Last May, New Line Cinema threw a 40th-anniversary party in Cannes. Tied in with a promotional push for the company’s movie, The Golden Compass, it was a lavish affair. As guests consumed champagne, while admiring the ice sculptures, little did they guess this was more a last hurrah than a birthday bash. For within the last month it has been announced that New Line Cinema is to be drastically downsized and folded into the conglomerate’s studio outfit, Warner Brothers. Just four years ago, The Return of the King, the final chapter in New Line’s adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, took 11 Oscars, tying with the all-time record set by Ben Hur and equalled by Titanic. The film had already grossed US$1 billion ($1.26 billion) worldwide, only the second to do so after Titanic. That’s before you take into account the millions accumulated by the previous two films and the money created by merchandise. The bitter end of the New Line
Category: Production
John Howe writes: As part of the launch of the French edition of Fantasy Art Workshop, there will be a little show in Paris, at the Galerie Arludik on the ÃŽle Saint-Louis, on April 17th. All the information is on the card below. This is also one of the extremely, very, exceedingly, exceptionally, extraordinarily, singularly, uncommonly, decidedly, particularly, remarkably, really, truly, awfully, fearfully, terribly, seriously few times I will have anything actually really for sale. Not a lot mind you, but at least I won’t be up to my usual tricks, which consist of nodding politely and replying “Of course, I’ll let you know as soon as that one is available.” and then forgetting entirely or losing the contact details… This time around it’s out of my hands and in far more capable ones. [More]
From Digital Spy: “The opening episode of Doctor Who’s new season used groundbreaking special effects technology that was created for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.” ‘Who’ uses ‘Lord of the Rings’ technology (spoiler free for tonight’s premiere)
Ransom (from mentalfloss.com) writes: It looks like New Zealand is my (somewhat unintentional) theme for the week, which inevitably leads me ’round to my favorite thing about New Zealand — director Peter Jackson. Most folks know the affable, formerly rotund Jackson for his monumental Lord of the Rings trilogy — the amazing locations of which have driven New Zealand tourism of late as much as anything — and for his recent, remarkable King Kong remake. But I discovered Jackson’s work back in early high school, wandering through a local video store with a friend. He picked up what looked like an average low-brow horror flick called Dead-Alive, and showed me the box. It stood out for one reason only: on the back, a critic credited it as being “perhaps the bloodiest movie in cinematic history.” Needless to say, watched it post-haste. Peter Jackson Retrospective
Wellington, New Zealand – 3 April 2008. Following the success of their debut range from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Weta have once again teamed up with Disney Consumer Products and the talented technicians who worked on the highly anticipated sequel releasing this summer, The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian, to create a line of statues and miniatures based on the film. Continue reading “Weta Unveils New The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Collectibles”
From hollywoodinsider.ew.com: While interviewing writer-director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) about his upcoming summer sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army, EW.com chatted him up about his involvement with The Hobbit. While no deal has been set —”We’re still in these protracted negotiations,” Del Toro says — the fantasy fiend did offer a few promising hints. Guillermo Del Toro Talks ‘The Hobbit’…Again