David WenhamDavid Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in movies, television series and theatre productions. He is known in Hollywood for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Carl in Van Helsing and Dilios in 300. He is also known in his native Australia for his role as Diver Dan in SeaChange. More recently, he is rumored to have narrated the first season of the American television show “Deadliest Warrior”. The narrator is credited as “Drew Skye”, which is widely rumored to be a pseudonym. David Wenham Wiki..

Orlando BloomScott Mendelson from The Huffington Post writes: The man has a record six movies that have grossed $300 million+ in the US, plus another two $100 million+ earners. His popularity was actually a factor in the success of several of those pictures. He has worked with such directors as Ridley Scott (twice), Cameron Crowe, Peter Jackson (thrice), Wolfgang Petersen, and Gore Verbinski (thrice). Counting all of his pictures, his eleven films have grossed an average of $207 million (he’s averaged $253 million if you only count the mainstream studio pictures). His average opening weekend for said wide releases is $61 million. From 2002 until 2007, he was a big-league heartthrob whose poster adorned the walls of many a teenage girl. He was one of People’s ‘Sexiest Men Alive’ in 2006. Yet Orlando Bloom is nowhere to be seen in today’s filmmaking landscape. More..

Mormegil: Clip from Australian travel show Getaway showing some of the work currently going on at the Hobbiton set. From the site: Back in 1998, sheep farmer Dean Alexander was enjoying a quiet day on his farm on New Zealand’s North Island when a visitor changed his and his family’s lives forever. Jules Lund travelled across the Tasman to see just why. It seems the makers of the film trilogy Lord of the Rings needed the perfect place to build the Hobbiton village. Peter Jackson, the award-winning New Zealand filmmaker, spotted Alexander Farm during an aerial location search. The Alexander family knew nothing about Lord of the Rings but they soon learnt. Their property has the three main elements the makers were searching for: a lake, a big tree and a field. More..

Viggo MortensenFor the record, Viggo Mortensen is not quitting acting. In Toronto yesterday promoting his latest film, The Road, Mortensen was ticked at a Men’s Journal quote several months ago that he has “no plans” to do another movie. “I guess I should have been a bullsh–ter, like a lot of actors are. When they say, ‘Have you got anything lined up?’ ‘Oh, I’ve got 20 (projects) I’m not at liberty to discuss,’ ” Mortensen said. “I was just honest with someone a little while back who asked, ‘Have you got a movie lined up?’ and I said, ‘No.’ It’s oh, he’s quitting. I never said that.” More..

It’s great news that New Line and the Tolkien Estate have settled their lawsuit, but looking at the amount of work going on at the Hobbiton set in the past month, it seems as though the outcome was never in doubt. Here’s images from Holly, who saw this during her Red Carpet Tour through Hobbiton in August.

Hobbiton sprouts new hedgerows
Hobbiton sprouts new hedgerows
New Row? Hobbiton seems to be growing
New Row? Hobbiton seems to be growing
Working on Hobbiton's roads
Working on Hobbiton's roads

frodo01Jan alerted us to an ongoing poll at film.com: The Best Male Performance of the ’00s. It’s down to the ‘Elite 8,’ two of whom are non other than Elijah Wood, for his role as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings vs. Johnny Depp, for his role as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Follow the link, and scroll down to vote! film.com poll