Fiordland residents have spotted director Peter Jackson, along with five helicopters, as he hunts for filming spots for The Hobbit movies. Yesterday, Jackson’s spokesman, Matt Dravitzki, confirmed Jackson was location scouting in the Queenstown area before filming starts next month. He would be there for a “few days” and crews were also looking for sites in the North Island. Dravitzki said he was unprepared to offer further details until filming started. Jackson is adapting JRR Tolkien’s prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy into two movies. His private jet, a Gulfstream, was seen at Queenstown Airport on Monday. More..
Category: New Zealand
We posted this video back in November, but it certainly deserves a replay. Our friends at TreeTopMedia have produced a stunning video showcasing New Zealand’s amazing landscapes. This was initially done to impress upon the world how important it was for The Hobbit to remain in New Zealand. However during the middle of the shoot the good word came down that The Hobbit was indeed staying in NZ, so the video morphed into a loving tribute to New Zealand. Take a look, and keep an eye out on more exclusive content from TreeTopMedia and TheOneRing.net in New Zealand!
Sir Peter Jackson and his crew are on a Queenstown-based location scout of the South Island this week. Sir Peter’s assistant at Wingnut Films, Matt Dravitzki, yesterday said his boss was not available for interviews while he was in the South Island because the team were on a gruelling location scout. “Location scouting for The Hobbit is currently under way in both the North and South Islands.
“Locations will be chosen ahead of the commencement of principal photography in February.”
Mr Dravitzki said further details would be available once shooting started and it went without saying that New Zealand’s unique landscape would double for JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth. More..
They were keen on non-speaking parts, and non-speaking they stayed yesterday. A long line of people stood tall but kept their lips zipped when approached by the Otago Daily Times outside a casting call for The Hobbit movie in Dunedin. About 100 people turned up at the Edgar Centre to convince talent scouts and the measuring tape they should be non-speaking scale doubles for actors in Sir Peter Jackson’s latest film. Each of them had to adhere to strict guidelines: they had to be aged 17-55, between 128cm and 158cm tall, or taller than 210cm, if male, and between 128cm and 153cm if female. Most of the applicants seemed to fit the bill but none who emerged from meeting the scouts could share their experience with the Otago Daily Times. More..
From MTV: Why did it take the man behind Gandalf so long to commit officially to “The Hobbit”? In a surprisingly candid post on his website, Ian McKellen opened up on Wednesday (January 12) about behind-the-scenes developments and his own ambivalence surrounding the two-part project.
“Could I let Gandalf go? Would anyone else care if I did?” he wrote, going on to cite the example of the “Harry Potter” franchise. “Elsewhere, does anyone care that Michael Gambon was not the first to play Dumbledore?”
The issue all along was not whether he still feels creatively energized by Gandalf — “I long to do it,” McKellen told us of the role back in November of 2009. Rather, the sticking point was simply that the production faced delay after delay and, as the 71-year-old McKellen put it, “All I had to decide was what to do with the time that is given me.”
First, producer Peter Jackson and director Guillermo del Toro struggled to get the production off the ground as MGM faced severe financial difficulties, and then a planned date to begin shooting early last year came and went. Del Toro departed the project, Jackson stepped in to direct and the production faced a dustup with New Zealand’s trade union. The prospect of shooting outside that country bubbled up. More..
This weekend there will be a small and tall casting session in Christchurch, New Zealand. Thanks to the local ringers who sent this info in!
The ad in the local paper reads:
The Hobbit
Official Short/Tall Casting Call
Due to the requirements of certain characters to be portrayed in the films, the production is currently looking for men and women of very specific heights for full time and casual work. Please note this is NOT an Extras Casting Call. Continue reading “Tall & Small Casting in Christchurch”