Peter Jackson stands in front of a set as photographed by DGAQuarterly / Louise Hatton. Currently in print at the best magazine racks and by subscription, DGAQuarterly (Directors Guild of Amercia’s print magazine) features a lengthy interview with director Peter Jackson. There aren’t any real “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug,” spoilers but the lead image does show Jackson in front of a wet set that could be Laketown. If you click the link to the full article, you will see images that must be from Jackson’s personal collection of his early work including a shot with Kate Winslet on “Heavenly Creatures.”
We call it a kitchen sink interview because it contains so much depth and covers a wide array of topics, touching on many of Jackson’s most important films while keeping in focus that his work on Middle-earth movies is so far, his greatest triumph and what he is most likely to be known for.
The Q&A with writer Jeffrey Ressner ranges over the Kiwi’s whole career with fascinating bits on his earliest days:
My first movie, Bad Taste, was really made up as we went along over four years, and it didn’t even have a script. Not having actors or a script tends to be somewhat limiting. [Laughs]
Jackson adds to the lore that surrounds the making of the “Lord of the Rings,” films with an amazing story about how his shooting studio in New Zealand came to be:
We thought, ‘Well, if The Lord of the Rings happens, this is exactly the sort of place we’d need. This is absolutely incredible.’ But it was very expensive. At the time it was just Fran and I, and if we committed to it and for some reason the film didn’t happen, we’d be in big, big trouble. I mean, we were mortgaging our house just to make the down payment on the place. One day the real estate agent was showing us around; the paint factory had been closed for six months, so it was mothballed and covered in dust. The cafeteria was dull and gray, and there were a lot of old Formica tables with chairs stuck up on top of them. Just before we left, I saw a paperback book sitting on one of the cafeteria tables—it was a copy of The Lord of the Rings. I called Fran over and pointed to it, and we looked at each other and then said to the guy, ‘OK, we’ll take it.’ And that became Stone Street Studios.
He also drops this gem that almost sent me back to my Blu-ray player:
I have to say, I saw a bit of my Kong about a year ago, and I actually think the last half-hour—those scenes in New York through the end of the Empire State Building sequence—is probably the piece of filmmaking of which I’m the proudest.
There is a lot more to this interview if you follow the link above. It may be one of the best Jackson interviews in print. We at TheOneRing have a good one in our pocket we hope to share before we see Smaug again in theaters, but this DGA piece is highly recommended.
TheOneRing.net has learned via reputable sources that the world premiere for The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug is going to be held in Los Angeles. No word on the precise date or venue yet, but late November seems a good bet.
We also think this makes London a very good bet for the world premiere of There and Back Again in 2014.
Ringer Tajik tells us of this fascinating analysis of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and its two follow-ups by Mark Lee at Overthinking It that adds more fuel — and some hard numbers — to the gently simmering debate over the three-film decision that Jackson and the studios made in mid-2012.
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Folks in the United Kingdom and Ireland can rejoice: Engadget reports that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is now available on Netflix. Thanks to Ringer Kristian for the heads-up!
Ringer Rohirrim Rider on the messageboards noted one odd thing about the Netflix version: “opening it up to have a look at it I noticed that it has the MGM logo/animation up first, followed by the Warners/New Line logo. The music is the same although the new order doesn’t fit as well – the Lion now roars right over the opening melody (previously it was in a lull) and the soaring strings suited to flying WB/NL logos much better.”
The back cover of a 2014 Hobbit calendar from SD Toys reveals something interesting — what we believe is a new image of the shapeshifter Beorn, as played by Mikael Persbrandt. Excitingly, we believe it also finally answers a long-standing question about a series of spy images (and video) from Ringer Glow that we revealed way back in November 2011. This might be some heavy spoilers for some, so consider yourself pre-emptively warned!
TheOneRing.net with Galatia Films offer this exclusive interview with the always phenomenal Richard Taylor, Daniel Falconer and Peter Lyon of Weta Workshop. If you watch the video you will learn about Weta’s first meeting with Peter Lyon and how “The Lord or the Rings,” behind-the-scenes videos were created, developed and even changed people’s lives. The original interview was done for Galatia’s Live Reclaiming the Blade Day. Check out its Kickstarter page for more details and the full interview. Tomorrow we will release another interview from the live broadcast, this with one of the stars from “The Lord of the Rings” film. Tune in tomorrow to find out which one! You can also support the Kickstarter campaign for a new film that will feature “The Hobbit” swords and Narnia actors Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) and William Moseley (Chronicles of Narnia).
Weta Workshop has produced well over fifteen thousand museum quality weapons for projects within the creative industries of film, gaming and replica collectibles, including Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong,” Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander,” Edward Zwick’s “The Last Samurai,” Andrew Adamson’s “Chronicles of Narnia,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Hellboy,” Stephen Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the Microsoft Halo 3 short films and, more recently, James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9.”
TheOneRing.net has learned via reputable sources that the world premiere for The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug is going to be held in Los Angeles. No word on the precise date or venue yet, but late November seems a good bet.
Folks in the United Kingdom and Ireland can rejoice: Engadget reports that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is now available on Netflix. Thanks to Ringer Kristian for the heads-up!