Can’t quite visualize that? Believe it or not, that’s one of the many casting rumors that was sent to TORn in June of 1999, reported in the Sunday Star Times no less. Now that the casting rumor mill has started anew for The Hobbit and ‘F2,’ message board member diedye thought it would be fun to re-visit some of the old news reported on TORn in times past. Do you remember the first photos of Sam and Frodo on Mt. Doom from June of 2000? Did you know Bruce Willis was rumored to have petitioned PJ for a part in LOTR? With a few items sprinkled in from Tolkien’s letters and other sources, this makes for a fun trip down memory lane. Stay tuned for regular installments!
Continue reading “TORn Flashback June 9-14: Keanu Reeves or Danny DiVito as Gandalf?”
Category: Production
Red tape could be the only thing between film director Peter Jackson and the expansion of his Miramar-based movie-making studios. A stretch of land on the Miramar Peninsula, encompassing the run-down former defence base at Shelly Bay and Wellington Prison, has been tipped as the scene of Jackson’s next development. The land is owned by the Defence Force, Corrections Department and Wellington City Council. But the lands trust for Te Atiawa, the Tenths Trust, is negotiating with the Government for the return of land as part of its Treaty of Waitangi claim. Tenths Trust looking for Jackson deal
Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne
From deadlinehollywooddaily.com So the two New Line founders bounced from their studio by Time Warner boss Jeff Bewkes are finally getting closer to starting their own company. I hear Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne are setting up offices on the 9th floor of their old building on Robertson Blvd in Los Angeles. Tipsters tell me that the L.A. head of production is probably Mark Kaufman, responsible for such memorable un-hits as The Man, Martian Child, Codename: Cleaner, Secondhand Lions, but also one legitimate moneymaker, Hairspray. Ever since Shaye and Lynne found out they were being fired (which I reported exclusively back in January), the pair have been talking about this setting up of a production entity fueled by some projects from New Line development that they could make for their ex-underling Toby Emmerich and that would go through Warner Bros. Also, I hear Warner Bros may give them some films to produce and develop. Bob Shaye & Michael Lynne Set Shingle
glumPuddle sends this along: Narnia Producer Mark Johnson is asked why they didn’t do multiple films at once, like LOTR. He says: ‘What New Line and Bob Shea did with Lord of the Rings, basically green-lighting three movies at once, is unheard of. And in todays Hollywood, it will never happen again. I just cannot imagine it. Its too much of a financial commitment, and everybody will say, Lets just see if the first ones successful first.’ Narnia Producer Doubts Any Studio will ‘Triple-Produce’ Anymore
After months of being listed as “Not Available”, the 4 disc set of the Complete Recordings of the Return of the King is again listed as “In Stock” at the Warner Brother’s site and Amazon.com. Warner Brothers only ships to the US. Doug Adams, (author of the upcoming book The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films) is offering additional information to non-US residents at his blog.
Message board member Arwen’s daughter recently posted: The July 2008 issue of Geek Monthly (which isn’t up on their website yet) has a big Hellboy II special, and includes an interview with GdT. And, like any good geek, they thought to ask him about The Hobbit. Here are the Hobbit specific portions, but the full interview has a lot of great insight into his filmmaking.
Geek Monthly: Speaking of magic, now that you’re doing the two Hobbit films, what’s the appeal of that property?
GDT: When I was a kid, I bought The Hobbit and I bought Lord of the Rings at the same time. I used my hard-earned allowance, and I was about 11.
Continue reading “Del Toro talks “The Hobbit” in Geek Monthly”