In the third installment of their ComicCon interview with Peter Jackson Hero Complex/L.A. Times reveals tidbits of PJs comments about Smaug. “The trouble with redesigning dragons I’ve found is… you very quickly can go into science fiction territory, and I don’t want to do that,” the filmmaker said. “I want to present the most venal, scary, decrepit, nasty dragon I possibly can.” In the interview, PJ also confirms a ‘small cameo’ by the dragon in the first film. Could this be the same Smaug sighting by many of our readers in a new TV spot reported here? The linked article includes a 5 minute video of the interview. Check it out here…
Reports continue to come in via our discussion board members of new TV spots showing tonight. These are in addition to the new spot featuring glimpses of Smaug that we reported on here. One new commercial was spotted on Fox 2 during Glee and contains a few new seconds of footage between Galadriel and Gandalf. The other spot contains more Riddles in the Dark footage between Bilbo and Gollum and was seen on ABC during Last Resort. Warner Bros. continues to tease us by inserting bits of new footage between scenes we’ve already seen – and we love it! All we can say is: keep the TV ads coming.
IMAX theaters around the USA will be giving out limited edition hand-drawn prints at the 12:01 showings while supplies last. The four gorgeous monochrome prints, reminiscent of the beautiful Alan Lee sketches that graced the credits of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” depict Gandalf, Bilbo, Thorin and Gollum. You can find a list of theaters participating in the giveaway here. To find a midnight showing Line Party where you can watch the movie with fellow fans, check out TheOneRing’s Line Party site here (also accessible in the drop down “Community” link on the Home Page). Also, check out the other three prints after the break. Line up early, line up often!
Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report will present four nights of Hobbit-themed programming (Dec. 3 to Dec. 6), pegged to the Dec. 14 release of The Hobbit: An UnexpectedJourney, EW has learned. Guests will include stars Ian McKellan (Dec. 3), Martin Freeman (Dec. 4) and Andy Serkis (Dec. 6), along with director Peter Jackson (Dec. 5). Said Colbert in a statement: “Elen sila lumenn‘ omentielvo*… I mean that sincerely.” For those of you who aren’t quite fluent in Elvish, that means, “a star shines on the hour of our meeting.” Read more…
Warner Bros. officially released The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey TV spot #8 today. For those who have seen all of the other TV spots and/or the movie trailers, the 32 second spot doesn’t present anything new, but who’s going to pass up watching 32 more seconds of Hobbit-goodness? Speaking of new footage, however, discussion board members who watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special on ABC in the states last night are reporting that they got a glimpse of (Highlight for spoiler) Smaug’s tail hurling what looked to be a fireball towards what looked to be Dale in a TV spot run during that show. So, keep your eyes peeled, and in the mean time, enjoy the latest TV spot!
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced ten films that have made the shortlist for the Visual Effects award for 2012. Naturally The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is among them.
On January 3, members of the Academy’s Visual Effects branch will view 10-minute excerpts from all the films and narrow them down to the final five nominees. The nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards will be announced on January 10.
The Oscars ceremony itself is scheduled for February 24. With luck, those who attend the newly announced event, “The One Expected Party,” will be able to celebrate The Hobbit‘s win in that and other categories!
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today