A new survey shows New Zealanders are divided on whether the Government’s subsidy to ensure the Hobbit was…
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A new survey shows New Zealanders are divided on whether the Government’s subsidy to ensure the Hobbit was made in the country was value for money.
A UMR Online Omnibus Survey asked 1,000 New Zealanders aged over 18 whether they thought the subsidy was worthwhile. A narrow margin 42% to 38% thought it did represent value for money, with men, older New Zealanders and those on higher incomes more likely to be in favour. Continue reading “Kiwis divided over value for money from Hobbit films”
Warner Bros. is going after the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien hard in litigation over online slot machines and games tied to the lucrative Lord of the Rings and Hobbit properties.
In November, the Tolkien estate and and its book publisher HarperCollins filed an $80 million lawsuit that claimed that Rings/Hobbit producers including Warner Bros. had infringed the copyright in the books and breached a contract by overstepping their rights.
Rings/Hobbit rightsholder Saul Zaentz Co. already made their own counterclaim that the Tolkien estate has breached an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by going down this road. Continue reading “Warner Bros. claims Tolkien Estate breached Hobbit contract”
The release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is just around the corner. In anticipation, Warner Bros has released a series of teaser videos profiling some of the features and extras folks will get to enjoy. And a bit of a plug for the very first sneak peak at the Desolation of Smaug that people will be able to get on March 24! Continue reading “Video: Warner Bros teases The Hobbit DVD-Blu-ray release”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” became the 15th movie ever to pass the $1 billion mark in international tickets, pushed past the milestone by totals from China, the film’s last major market, where it opened 10 days ago. $301 million of that total is from U.S. ticket sales with the other $700 million coming from the rest of the world.
The studios behind the film (Warner Bros., New Line, MGM) issued a press release to make the announcement.
Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution said in the release, “We could not be more proud to have reached this amazing benchmark. Together with our partners at MGM and New Line, everyone at Warner Bros. congratulates Peter Jackson and his entire cast and crew on the extraordinary success of this film.”
Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures said, “From Berlin to Beijing, it is so gratifying to see how the release of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ has been such an event with audiences around the world. We know that moviegoers everywhere are already excited about the next film, as are we.”
The 14th film to do so pass the $1 billion mark was 2012’s “Skyfall,” a James Bond film. Ironically, the two films were the highest profile casualties of studio MGM’s debt crisis. The financial trouble of the studio, which has distribution rights to the Hobbit films and is home of the James Bond franchise, pushed both movies back. “The Dark Knight Rises,” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” were also released in 2012 and are in the select box office club as well. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” is another one of the films.
TheOneRing.net wrote on January 4 that the reports of the film’s financial disappointment were premature and wrong.
Next to the U.S., the top markets are Germany with $90 million, the U.K. with $84.3 million, France at $44.9 million, Australia’s $44.3 million and Russia’s $43.8 million. China with $37.3 million in 10 day has a chance to move past several of those films.
The next film in the series, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” is scheduled for release Dec. 13 and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” has recently been moved to Dec. 17, 2014. TheOneRing will have grass roots line party events for both films around the globe and hopefully Oscar night parties in Los Angeles for both as well.
The New Zealand Government has released a tranche of email exchanges between Sir Peter Jackson and ministerial officials, which lay bare his frustration over the deal eventually done to ensure The Hobbit was made here.
Earlier this month the Ombudsman ordered the Government to release documents about the deal it struck for the movies. Warner Bros’ New Line unit warned that the ruling jeopardised future film-making in New Zealand.
In a statement Jackson today said he welcomed the release of the documents, which he hoped would end “unfounded conspiracy theories” that a Hollywood studio had been dictating terms to a sovereign government.
[Read More] | [View the documents]
BoxOfficeMojo reports: The Hobbit opened to $18.1 million in China this weekend. According to Warner Bros., that’s the fourth-biggest three-day start ever for a U.S. movie. That brings the movie’s foreign total to $679.6 million (12th all-time); it’s also now less than $20 million away from passing $1 billion worldwide, which it should be able to do if China keeps it in theaters for a full two weeks.
