The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug delivered Warner Bros. its largest-ever three-day box office takings in China as the film finally debuted there over the weekend.
Some media outlets speculate that the sudden popularity of The Hobbit in China is due to intense air pollution driving the populace indoors as the government advised people to limit outdoor activities. Others suggest that it’s because Chinese just really like dragons. Continue reading “Box office numbers show the Middle Kingdom loves Middle-earth”
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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has snared seven nominations at the 2014 edition of The Empire Awards. The awards will be announced on Sunday March 30, 2014, in London.
Continue reading “Vote for The Hobbit in The 2014 Empire Awards!”
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We’re delighted to bring you this excerpt from Cinefex’s forthcoming behind-the-scenes account of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Written by Joe Fordham, the 25-page feature draws on in-depth interviews with key effects artists who worked on the film, and is accompanied by behind-the-scenes photos and frame clips — many of them exclusive.
Here’s a little teaser for you! Continue reading “Sneak-preview Cinefex Issue 137 and go behind-the-scenes on The Desolation of Smaug”
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The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films has just released the nomination list for the 40th annual installment of the Saturn Awards, and The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug has tied with ‘Gravity’ for the most nominations. Both received eight.
The gongs that The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug is up for are: Continue reading “The Desolation of Smaug receives eight Saturn nominations”
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This image was slipped under our door deep in our network of mines where TheOneRing.net staff labors to make the internet safe and interesting for Tolkienites. Unable to find the sneaky culprit, we have no choice but to share with the world this exclusive look at page 22-23 from Weta Workshop’s new book, “Smaug: Unleashing The Dragon.”
As you might expect, the book brings readers face-to-face with the magnificent creature created for Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” From the pages we can preview, this is a book with concept art and text from the artists at Weta Digital and Weta Workshop; This spread from Gus Hunter who presents a couple of variations of body types of Old Smaugy. TORn friend Daniel Falconer is the author as he has been on Weta’s previous books about the creation of the Hobbit films.
A larger size version is available by clicking below.

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WETA Digital has released a brand new two and a half minute video exclusively to the The Hollywood Reporter detailing the creation of the dragon Smaug. Thanks to Ringers Makaw, Brandon, Will P., and Jesse for notifying us about the video!
The Hollywood Reporter also spoke to Smaug VFX artist David Clayton (who is nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the film) about the process of translating actor Benedict Cumberbatch’s motion capture performance into the fire-breathing creature you see on the screen in The Desolation of Smaug. Continue reading “Bringing Smaug to Life: New Making-of video from Weta Digital”
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