NZ Movie website Flicks.co.nz took some stunning photos of the Hobbiton set during Peter Jackson’s press conference with the NZ prime minister a few days ago. Take a look at their collection below. Continue reading “More Hobbiton Set Photos”
Category: Hobbit Movie
Netflix and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) this morning announced a multi-year licensing agreement that will make Netflix the exclusive subscription streaming service in the UK and Ireland for most first-run feature films from the movie studio.
Starting in early 2012, when Netflix is set to make its debut in the UK and Ireland, registered members will be able to watch available content instantly on their television sets, tablets, game consoles, computers and mobile phones. Pricing for the service in these regions has yet to be announced.
Appearing exclusively on Netflix within one year of their theatrical release will be such MGM films as “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” the prequels to the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Zookeeper”, and “21 Jump Street”.
A selection of MGM catalogue titles will also be available on Netflix in the UK and Ireland, including “Fargo,” “The Usual Suspects,” “West Side Story” and “The Amityville Horror”.
The folks at TheOneRing.net are great miners… of information.
A few months ago, message board member Moahunter alerted us to a posting over at Johnson&Laird that listed an actor named Ray Henwood as playing the role of “Old Bellringer” in The Hobbit, a role that has subsequently been changed to “Net Mender“. To our purely speculative minds, both roles seem to have been crafted with a common intent – to have a man who sees Smaug’s firelight coming down the river from the North and alerts the people of Laketown.
As a piece of trivia, this is the same actor who played the character Erland in The Fellowship of the Ring, where he was present at the Council of Elrond as a Dale Counselor, the Advisor of Brand, son of Bain, son of Bard. More geeky information along with images can be found here.
Anyway, digging for more information on the same site brought something else of interest to our notice.
An actor named Robin Kerr has seemingly been cast in the role of Elros. We don’t suppose this is the character who, according to the books, is Elrond’s brother (who wasn’t an Elf anyway).
We feel rather that the name Elros is just being reused for a hero Elf, similar to how the name Morwen was used for a woman of Rohan in The Two Towers.
What do you think of all this? Feel free to share your thoughts on our message boards.
On this weeks episode we take a look a fabulous set report from embedded reporter. War in the North is out! Plus a new vignette starring LOTR vets. Hobbit set shifts to Piopio, pictures of a mysterious new set structure. Benedict Cumberbatch and Luke Evans details.
Ringer Calafalas gives us the heads-up that AICN’s Quint has just posted his latest travelogue from New Zealand. This time round, he writes about his experience as a Hobbit extra, from the make-up session to the on-set shoot and how he got his new Hobbit name “Fredegar Chubb”.
Because there are two films, we always knew there were going to be additional scenes that are not in Tolkien’s book. This report provides some insights into one that might happening in Hobbiton involving Gandalf, Bilbo and the Sackville-Bagginses! Needless to say, it involves some SPOILERS!
And don’t forget to come and tell us your reaction on our message forums or on our live chat! Continue reading “New AICN report from Quint”
The Waikato Times reports a flurry of activity that began yesterday on a property at Wharepapa South, Waikato, in the North Island, where filming for The Hobbit began last week.
An excerpt follows:
A farm in Wharepapa South, an area renowned for its rock climbing, was packed with vehicles and tents, but apart from the security guards on the gate and the odd person alighting from one of the two helicopters that were flying in the area, few people could be seen on the set.
From across the valley, the property, believed to be owned by Graeme and Karen Saunders, looked suitable for Middle Earth territory, with numerous rocks jutting out of the green rolling hills.
Read the rest of the article here.