A majority of New Zealanders support the deal the Government did with Warner Bros to keep Hobbit film production in New Zealand. However, a majority don’t want a similar deal done again.
A new nationwide HorizonPoll finds 56.4% support for the agreement the Government made with United States film studio Warner Bros. Only 18.8% disapprove of the deal, under which the company received additional tax write-offs for large-budget films of about $15 million, and another $13 million for marketing. Warner Bros agreed to include material in DVDs to film audiences promoting New Zealand.
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TORN Spy T writes: I was just at Matamata today. All hobbit-hole construction is completed, now the “greenery” is just being finalised. The bridge/Green Dragon is ostensibly finished with just a few external touches to be completed. I took heaps of pictures, but I had to sign a confidentiality agreement saying I wouldn’t post them on the internet. I wish you could see Bag End. It looks almost 100% perfect. The head gardener was on the premises for the entirety of our visit and was watching us to make sure we didn’t touch anything. The most dramatic part for me was the Bridge/Green Dragon. When I was there in March, it was just a grass-covered hillside. To see it almost as it was in the film was breath-taking. Oh, there are five BRAND NEW hobbit-holes that look very flash. One in particular which has to be a main character’s abode (as it is much more detailed and intricate than many of the others). Sam’s hole is back to how you see it at the end of RotK and the greenery around Bag End apparently was just finished within the last week or so.
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There are many new names associated with the upcoming Hobbit films. With some we are familiar, and some we are not . Actor John Callen was one of those confirmed cast member for whom we just didn’t have a lot of information, except for the fact that he was cast as Óin, son of Gróin, and brother to Glóin. We have an exclusive treat for you all today as John has been kind enough to share some pictures, a brief biography and the story of how he came to be cast in The Hobbit! Make sure to click the ‘continue reading’ button to read the full story.
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I was born November 4 1946 in south-east London and attended Grammar School at Blackheath before heading to NZ with my family at age 16. I attended school for one more year, tried art school and then got my first job copywriting for a radio station before moving sideways into journalism. All this time I was engaged in amateur theatricals through which I met an advertising director who employed me to do voiceovers. That was 40 years ago.
Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE: Getting to know John Callen aka Óin”
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With the release of the latest Harry Potter film, CNBC has a slide show featuring the highest grossing movie franchises of all time. Here are the top five…
- Star Wars (6 Films, $5.49 Billion)
- Harry Potter (6 Films, $5.42 Billion)
- James Bond (23 Films, $3.55 Billion)
- Shrek (4 Films, $2.94 Billion)
- The Lord of the Rings (3 Films, $2.91 Billion)
As you can see The Lord of the Rings makes the top five, but, just as a point of observation, if you average the number of films to the dollar total, you’ll see that The Lord of the Rings has the highest per film average – around $970,000,000 per film. [See the full list]
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Above is a scan of the official Hobbit extras casting call ad as it appeared in the Bay of Plenty Times. Thanks to the Tauranga Library!
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Fans in the Auckland area will be delighted to find that the shortest and tallest among them are wanted for work on “The Hobbit,” films according to the link sent in by spy Moahunter. Of course the candidates must be New Zealanders or have a work permit and fit all the requirements but if you are very tall or quite short, you should check out this job listing.
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