beorn With the human face of Beorn finally revealed (Warning: visual spoilers on that link!), I thought readers might be interested in a little bit of book character history and background.

The most common questions that people ask concern his ability to change shape. Is it magical? Is he cursed? Does he have control over it? Did Tolkien mean Beorn to be some kind of beserker?

Here, Tolkien scholar Michael Martinez has a quick look at the evidence available. Continue reading “Was the Beorn of The Hobbit a were-bear?”

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Peter-Jackson-Doctor-Who That figure includes the major 266 days of filming with actors that was completed last year, although it doesn’t include an additional two months or so of “pick-up” shoots done this year. There will likely also be additional post-production costs as the next two movies are completed.

Through March 31, production had cost 676 million New Zealand dollars, or $561 million at current exchange rates, according to financial documents filed Friday in New Zealand, where the movies are being made.

Distributor Warner Bros. and director Peter Jackson may consider it money well spent. To date, only the first movie in the latest trilogy has been released. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” took in just over $1 billion at the box office. Continue reading “Hobbit film trilogy has cost $561 USD million so far”

102 Readers who grabbed their copy of the Desolation of Smaug trailer from Youtube may wish to have another look — Warner Bros. has just released an updated, improved version.

The Warner Bros. team emphasise that the content is exactly the same, but the file has been tweaked to improve your viewing experience. Or, as they say, “it will just look better.” (Personally, we reckon both versions look pretty good, but if you’ve got an eye for detail this is the one for you!) Continue reading “Warner Bros. releases improved version of Desolation of Smaug trailer”