The 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, created by acclaimed filmmaker Ralph Bakshi, is celebrating its 40th Anniversary, and the director took time to speak at length with The Hollywood Reporter about the journey to get the film made, beginning with his love of Tolkien and how the novels influenced one of his earlier projects.
“As far as realistic adult fantasy, Tolkien certainly was the best I’d ever read,” says Bakshi, who regularly consumed sci-fi and fantasy like Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian pulp novels in the ‘50s. “There was a very big fantasy kick going on in the underground and in popular culture [in the ‘60s and ‘70s]. That kick eventually had me make the picture Wizards.”
The $1.3 million budgeted, politically acute Wizards incorporated a number of Tolkienesque characters in its post-apocalyptic setting, from fairies and elves and dwarves to the title characters themselves.
Continue reading “Ralph Bakshi looks back at “The Lord of the Rings” for its 40th Anniversary”
A number of other sites around the internet are also celebrating the 15th anniversary of the opening of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring this week, and/or The Lord of the Rings movie franchise in general. For the convenience of our readers, we put together this one-stop shop for a stroll down memory lane. We’ll bring more to you during the week as we find them. Enjoy!
Continue reading “FOTR 15th anniversary – a compilation of articles”
WETA Digital has released a brand new two and a half minute video exclusively to the The Hollywood Reporter detailing the creation of the dragon Smaug. Thanks to Ringers Makaw, Brandon, Will P., and Jesse for notifying us about the video!
The Hollywood Reporter also spoke to Smaug VFX artist David Clayton (who is nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the film) about the process of translating actor Benedict Cumberbatch’s motion capture performance into the fire-breathing creature you see on the screen in The Desolation of Smaug. Continue reading “Bringing Smaug to Life: New Making-of video from Weta Digital”
As some of you may have noticed – something rather unexpected happened today.
While reviews for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug were expected to
begin getting published this coming Sunday – the embargo was lifted early and we began getting reviews today! TORN staffers, who have been lucky enough to see the film already, will be reviewing the film soon enough. First up will be our own Quickbeam, who is currently finalizing his thoughts. In the meantime, however, we thought we’d post a couple of the early reviews for your reading pleasure. Continue reading “First ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ reviews released as embargo lifts”
“The Hobbit” is still on hold.
A report in the New Zealand Herald quotes a spokesman for director-producer Peter Jackson as saying, “Warner Brothers are running financial models about the costs of shooting in a variety of countries. We expect a decision is still a week or two away.”
This came despite a meeting today between union and management representatives, which a statement characterized as “a useful and productive discussion.” Jackson’s spokesman told the Herald that the “Hobbit” situation remained unchanged following the meeting. More..
Five years ago, while Peter Jackson was immersed in directing his large-scale remake of “King Kong” for Universal, executive Mary Parent mentioned a project the studio was developing based on the wildly popular video game “Halo.”
Jackson was intrigued. He loved to play “Halo” with his two teenage children; his special effects company, New Zealand-based WETA, seemed perfect to handle the FX; and a 15% tax rebate made a Kiwi shoot ideal for Universal and co-financier Fox. So Jackson agreed to produce, alongside his lifetime partner Fran Walsh and their colleague Carolynne Cunningham. Jackson would not direct, but he would find a promising young helmer to work under his supervision. When Parent suggested Neill Blomkamp, based on a short film of his she’d seen, the South Africa-born filmmaker left his home in Vancouver and flew to meet the Jackson team. More..
The 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, created by acclaimed filmmaker Ralph Bakshi, is celebrating its 40th Anniversary, and the director took time to speak at length with The Hollywood Reporter about the journey to get the film made, beginning with his love of Tolkien and how the novels influenced one of his earlier projects.
