300512id1_TheHobbit_TDOS_INTL_Tapestry_Keyart_7inH_x_38inW.inddThe LIVE world-wide Fan Event for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is happening today!

Eleven different cities will hook-up by satellite for the Live Event to celebrate the forthcoming release of The Desolation of Smaug. And fans can all watch the LIVE stream right here as it happens. Continue reading “Watch The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Live Event right here today!”

Part one of this spotlight on Evangeline Lilly and her character Tauriel was published yesterday. Click here to read it.


(Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.)
(Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.)
In the first part of this story, Evangeline Lilly discussed her childhood love for “The Hobbit,” and her decision-making process that led her to move her family to New Zealand and work with director Peter Jackson as a character not found in J.R.R. Tolkien’s 75-year-old classic. She plays an elf in the forest kingdom of Thranduil where his son Legolas also lives.

How does an actor differentiate her character in a set of films stuffed full with grand, immortal elves?

“Somebody asked me, ‘Did you study a lot of the other elves? The performances of the elves from Rings to do this role?’ I said distinctly ‘no.’ I intentionally didn’t re-watch the movies because I was afraid of trying to copy someone’s performance and I wanted it to be original.”

bg_jFUFB“All the other elves you’ve ever seen in these movies are at least twice my age, at least twice Tauriel’s age, so they are very wise and they’re very well established in their power and their understanding of the world. I’ve intentionally tried to demonstrate that she’s not there yet. She’s young, she’s only 600 years old and in elven terms, that is so young. She’s just a baby.”

Lilly is even playing some layers of the role in a way she wants those diehard fans to understand.

“I like the idea of playing with a young elf, how would they behave? How would they be different from the aged elves? And I hope that it doesn’t come across as wrong, you know what I mean? I hope it doesn’t come across to people who really know the world as she’s not quite got it down. Because that’s my goal, to not quite have it.

“She wants to be as wise, she wants to be as much of a presence as all of her elders but she’s not. She’s a kid and there’s a part of her that is always a little too excited about things or maybe a little too engaged in the world, the way kids can get. And I think that was something I wanted to tell the really diehard fans.

“I want them to know that she is young so that when they look at the performance and they look at the character they understand the context.” Continue reading “Evangeline Lilly explains the challenges of playing Tauriel in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’”

Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.
(Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.)

Desolation of Smaug poster artworkWELLINGTON, New Zealand — Those outside of the movie making business often don’t understand what The Producer does on a film. The quickest answer is: They get the movie made. They get things done.

In the case of Zane Weiner on “The Hobbit,” it meant getting in touch with someone nobody was meant to get in touch with.

Evangeline Lilly.

Living in Hawaii, she was a month removed from the birth of her child, email turned off, not taking calls about work and still confined to bed rest.

“So I was still in bed with the baby,” she told TheOneRing.net in full Tauriel outfit and gear during a lunch break on a full day of filming on “The Hobbit.”

This lunch tent, while perhaps not glamorous, is an essential part of Stone Street Studios and making Peter Jackson movies, designed to feed and shelter quite an enormous crowd. Breakfast was served there for anybody wanting to start the day off right. Coffee and tea were available on any sound stage but also in the tent — a first stop for many on a shoot. Continue reading “Evangeline Lilly gets personal with TORn about Tauriel and ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’”

Thorin_Oakenshield Warner Bros. Pictures has released two more TV spots for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The first appears wholly a recut of existing material, but the second features new lines from both Balin and Bilbo. To my mind it indicates more heft is being given to the Balin character and the friendship that we see between the pair in Tolkien’s novel.

Given what Balin says to Bilbo in the second clip, it’s probably worth briefly revisiting the official character description of Balin from mid-2011 (so long ago!). I’ve hidden it under white text for those avoiding spoilers — highlight the section to read. Continue reading “See TV spot #4 and #5 for The Desolation of Smaug”

If you’re keen to attend one of the LIVE FAN EVENTS being held next week on November 4 in various (or November 5 in Sydney and Wellington), then best hurry as many of the competitions to win tickets close today.

Below are links to all the contests we know about right now (and if you know of one that’s not listed, please e-mail us at spymaster@theonering.net). Note: tickets to these events cannot be purchased.

hobbitcontests Continue reading “Today is your last chance to enter many Desolation of Smaug LIVE event contests!”

bg_wxFiK Ringer Rohirrim Rider — an insider in the UK cinema industry — provides the following news that provides additional support for our October 18 report about the running time for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

We’ve now got our Hobbit screenings programmed in — we’re working with a runtime of 160 minutes.

Continue reading “UK cinemas programming 160 mins for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug; UK tix on sale from Nov 1”