desolation-of-smaug You’d like to ask Peter Jackson a question during the Sneak Peek at Desolation of Smaug that’s happening on March 24?

Well, the good news is that you can submit your video question (it looks like Jackson and his team are only accepting video questions) right now. You can submit your video question anytime from March 12-19 via any of the following means. Continue reading “How to ask Jackson your Sneak Peek question”

desolation-of-smaug The DVD-Blu-day release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on March 19 heralds our chance to get a “first look” at the second installment of the movie trilogy The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Peter Jackson will live-host the sneak peek, which will stream over the internet on March 24 at 3pm EDT.

TVNZ reports that it is believed the sneak peek of the second film will last somewhere between 10 to 20 minutes — but details are yet to be confirmed.

TVNZ says that there is no final word on whether an extended version of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released — but Jackson hinted one was in the works at the Wellington premiere of the film last year.

[Read More]

Bootnote: Somewhat bizarrely, New Zealand Hobbit fans apparently have to wait until May 1 to purchase their copy, while it’s available in the UK from 8 April 2013.

There are several different versions available, all offering different goodies and extras. We recommend this excellent guide by TORn staffer MrCere and Ringer TheHutt if you want to compare the various versions and sets side-by-side.

Galadriel and Gandalf Over on The Hobbit UK, the cast and crew of The Hobbit have been answering fan questions for the last week or so. So far, Peter Jackson, Cate Blanchett, Jed Brophy, James Nesbitt and John Callen have all answered questions about things as varied as their favourite moment on set, what they’d say to Tolkien if they could have met him while he was alive, and the difficulties of speaking elvish. Continue reading “Hobbit cast and crew answer fan questions”

hobbit-anunexpectedjourney04“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” became the 15th movie ever to pass the $1 billion mark in international tickets, pushed past the milestone by totals from China, the film’s last major market, where it opened 10 days ago. $301 million of that total is from U.S. ticket sales with the other $700 million coming from the rest of the world.

The studios behind the film (Warner Bros., New Line, MGM) issued a press release to make the announcement.

Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution said in the release, “We could not be more proud to have reached this amazing benchmark. Together with our partners at MGM and New Line, everyone at Warner Bros. congratulates Peter Jackson and his entire cast and crew on the extraordinary success of this film.”

Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures said, “From Berlin to Beijing, it is so gratifying to see how the release of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ has been such an event with audiences around the world. We know that moviegoers everywhere are already excited about the next film, as are we.”

243981-the-hobbitThe 14th film to do so pass the $1 billion mark was 2012’s “Skyfall,” a James Bond film. Ironically, the two films were the highest profile casualties of studio MGM’s debt crisis. The financial trouble of the studio, which has distribution rights to the Hobbit films and is home of the James Bond franchise, pushed both movies back. “The Dark Knight Rises,” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” were also released in 2012 and are in the select box office club as well. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” is another one of the films.

TheOneRing.net wrote on January 4 that the reports of the film’s financial disappointment were premature and wrong.

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEYNext to the U.S., the top markets are Germany with $90 million, the U.K. with $84.3 million, France at $44.9 million, Australia’s $44.3 million and Russia’s $43.8 million. China with $37.3 million in 10 day has a chance to move past several of those films.

The next film in the series, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” is scheduled for release Dec. 13 and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” has recently been moved to Dec. 17, 2014. TheOneRing will have grass roots line party events for both films around the globe and hopefully Oscar night parties in Los Angeles for both as well.

ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post
The New Zealand Government has released a tranche of email exchanges between Sir Peter Jackson and ministerial officials, which lay bare his frustration over the deal eventually done to ensure The Hobbit was made here.

Earlier this month the Ombudsman ordered the Government to release documents about the deal it struck for the movies. Warner Bros’ New Line unit warned that the ruling jeopardised future film-making in New Zealand.

In a statement Jackson today said he welcomed the release of the documents, which he hoped would end “unfounded conspiracy theories” that a Hollywood studio had been dictating terms to a sovereign government.

[Read More] | [View the documents]

Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey220px-Saturn_Award is leading this years Saturn Awards with nine nominations announced overnight.  Nominees include Peter Jackson up for Best Director, Martin Freeman for Best Actor and Ian Mckellen for Best Supporting Actor.

Complete list of nominees:

Best fantasy film:
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
LIFE OF PI
RUBY SPARKS
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
TED

Best actor:
CHRISTIAN BALE, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
DANIEL CRAIG, SKYFALL
MARTIN FREEMAN, THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
HUGH JACKMAN, LES MISERABLES
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT, LOOPER
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, KILLER JOE

Best supporting actor:
JAVIER BARDEM, SKYFALL
MICHAEL FASSBENDER, PROMETHEUS
CLARK GREGG, THE AVENGERS
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
SIR IAN MCKELLEN, THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
CHRISTOPH WALTZ, DJANGO UNCHAINED

Best Director:
WILLIAM FRIEDKIN, KILLER JOE
PETER JACKSON, THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
RIAN JOHNSON, LOOPER
ANG LEE, LIFE OF PI
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
JOSS WHEDON, THE AVENGERS

Best Production Design:
CLOUD ATLAS
ANNA KARENINA
LIFE OF PI
DARK SHADOWS
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
LES MISERABLES

Best Music:
LIFE OF PI
FRANKENWEENIE
ANNA KARENINA
SKYFALL
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Best Costume Design:
ANNA KARENINA
CLOUD ATLAS
DJANGO UNCHAINED
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
LES MISERABLES
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

Best Makeup:
CLOUD ATLAS
HITCHCOCK
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
THE IMPOSSIBLE
SKYFALL
TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, PART 2

Best Visual Effects:
THE AVENGERS
BATTLESHIP
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
JOHN CARTER
LIFE OF PI
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

The Saturn Awards, is compiled by officials from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, winners will be announced at a Hollywood ceremony in June (13).