Fans will recall that prior to Peter Jackson’s coming down with that nasty stomach ulcer earlier this month (the man’s doing fine now, bless him!), filming of The Hobbit was supposed to begin on 14th February 2011, with Ian McKellen’s first day of filming due yesterday, 21st February 2011.
So it only makes sense that with the films’ official start date now pushed to 21st March 2011, the Grey Wizard is EARLY! He consequently took the time today to make his first blog post ‘From the middle of Middle Earth‘ in a neat little section titled Notes from Imladris on his official website. Excerpts follow:
I hadn’t intended last Thursday to arrive in Wellington for The Hobbit filming, five weeks early. Yet, what’s new? Just a year ago I had expected to start shooting in July 2010, with Guillermo del Toro in charge… A year on, filming was to start at the end of February 2011. Then, Peter Jackson had his stomach operation. The insurance company has insisted on five weeks recuperation. Which is why, yet again, I’m here early. Waiting for Bilbo.
In related news, our friend Jack who lives down in New Zealand has updated his ‘Noldor Blog‘ with an interesting post. Between running into Sir Richard Taylor and Peter Lyon, he also ran into none other than Andy Serkis this last Saturday night at a diner in Wellington.
Looks like the place is abuzz with activity with The Hobbit shoot now less than a month away!
Martin Freeman (Bilbo) and Aidan Turner (Kili) at today's press conference - this cast is a killer combo of wit and good looks.
“Fourteen individuals – and an ensemble.”
Today’s press conference opened with an apology from Peter Jackson, who said he couldn’t be there as he was “under a form of medical house arrest” since being hospitalised with a perforated ulcer last week.
“And to be honest, perhaps it’s just as well. These guys make me laugh so hard that I’d be in danger of popping a stitch or something,” Jackson continued in his statement.
Confirming the truth of that, the cast of 13 dwarves and one hobbit kept up a constant flow of quips and wisecracks throughout the whole press conference. We knew Martin Freeman was funny with a good script – well, he’s hilarious without one as well.
“The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films,” by Doug Adams, Carpetier, $59.95
It speaks to the longevity of the “Lord of the Rings,” films that ten years later, movie tie-in books are still being released. It speaks to the power of Howard Shore’s soundtrack and author Doug Adams presentation that “The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films,” is the best of LOTR movie-related book and worth the wait.
In fact, if you are still hanging on to some of your post-Christmas or other holiday gift money, this comprehensive account of Shore’s scores are your answer on how to spend. This volume is a must-own for fans of Peter Jackson’s trio of films adapting the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and film score fans.
Tolkien deserves more than a passing mention here because it is clear from Adams’ work that the written word played an important part in Shore’s process. Far beyond scoring a movie, the composer delved into Middle-earth’s history and cultures, creatures and characters in order to best service the film. The book helps elucidate the fact that Shore’s 10-plus hours of music were done with Tolkien in mind as much as Jackson and that Shore’s work stands alone as a musical interpretation of a work of fiction as well as one aspect of the films. Continue reading “Review: ‘Music of LOTR films’ best of tie-in books”
Wellingtons film industry is getting a further boost of government funding, with special effects workshop Weta Digital one of six fast-growing, high-tech companies awarded $7.2 million each under the new Technology Development Grant Programme.
The announcement by Research, Science and Technology Minister Wayne Mapp follows the government decision in October to add more than $30 million in subsidies to secure filming and production of The Hobbit movies in New Zealand. More..
TheOneRing.net staffer and regular contributor Treebeard was lucky enough to have the chance to chat with Graham McTavish (Dwalin) about his role in The Hobbit.
Treebeard (T.B.) I am here with Graham McTavish, interviewing him for TheOneRing.net about his upcoming role as a Dwalin in The Hobbit. Hi Graham!
Graham McTavish (G.M.) Hello.
T.B. Did you have any interest in the works of Tolkien before you auditioned for The Hobbit?
G.M. Yes. I’d read “The Lord of the Rings” probably when I was about eighteen, all three straight through, and like most teenagers that encountered the books for the first time, it allowed me to disappear into a whole different world that I always looked forward to going back to while I was reading it. I hadn’t read “The Hobbit,” but I did, very quickly, when I was asked! [laughs] It’s very interesting for me the difference between the two books, I suppose, being that “The Hobbit” seems to me a much more straightforward, linear adventure story. I’ve be interested to find out, when I’ve told people that I’m doing this, a lot of them prefer “The Hobbit”, in some ways. And, also it seems to be amongst every man I’ve met, the first book they ever read. Continue reading “TORN Exclusive: Graham ‘Dwalin’ McTavish Interview”
Ahead of next week’s performance of The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Vancouver, Canada, the guys over at The Province snagged an interview with Howard Shore and asked him about whether he’ll be returning to Middle-earth to score the upcoming Hobbit films. And for fans of the outstanding music Shore’s composed for The Lord of the Rings films, his reply should serve to satiate sufficiently… at least until the score itself finally debuts a couple years from now.
“We’ve talked about making these movies for many years, at least since 2002. It looks like finally it’s going to be happening. I’ll be working on it for the next three years — it’s going to consume a lot of my time and work now.”
Fans will recall that prior to Peter Jackson’s coming down with that nasty stomach ulcer earlier this month (the man’s doing fine now, bless him!), filming of The Hobbit was supposed to begin on 14th February 2011, with Ian McKellen’s first day of filming due yesterday, 21st February 2011.
TheOneRing.net staffer and regular contributor Treebeard was lucky enough to have the chance to chat with Graham McTavish (Dwalin) about his role in The Hobbit.