With work on “The Hobbit” really starting to move forward, Guillermo del Toro updated MTV News this week with exclusive scripting, casting and pre-production news, including confirmation that “Hellboy” creator Mike Mignola will be coming aboard for early visualization.
“We are sketching and designing with Weta’s John Howe, and [Adam Lee],” del Toro offered. “Mike Mignola is coming soon. He’s going to do a stint on the design team.” This is good news for fans of Mignola, who worked with del Toro on both “Hellboy” films as well as providing some art for “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
“In about two, three months we’re going to full-on have more designers come on … from outside Weta. But we are already about a good third of the road [along] with some of the creatures — some really interesting and strong designs.” More…
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You can enjoy this gigantic remake in high definition this January. King Kong will be released on Blu-ray on January 20. We don’t have any cover art or pricing details at this time, but we’ll surely update this story as soon as we have more information. The disc will include both the theatrical and extended versions of the movie. The film stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody and Andy Serkis performing the motion-capture for the title character. Continue reading “King Kong Will Roar on Blu-ray on January 20th”
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From Adam B. Vary of EW.com: Before the 2009 Sundance Film Festival began, the talk was that, thanks to the economy, this year’s fest could be the most sedate in years…One group of guys who had no problem at all keeping their spirits up: The amigos of Rudo y Cursi, a comedy about brothers and Mexican soccer produced by cinema heavyweights Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo Del Toro, written and directed by Alfonso’s brother Carlos Cuarón, and starring Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal. Luna couldn’t make the festival due to a commitment in Mexico, but the rest of the crew happily plopped down in the loft to talk about the welcoming, easy-going community of movie lovers that makes Sundance so appealing for indie filmmakers. Mostly, though, the group just reveled in taking the piss out of Del Toro for his next gig: Cowriting and directing a little movie called The Hobbit. (Del Toro had left working with Peter Jackson et al on the script in New Zealand specifically to promote Rudo y Cursi.) But rather than describe just how charming and hilarious these four were, I’d like to show you. Last night, I hopped in the van with them as they drove to the Rudo y Cursi premiere after a dinner in which the wine flowed freely. Sundance: Guillermo del Toro gets teased about ‘The Hobbit’
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ComingSoon.net talked to Andy Serkis, who stars in the January 23 fantasy-adventure Inkheart, about returning to performance capture in Steven Spielberg’s Tintin, Peter Jackson’s Tintin 2, and The Hobbit. “We are starting ‘Tintin’ the week after next,” Serkis said. “Peter Jackson is producing and Steven Spielberg is directing. I remember reading them as a child. I wasn’t this massive fan. I loved the almost storyboard nature of the beautiful, beautiful drawings. And the way its going to be done… It’s obviously performance capture so it’s is going to be perfect. There isn’t a more perfect way of doing it.” As was previously reported, Spielberg will direct the first film and produce the second, while Jackson will direct the second and produce the first. About The Hobbit, Serkis said that he “met Guillermo prior to him actually being attached. It was all very much going to happen so we met at an awards and sort of giggling at the fact we were going to be working together actually. I am going to really be looking forward to it. I mean the combination between he and Peter is extraordinary as well. I know they are writing at the moment. But other than that, I really have no idea. Peter is producing. Same writing team of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens is writing with Guillermo.” Andy Serkis on Tintin and The Hobbit
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Our very own MrCere, Larry Curtis, was a guest on last Sunday’s broadcast of ‘Fictional Frontiers with Sohaib,’ on WNJC 1360 AM, Philadelphia at 11AM ET. As always, it was broadcast live via the internet via the WNJC website. A full transcript of the radio segment can be found below (thanks to Deleece Cook!). TheOneRing.net is featured every other week on Fictional Frontiers.
Transcription 4th January 09 Session 17 TORN Radio Show Continue reading “Fictional Frontiers Radio Transcript”
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Jonathan Dean from independent.co.uk writes: Eleven hours and 38 minutes. That’s how much of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings is available for anyone smitten by elves, dwarves and small things with hairy feet. It’s the same time it takes to fly halfway round the world. It’s a heck of a stretch to spend in Middle Earth. But if said land – where JRR Tolkien’s books are set – sounds a little like purgatory, here’s some hellish news for anyone immune to the charms of Gollum, Frodo, Gandalf and co: the fantasy is back. It will be the biggest film story from now until the end of 2012. You have been warned.
The addition to the yarn is a two-part imagining of The Hobbit – a prequel to the most successful film trilogy of all time that began with The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001 and wrapped up with The Return of the King two years later, nabbing 17 Oscars and $2.91bn in takings. Such figures turned the decision to film Tolkien’s much-loved introductory novel into a no-brainer. But what has shocked fans is that Jackson – godlike in Ring circles – only executive produces this time, handing directing responsibilities over to Guillermo del Toro of Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy fame. Perhaps the creator has tired of the world he so meticulously made. It wouldn’t be surprising. Ever since the curtain rose on the trilogy, the franchise has been milked. Online shops stock 20-plus DVD spin-offs (Special Extended Editions, Box Sets, Special Limited Editions, a Trivial Pursuit game), with Blu-Rays to come. On the official site, 18-carat gold “One Ring To Rule Them All” gift boxes are being bought at £380 a pop. Such marketing clout greatly excites the studio moneymen. In short, no fantasy novel has been safe from being filmed. The battle for Middle Earth
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