the Rings: War in the North’, and the recent Hobbit reunion as seen in Empire Magazine. Take a look!
From empireonline.com: It’s ten years on since four little hobbits set off from the Shire on an epic quest that spanned Middle Earth and took in vast battles, demonic monsters, wizardry, Orcs and, ultimately, enough Oscars to fill the Lonely Mountain. It’s ten years that have seen the rise and fall and rise again of two-part prequel The Hobbit, now firmly in production in Wellington, offering moviegoers an imminent return to Middle Earth.
Obviously this all called for a big celebration so a celebration is what Empire is having. The new issue is more bursting with revelry and nostalgia than a Friday night at the Prancing Pony. There’s tall tales – well, tallish tales – memories; behind-the-scenes pics from Aragorn himself, Viggo Mortensen; Oscar night reflections from Ian McKellen, Peter Jackson and Mortensen; and rarely-seen concept art.
Best of all, though, is a gathering of the four hobbits themselves: Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry). It was so momentous it called for its own trailer – and here it is for your perusal pleasure. Sadly the Nazgûl got stuck in LA traffic.
Two stars from the “Lord of the Rings” films squared off at the mic last night, and then in the boxing ring. Fantastic Fest continued Saturday night with the “Fantastic Debates,” traditional debates followed by boxing matches. Former hobbits Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan debated about the online video game “World of Warcraft.” More..
Of late there seems to be no let up to the slew of Hobbit-related news… and we’re not complaining.
Dwarf revelations aside, today brings a very interesting tweet by Ryan Gage, cast originally in the role of Drogo Baggins, the father of Frodo Baggins (played, of course, by Elijah Wood).
Had a costume fitting today and met Elijah Wood for the first time. What a really nice guy!
Early this May, Peter Jackson announced via Facebook that Ryan Gage would be playing the Master of Laketown’s conniving civil servant, Alfrid.
Thanks to TORn spy Patrick A. for the tip.
UPDATE: It seems Ryan Gage is in the UK, and upon reading this post, a reliable source has written in to inform us that the production will probably be filming with Sir Christopher Lee in the UK during the production “break”. How great is that!?
NYMag.com has a new interview up with Elijah Wood who’ll be reprising his role as Frodo in The Hobbit, and perhaps the most interesting bit is his response to the question about when he’ll be going down to New Zealand to shoot his scenes.
Here’s what Elijah said:
October. I’m going to the U.K. first to do some shooting, but then I’m going down in October for the New Zealand part.
Not to jump to any conclusions, but does this potentially mean Sir Christopher Lee will be shooting his scenes in the UK this October? Discuss over at our message boards. The entire interview can be found over at NYMag.com.
From Quint via Aint It Cool News:
