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”
Category: Production
“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.”
The 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.
Next 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.
Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week. If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join in the fun!
Continue reading “TORN Message Boards Weekly Roundup – March 3, 2013”
Last week, all fans of TheOneRing.net were focused on the approach of “The One Expected Party.” But there was another event involving some of the Oscar-nominated members of The Hobbit production team. On Saturday, February 23, the 
Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard (just down the street from the Dolby Theatre) was the venue for “The Art of Production Design,” jointly sponsored by the Art Directors Guild, the Set Decorators Society of America, and the American Cinematheque.
The panel of guests was made up of the production designers for Lincoln, Anna Karenina, Life of Pi, and Les Misérables, as well as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Dan Hennah was there as production designer (at the right in the photo), along with Ra Vincent (left) and Simon Bright (center), the set decorators.
With that much talent present, the time allotted to each film was all too short. Dan Hennah assured the audience that the designs for The Hobbit were not just a return to The Lord of the Rings. There were new challenges involved in what he called a “long and relentless journey.” A great deal of pre-production had taken place during the period when Guillermo del Toro was on board as director. Once Peter Jackson took over, everything was revisited. Continue reading “Oscar Nominees Talk Hobbit Set Design”
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]
BoxOfficeMojo reports: The Hobbit opened to $18.1 million in China this weekend. According to Warner Bros., that’s the fourth-biggest three-day start ever for a U.S. movie. That brings the movie’s foreign total to $679.6 million (12th all-time); it’s also now less than $20 million away from passing $1 billion worldwide, which it should be able to do if China keeps it in theaters for a full two weeks.