It can be argued that the biggest internet story coming out of the premiere is not spiders and bears, but a playful behind grab caught only by TheOneRing.net cameras! During our exclusive red-carpet interview with Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch sneakily snuck up and shared a pinch and a bird with his Hobbit co-star. Animated gifs have turned up everywhere on tumblr, and even Gawker’s Jezebel says this is the greatest thing to come out of it all.
Continue reading “Cumberbatch ‘Grab’ Fires Up The Internet”

Benedict CumberbatchWhile have yet to see his work in ‘The Hobbit,’ we’d like to wish a very Happy Birthday to actor Benedict Cumberbatch. The man who will be Smaug turns 37 today! Here’s his bio from Wikipedia…

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. His most acclaimed roles include Stephen Hawking in the BBC drama Hawking (2004); William Pitt in the historical filmAmazing Grace (2006); protagonist Stephen Ezard in the miniseries thriller The Last Enemy (2008); Paul Marshall in Atonement (2007); Bernard in Small Island (2009); and Sherlock Holmes in the modern BBC adaptation series Sherlock (2010–12).

In February 2011, he starred in Danny Boyle‘s stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the Royal National Theatre. In late 2011, he played Major Stewart in Steven Spielberg‘s War Horse (2011). He also played Peter Guillam, one of the pivotal roles in Tomas Alfredson‘s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011).

He also starred as Christopher Tietjens in the BBC/HBO co-produced miniseries, Parade’s End, which first aired August 2012. He portrayed Smaug the dragon through voice and motion capture and also provided the motion capture for the Necromancer in Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit trilogy (2012).

Cumberbatch portrayed the main antagonist, Khan Noonien Singh, in J. J. Abrams‘ Star Trek Into Darkness, released in May 2013, and will play WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate.

 

Benedict Cumberbatch’s inadvertent slip (or was it?) of the tongue back in August is suddenly receiving a lot of attention. Was it a hint of things to come, or is he just plain confused? Ben Child at The Guardian weighs in with some interesting thoughts on the matter. If you choose to read this article, you should expect SPOILERS.

More at The Guardian

Peter Jackson has always understood how the popularization of the internet changed film. Since the beginning of his pre-production on The Lord of the Rings he was available to fans, sometimes against the wishes of studios, as he included potential ticket buyers into the process of film production.
With Facebook covering all of web land and growing into every demographic possible, Jackson has seized that new platform to remove the big and sometimes slow publicity machine studios have in place and instead speaks right at fans. To see more visit Movies.com

Just down the board from this post is a report originating from a New Zealand television station about Benedict Cumberbatch joining ‘The Hobbit’ cast. The non-by-lined article (from the TV station, not the one here) suggests from “early reports” that Cuberbatch might be in line to voice the dragon Smaug. We don’t know if “early reports” means the writer asked somebody at a desk nearby who was left to be cast, but this seems, at best, suspicious. That isn’t to say that the reporter doesn’t have some good information, but if they do they sure don’t sound confident about it. It wasn’t even written with the journalism phrase “unnamed sources” or “a source close to the production” but rather went with something that seems to actually mean, “I might be making this up and using the name Smaug will get a lot of attention.” The author, besides not having a name, cites no source and doesn’t link to any of the “early reports” referenced.

A far more likely choice and a character that Cumberbatch looks something like: Bard the Bowman. He possesses a bit of menace and is taller and robust, much that a way the leader of men might be. He might be believable as an excellent archer as well. The actor has had a good year, playing with Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins) in the BBC’s “Sherlock,” and also landing a spot in Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse,” a World War I drama. So, he might make an excellent Bard but, this is also speculation so until we hear from director Peter Jackson on Facebook or hear from WB in an official press release, don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Meanwhile, be sure to check out our page of “Hobbit” characters right here.