SAN DIEGO – Major media outlets from the L.A. Times to USA Today and Entertainment Weekly have converged on the San Diego Convention Center to explain the phenomenon of 150,000 popular culture enthusiasts spending a week together catching the flavor of what it means to be “geek”. Continue reading “Brisk floor action at Comic-Con”
Category: Hobbit Movie
There are lots of reasons to attend Comic-Con or even follow along at home as the San Diego Comic-Con becomes the very center of the popular-culture universe including a good dose of Tolkien-related material. The 2008 SDCC has a “Hobbit-centric” flavor and kicks off today (Wednesday) has plenty to keep the Middle-earth enthusiast busy including TORn’s very own sneak-peek of the forthcoming pair of movies centered around “The Hobbit.” Read on for everything you need to know about SDCC 08! Continue reading “Middle-earth is in the air at Comic-Con”
Forummer diedye posted this piece of news from Empire:
Speaking at a special screening of The Dark Knight at London’s Imax cinema on Monday night, he [Ian McKellen] said: “Well, I haven’t had the contract yet but it’s everyone’s intention that I play Gandalf so yes, I will be returning to the role. Although it’s not until 2010, I’m very much excited about returning.
When asked about del Toro and the look of the movie, Sir Ian answered:
Well, if you’re not going to have Peter Jackson, who else can handle the job? To get an international film-maker of his standing who adores the original trilogy, well I don’t think you could possibly find a better replacement, I think the look will be very much as it was, Weta is still involved, it’s still the same workshops, the same designers, I’ll be there, Andy Serkis (now confirmed to return as Gollum) will be there and Peter Jackson will still be around – not that he’ll interfere too much – so it’ll seem like the old family is getting back together again.
So there you go, further confirmation of several things: no one has been officially cast yet (nothing is signed), Sir Ian and Andy Serkis are to return, everyone’s on board with Guillermo del Toro and the look of the movie is expected to be relatively similar to that of the trilogy. [Empire]
From Maxim and World Entertainment News: Guillermo Del Toro has promised Lord Of The Rings fans his franchise prequel The Hobbit will be very different from his directing predecessor Peter Jackson. Jackson directed the three original films, but has given up his director’s chair for Del Toro. But Del Toro has refused to follow in Jackson’s footsteps, vowing to give movie fans something new. He tells Maxim magazine, “If I thought it was about following (Jackson), I wouldn’t be doing it this way. “It’s a matter of raising on it. I think The Hobbit has a peculiar sprit in relation to not only the trilogy, but also to Tolkein’s work. “It’ll have respect for what’s been done, but also its own individuality.”
From The Advocate: British actor Sir Ian McKellen spoke out on behalf of gay victims of hate crimes Monday, reported Reuters U.K. “There are deaths in public places on the grounds that the victim is gay,” McKellen told Reuters, adding, “My own death threats have declined considerably. I think I’ve become rather boring now to the public at large on this particular issue so I’m thought to be unremarkable.” A founding member of the British LGBT rights advocacy group Stonewall, McKellen is better known for his role as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which he will be taking up again in The Hobbit, filming for which begins next year.
Anna writes: NYTimes.com has a nice video titled “Below Ground” – A. O. Scott probes the strange world of Guillermo del Toro. NY Times Goes Below Ground with GDT