JAN. 6 LAS VEGAS—Early adopters will have plenty of high-definition discs on offer, such as Warner Home Video’s Batman Begins and Million Dollar Baby set for March 28 release and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on April 11, all in HD DVD. Most major studios once again announced plans to collectively release hundreds of titles in high-def this year, including simultaneous releases with DVD of their newest and biggest theatrical releases, such as Paramount Home Entertainment’s Mission: Impossible 3 on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Though not officially announced, scenes from Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s new King Kong were being shown in HD DVD here at the CES show, and that title, also listed on Amazon.com as coming in HD DVD, is expected to be one of the earliest releases for that format. [More]
Category: Peter Jackson
AUCKLAND Two of the biggest fantasy films of the year were made in a small land of the Pacific Ocean. Yes, Hollywood has invaded New Zealand again – but it turns out not all the locals are happy about that. As mean-spirited as it may seem with the recent release of “King Kong” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” two blockbuster movies mostly made in New Zealand, there are some film industry insiders in this country who don’t like giant apes, witches or magical lions at all. In fact, at their least generous, these insiders wish the mythical creatures had never come to this small Pacific Rim nation. It has the rest of New Zealand’s inhabitants, who generally take great pride in the achievements of movies like the award-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, wondering why. [More]
The Utah Film Critics Awards were announced today and Andy Serkis was named Best Supporting Actor for his work on King Kong, just beating out Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man, impressive! [More]
Isabel writes: We are auctioning a King Kong Director’s Chair signed by no other than Peter Jackson himself on eBay. 100% of the proceeds are going to support Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California. It is a great charity that gives help to Los Angeles children who need it. Could you please pass along the info to your website visitors? You would be helping a great cause and we would really appreciate it! We are going to list another chair at the end of the week. This chair will also be signed by Peter Jackson but will have a different color logo. [More]
Andy Serkis was given a special citation for his work on King Kong by the Toronto film critics this week. Congrats Andy!
December 19, 2005 – The Hobbit still faces legal hurdles before Jackson can make the missing film in the Lord of the Rings saga. However, there’s still a chance we’ll get to see Bilbo’s first journey in a few years’ time. Peter Jackson explained the Hobbit situation to the media during the King Kong premiere gala: “MGM used to own The Hobbit and then MGM got bought by Sony a few months ago, and so now Sony have the rights — or half of The Hobbit rights, and New Line have the other half. Now, New Line and Sony have to talk to each other and I don’t think that anyone’s going to call me until those rights issues are resolved. That’s entirely between them, so…” [More]