‘District 9,’ produced by Peter Jackson, directed by Neill Blomkamp (both rumored to be directing some ‘Hobbit’ movie) and conceptually designed by folks at Weta Workshop is now celebrated in a 160-page hardcover book, “The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop.”
While at the Weta booth at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego, we got our hands on a few pages of a prototype of this book and those few pages were pretty cool! Published by HarperCollins,
Richard Taylor, Weta’s Creative Director and five-time Academy Award winner, together with designers Greg Broadmore, David Meng, Leri Greer and Christian Pearce worked closely with Neill Blomkamp and have contributed many hundreds of pieces of conceptual art to this book. Authored by Daniel Falconer, you can order it directly from Weta or find it at bookstores.
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mara69 writes: Last night I attended the world premiere of the Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King at Wolf Trap. It was superb. This year I was able to obtain tickets further down front than the last two years and it really made a difference. The music was clearer and the solo and choral singing much more understandable. The evening started with a 45 minute discussion with Deb Lamberton from WETA Classical Radio. Her talk on leitmotivs and interesting facts was captivating. The movie in HD on such a large screen really drew you in and you truly felt you were part of the story. The orchestra and choirs did a truly magnificent job. Kaitlyn Lusk has performed at all three of the Wolf Trap showing and is stupendous. Her voice has matured wonderfully since I first heard her perform. Nolan Peters, the boy soloist, also did a great job. I’m truly sorry that this is the last of the live music film performances. Maybe, if we’re lucky they will do the extended versions next. If not, there’s always The Hobbit to look forward too.
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Close on the heels of the news that Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum of Spyglass Entertainment had signed a non-binding letter of intent to take over the management of MGM, there’s news by Bloomberg hitting the interweb that points to more progress in that direction:
MGM creditors will be asked to approve a restructuring and pre-packaged bankruptcy plan for the studio within the next week or two, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
Under the plan, MGM would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after obtaining creditor approval, with the goal of emerging from court protection by the end of the year, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public.
Thanks to messageboard member Eruonen for the heads-up.
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A New Zealand film website has declared, from its own independent sources, that Neill Blomkamp (District 9) will be directing a pair of movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.” It was also kind enough to point out that we broke the story as a possibility in June.
The Kiwi site isn’t known for rumor mongering so this is a definitely an interesting possibility that might be pointing to increased Hobbit activity and a semblance of leadership at MGM and a future for these potential gigantic hits (and fan favorites) to get made. Thanks to message board user Magpie for posting this in our forum and to Ataahua for alerting us to the post. You can read the original June forum response here. And, of course, stay tuned for the latest on all things Hobbit, Tolkien and Middle-earth.
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The Embassy Theatre and Weta Workshop are staging a District 9 fan event on October 8. Coinciding with the release of book The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop, the event will showcase props and guns from the movie and allow fans to take a photo with one of the weapons in their own hands. There will also be a behind-the-scenes presentation by Weta Workshop conceptual artists who worked on the film, followed by a screening of the movie at The Embassy Theatre. More..
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Richard Taylor, co-founder and director of Weta Workshops, was knighted in a ceremony at Premier House in Wellington today. He was presented the honour by Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand at his investiture at Premier House, after being made a Knights Companion of the NZ Order of Merit in the Queen’s birthday honours list. More..
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