With the news that the NZ Equity Meeting was canceled last night, we are now getting some reports from the ground. Below you will find two reports: One from a witness to the resulting technician march (with pictures!); Another from a technician marching with some exclusive information. As a quick summary, the general consensus is that the meeting was canceled last night when it was realized the protest group greatly outnumbered those in the actor’s equity. However, the worst news comes from Jabes report:
We received news tonight that the Hobbit is essentially lost to NZ, but maybe some drastic act would help brew enough support to present a solid case to Warner/MGM
Thanks to Ringer Caras Galadhon and Ringer Jabes for sharing their reports! Click ‘continue’ to read them in their entirety.
Continue reading “NZ March Reports – Hobbit already moving??”
Posted in:
Share:
For all the new viewers of TheOneRing.net, you’ll want to get yourself acquainted with the ‘spy reports’ we post from time to time. These reports usually come to use from everyday folks who just happen to come across some juicy tidbits. So while we can’t say for 100% they are accurate, we can at least whet your whistle!
And along those lines, we get this report from Ringer Spy Viggo Yearning:
My brother works at Katmandu in the city (Melbourne) and who should walk in looking for appropriate attire for New Zealand but Sylvester McCoy! He was more than willing to discuss The Hobbit, and is indeed playing Radagast the brown. He said he was “some wizard”, to which my brother offered up “Radagast the brown?” and Sylvester said “Yes, that’s it!”. He then confessed he couldn’t find him anywhere in the book. Unfortunately my brother isn’t as big a fan as myself, so didn’t give Sylvester the grilling I certainly would have! He did offer up this interesting tidbit, though: He was pipped at the post by Ian Holm to play Bilbo in the original lotr trilogy!
We reported a bit ago that we believed that McCoy would be playing this role, but it is nice to get additional ammo to make that claim! Radagast is not in the Hobbit, but in the scripts we have seen, he has an expanded role in the production.
Posted in:
Share:
Last night’s meeting of New Zealand Actor’s Equity was cancelled, and a planned protest of that meeting by a group of 1000 film technicians turned into a march through the streets of Wellington. It is all part of the latest happenings as New Zealand tries to secure the production of The Hobbit films. The group of film technicians, lead by Sir Richard Taylor, had planned to call for the end of the NZ Actor’s Equity Hobbit film boycott.
Speaking after the technicians’ meeting Sir Richard Taylor, head of WETA Workshop, told TVNZ that the New Zealand film industry was “at some level of peril”.
“The mood is one of great concern … Wellington film technicians want to be heard. They want to be represented in these very bizarre and strange events that are going on right now,” he said.
What does this mean for the production of The Hobbit films? The issue now is ‘where’ the Hobbit films will be filmed. It was assumed from the start that revisiting middle-earth would take place in New Zealand, but with these type of ongoing issues, we could see the production move elsewhere as Peter Jackson stated a few weeks back. TheOneRing.net is proud to have strong ties to New Zealand and we hope that some resolution can be reached asap.
We have posted a new poll on the site to get your opinion on the location of The Hobbit films, tell us what you think!
Here are a few articles outlining the events last night…
Hobbit films in ‘peril’, says Weta chief – NZ Herald
Hobbit Technicians meet in Mirmar – Dominion Post/Stuff.co.nz
March over The Hobbit – Dominion Post/Stuff.co.nz
Posted in:
Share:
Media outlets around the globe are having Tolkien news-writing parties like its 1999. Message board user Owain found an article out of Scotland that claims to have the names of at least four possible Dwarves for the two “Hobbit” films and then provided us faces as well. The story leads with talk of David Tennant and TORn staff can’t figure out if this is leftover old rumors that get reported again and again or if there really is truth there. But the rest of the names reported by the www.dailyexpress.co.uk are new and they seem much more likely. All mentioned are Scots and that may be a major clue about Dwarven accents for the production or it may be simply serving the audience the Express writes for. Read on for further names and photos. Continue reading “Want to see the faces of Dwarves in ‘The Hobbit’?”
Posted in:
Share:
The incomparable Richard Taylor has called a meeting of film technicians to discuss “The Hobbit” status for New Zealand set to start Wednesday at 5 p.m. With the future destination of the two-part mega-budgeted films up in the air, Taylor and others in the New Zealand film industry are hoping to keep the Peter Jackson produced and directed project on the island nation. Many were alerted via Facebook and were urged to phone or forward the message to others.
It seems reasonable to assume this could be a reaction to an actor’s meeting that we have reported here. You can read the whole message after the break. Continue reading “New Zealand film technicians called to meet to discuss ‘Hobbit’ and industry future”
Posted in:
Share:
Fictional Frontiers with Sohaib which airs on WNJC-1360 AM Philadelphia did a segment with a TORn senior staffer regarding all the most recent developments with “The Hobbit”. You can catch it right here.
And, if you keep listening beyond the “Hobbit” segment, you can hear Naomi Novik talk about Peter Jackson and “The Lord of the Rings,” and “The Hobbit,” and her own Temeraire series which Jackson owns the rights to and plans to eventually turn into films.
Update: Thanks to our friend, Deleece Cook, you can read a full transcript of the TORn interview using the “Continue Reading” link below.
Continue reading “TORn senior staff goes radio to talk ‘Hobbit’”
Posted in:
Share:
