SPOILERS! Just a week before the worldwide release ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,’ EW.com has acquired some amazing new images from both ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug‘ (Dec 13 2013) and ‘The Hobbit: There and Back Again’ (July 18th 2014). The first pic showcases Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman and Orlando Bloom reprising his role as Legolas taken from what looks to be a battle prep scene in ‘There and Back Again.’ Check out the EW.com article for some insights into the photo from Peter Jackson himself. [here] The second image features Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in ‘The Desolation of Smaug‘ climbing on a great pile of gold. If you look closely, it looks like he is wearing The One Ring – but it could also just be a gold piece covering his hand. Jump over to EW.com for more details about the pic and talk of how The Hobbit is not just about a quest to regain gold from Smaug. [EW.com]
Category: LotR Movies
Many fans are eagerly anticipating a return to the fictional world of Middle-earth with next week’s general release of the first movie in “The Hobbit” trilogy. Director Peter Jackson and the film’s stars speak to The Associated Press about making “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”.
Jackson on shooting at 48 frames per second instead of the standard 24: “We’ve seen the arrival of iPhones and iPads and now there’s a generation of kids – the worry that I have is that they seem to think it’s OK to wait for the film to come out on DVD or be available for download. And I don’t want kids to see `The Hobbit’ on their iPads, really. Not for the first time. So as a filmmaker, I feel the responsibility to say, `This is the technology we have now, and it’s different … How can we raise the bar? Why do we have to stick with 24 frames? …'”
“The world has to move on and change. And I want to get people back into the cinema. I want to play my little tiny role in encouraging that beautiful, magical, mysterious experience of going into a dark room full of strangers, and being transported into a piece of escapism.”
Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins) on shooting some scenes without other actors around: “I must admit I found the green screen and all that easier than I thought I would. … I found the technical aspect of it quite doable. Some of it’s difficult, but it’s quite enjoyable, actually. It taps into when I used to play `war’ as a 6-year-old. And the Germans were all imaginary. Because I was playing a British person. So yeah, I was on the right side. …”
On marrying his performance to that of Ian Holm, who played an older Bilbo Baggins in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy: “I knew I couldn’t be a slave to it. Because as truly fantastic as Ian Holm is in everything, and certainly as Bilbo, I can’t just go and do an impression of Ian Holm for a year and a half. Because it’s my turn. But it was very useful for me to watch and listen to stuff he did, vocal ticks or physical ticks, that I can use but not feel hamstrung by.”
Tomorrow, December 8, many theaters in the U.S. and elsewhere will be hosting Lord of the Rings movie marathons: all three extended editions of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in one glorious day! If you don’t have your tickets, you can still get them in the U.S. at AMC, Cinemark and Regal cinemas. If you do have your tickets, you’re probably getting ready for the big day. Like you, some of our discussion board members are also going and have been sharing tips and tricks to prepare for, and survive, the big day. Read some of their recommendations below, and share one or two of your own here. (Thanks to member Chopsta123 for getting the ball rolling).
– some caffeine might help if you’re not used to staying up late, but too much caffeine might make you fidgety. (zarabia)
– bring something you can drape on your chair to ‘claim’ it during breaks but you won’t mind losing if some loser steals it. (Magpie)
– a set of earplugs or tissue to periodically stuff in your ears might be useful. You might say, “It would interfere with the experience” (which it does to some extent), but after years of being in control of the volume on the TV to watch them, it was like an assault on my eardrums when the orcs, wargs, and Nazgul showed up in the theatre again (Lissuin)
– plan something to do afterwards to help you process/unwind — like walking under the stars, if you can manage that. It’s like eating a very fine and heavy meal — you need time to digest it when you get up from the table! (weaver)
– be prepared for the theater to be cold. Many are. But layer so you can adapt if it gets too warm. (Magpie)
– bring outside food (of the healthier sort) if your theater allows it. (lyndomiel)
– get up, move around and stretch between films. (zarabia).
– don’t buy the jumbo drinks. Unless you have scenes in the movies that you don’t mind running to the bathroom for. (Magpie)
– don’t snore to loudly as it bothers the Elves! (Kangi Ska)
Ever wondered exactly what they do at Weta Workshop and Weta Digital? Richard Taylor talks about their work in this neat little clip. Plus there’s some footage and red carpet interviews from the Wellington premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that you may not have sen previously. Continue reading “Richard Taylor talks about Weta’s work”
Six new clips have surfaced from The Hobbit all at once. These aren’t TV spots, and they’re not teasers. They’re full-on sequences of action and dialogue lasting for as much as a minute and a half. It’s so revealing that your head will spin. See as much as six minutes from The Hobbit right now. Warning: some heavy spoilers. We’re not kidding here. Continue reading “OFFICIAL: Six incredible video clips from The Hobbit”
In amongst all the excitement and celebration of the new Hobbit movie, tonight the very sad news has broken that Eileen Moran, an Executive Producer at Weta Digital, died in New Zealand on Monday this week. Moran worked extensively with Peter Jackson and the Weta team, including on The Lord of the Rings movies and The Hobbit movies. She missed the Hobbit premiere last week because she was in hospital. You can read more here. Everyone in the TORn community would like to extend deepest sympathies to her family, her loved ones, her friends and her colleagues.

