Kiwi actor William Kircher returned from a whirlwind 10 days at Hobbit world premieres to news he has landed a lead role in a new Hollywood movie. Kircher — who plays dwarf Bifur in the latest Peter Jackson fantasy hit — returned to Wellington on Wednesday after mingling with the stars on the red carpet in New York and London.
He hardly had time to draw breath before being told about his plum part as a smooth-talking villain in an upcoming American thriller, alongside an Oscar-winning actress.
“It is really exciting to get a break like this and I hear being in The Hobbit certainly helped,” Kircher told The New Zealand Herald on Sunday.
It’s no small feat to make the wizard Gandalf appear larger than his dwarf and hobbit friends. Over at Popular Mechanics, Eric Vespe explains how the filmmakers pulled off the illusion in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
In the past, director Peter Jackson had to shoot characters of different sizes at different times and piece the scenes together in postproduction. “There was no way to direct the whole scene at once, no opportunity to finesse performances,” says motion-control supervisor Alex Funke. With the new system, Jackson watched scenes from The Hobbit unfold in real time.
The first instalment in the Hobbit trilogy has led a record day in Australian cinemas as Peter Jackson beat his own mark to claim the largest Boxing Day release ever. Australia’s largest film exhibitor, Event Cinemas, posted its biggest day’s trading on record, with business up 69 per cent on Boxing Day last year and higher than any other individual day in the company’s 100-plus-year history.
Jackson’s film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was the chief lure, drawing in $5,925,000 in one day to record the third biggest opening day ever, behind the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($7,092,000) and 2012’s biggest movie, The Avengers ($6,004,000).
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Hobbit would be better subtitled ‘Great Expectations’ rather than ‘An Unexpected Journey’, given the spectacular triple-act it follows, and the accumulated anticipation in the near decade since the Oscar-sweeping The Return of the King. This presents a problem for judging the film, for we are none of us objective. Comparisons with the original trilogy are inevitable, and thus before we even look at the intrinsic merits of the latest addition to Jackson’s Middle-earth adaptations, we need to be aware of how much we take for granted in coming to this new trilogy, and thus how our critical faculties are skewed. Continue reading “Thomas Monteath critiques An Unexpected Journey”
greendragon with actor John Bell, who plays Bain in The Hobbit movies
On 12th December staffer greendragon was lucky enough to attend the red (well, actually it was green!) carpet in Leicester Square, London, for the Royal Film Performance of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Many of the film’s stars – and other celebs who were there to see the movie – stopped by to say hi, and were delighted to see TheOneRing.net (‘our special friends,’ as Peter Hambleton said) represented there. This is because YOU, our readers, are all so fabulous – everyone involved with the films knows that the best fans are the ones who visit TORn. 😉 So here, as a little festive mathom offered to you all from us, the staffers at TORn, is a video of some greetings (and some ‘woohoos’!) to you all, from the folks who work in Middle-earth.
After a little footage of the set up in Leicester Square to set the scene, you’ll see John Bell (Bain) and his parents, Graham McTavish (Dwalin), James Nesbitt (Bofur), William Kircher (Bifur) and his beautiful wife Nicole, artist Alan Lee, Stephen Hunter (Bombur), Peter Hambleton (Gloin), Jed Brophy (Nori), Adam Brown (Ori), and of course Dominic Monaghan (Merry) and Billy Boyd (Pippin)- who were there to see the movie and revisit old haunts! Enjoy! Wishing you all happy holidays!
Thanks to the amazing artist Jerry Vanderstelt, we’ve been teasing for a few weeks now bits and pieces of what would be on his print for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Today, thanks to WB and Jerry, we get to show you – the fans – what the print will look like, pending licensor approval. As you can see, this beautiful print captures many of the biggest moments from the film, and will look exceptional on the wall next to his superb The Lord of the Rings prints. As soon as Jerry is given the green light to put this print up for sale, you can expect we will let you know!
Here are Jerry’s comments on the reveal:
Here we go 🙂 The Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey artwork has been sent into Warner Bros. and I was given permission to show the entire piece. This art is subject to approval, but likely everything will remain as you see it. Enjoy!
Kiwi actor William Kircher returned from a whirlwind 10 days at Hobbit world premieres to news he has landed a lead role in a new Hollywood movie. Kircher — who plays dwarf Bifur in the latest Peter Jackson fantasy hit — returned to Wellington on Wednesday after mingling with the stars on the red carpet in New York and London.
