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Return to Middle-earth with new still images from The Hobbit
If you're a fan of high fantasy, then you're probably already drinking a pint of Gaffer's ale and singing "The Road Goes Ever On" in celebration of Tolkien Week along with the thousands of other J.R.R. Tolkien fans around the world — that is, assuming you haven't been stuck in the Mines of Moria since 1978, the year the American Tolkien Society first proclaimed Tolkien Week and set Sept. 22nd as Hobbit Day. With the first part of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequels opening in less than three months, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and MGM decided to join in on the fun by releasing a huge batch of new still images from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, with a new trailer to follow later today. Pour yourself another pint and enjoy the new still images with us as we reminisce about seven of the things that we have been missing about Middle-Earth and are looking forward to when Tolkien's creations return to the big screen this winter.
see the new images >> Posted 09.19.12 by BrentJS -
It's been over a month since director Peter Jackson released the seventh production video from the set of his two-part prequel, The Hobbit, which was the last footage available to fans until Jackson revealed some edited footage to those lucky enough to get inside Hall H during Warner Bros.' Comic-Con presentation. Luckily, Jackson has released an eighth video, which shows snippets of what was shown that day.
Starting at Comic-Con, Jackson introduces a behind-the-scenes look at the final week of shooting, which concentrated mostly on the second part, There and Back Again. Jackson is quick to point out that he can't reveal much from the second movie, but there's plenty for fans to enjoy, including Cate Blanchett on the set as Galadriel acting alongside Ian McKellen as Gandalf; Orlando Bloom as Legolas being directed by second unit director Andy Serkis (who also plays Gollum); plus sections devoted to new cast members Sylvester McCoy (who plays the wizard Radagast) and Lee Pace, who is seen preparing to play the Elven King Thranduil.
watch the video >> Posted 07.24.12 by Ryan -
The upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit, the two-part prequel to the The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will see the return of several characters — including Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and Gollum (Andy Serkis in motion-capture) — all of which appeared in J.R.R. Tolkien's original novel. However, director and co-writer Peter Jackson has found a way to bring back several other characters from the Lord of the Rings movies, such as Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). Frodo didn't exist yet in the timeline where The Hobbit takes place, but it is believed that he will appear in bookend fashion with the story of The Hobbit being told to him by an elder Biblo (Ian Holm) which seems basically confirmed in the first trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first part of the prequel (The Hobbit: There and Back Again will follow in 2013).
Wood recently spoke to Collider about his time on The Hobbit set. Wood has already called his return to New Zealand to shoot the movies "family reunion" and revealed that he only appears "very little" as Frodo in the movie, but Wood revealed to Collider that he was only "there [in New Zealand] a month" but had a lot of time to observe Jackson and how he shot the movie in 3-D. While 3-D was not an element of the Lord of the Rings production, Wood says there was still little difference in working on the two productions.
wood discusses the differences; serkis, the similarities >> Posted 01.24.12 by Ryan -
For fans of the Lord of the Rings, one of the biggest treats of the holiday season was the release of first trailer for The Hobbit, the prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Shot in two parts by director and co-writer Peter Jackson — The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released next December, followed by The Hobbit: There and Back Again in 2013 — the trailer was put together while the movie was still being shot.
"We're only half way through shooting, so it was just a case of selecting bits from the stuff we'd shot, even though there's still a lot of big scenes we haven't shot yet," Jackson told Adelaide Now after the release of the trailer. "We just wanted to give people a bit of old, a bit of new and a sense of the tone of the film."
more from Jackson and Martin Freeman; plus set photos >> Posted 12.29.11 by Ryan -
The Adventures of Tintin opens today but that doesn't mean there isn't time for the release of a few more preview clips. Produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Steven Spielberg, the 3-D motion-capture animated movie is already a success overseas, where it's earned $239 million. The foreign box office isn't surprising given that the movie is based on the characters and situations created by the late Belgian author and illustrator Hergé. As Jackson told The LA Times, "The challenge we have is getting the people who don't love Tintin to see the movie."
The movie follows the intrepid young reporter Tintin (played by Jamie Bell) as he tries to solve a mystery that involves a unicorn, a scroll, and a poem written in Olde English, accompanied by his loyal dog, Snowy, and Captain Haddock (played by go-to motion-capture actor Andy Serkis). Spielberg "shot" the movie in 40 days using performance-capture technologies and then Jackson Weta visual effects team animated the movie, not unlike how the character of Gollum (again played by Serkis) was created for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Jackson says that Weta, or Tintin for that matter, wouldn't exist without Spielberg's Jurassic Park.
watch the clips >> Posted 12.21.11 by Ryan -
Back in April, director Peter Jackson released his first video blog about the start of production on his upcoming two-part prequel to his The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
Nearly three months later, Jackson has released a second video blog on his Facebook page highlighting the break in production that occurred after 54 days of shooting (there's 200 to go). Some of the footage includes what the cast and crew will do with their month off, Jackson doing location scouting, and footage of actor Andy Serkis in his motion capture outfit portraying Gollum.
watch the video >> Posted 07.09.11 by Ryan -
The first collaboration between two of the biggest names in movies has so far been shrouded in mystery, but today we get the first glimpse of the project.
The poster for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn was unveiled today, showing the title character and his trusty dog, Snowy, walking in shadow above a globe.
The motion-capture 3-D movie, a collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, is based on the comic books by Belgian artist Georges "Hergé" Remi. Spielberg takes the duty of director while Jackson will serve as producer (Jackson will direct the sequel). Jackson's F/X company Weta Digital will do the movie's motion capture and special effects. Tintin will be Spielberg's first move that will be shot digitally.
It took 28 years to bring Tintin to the big screen Posted 05.16.11 by Chris -
Gone are the days when fans could only read about upcoming movies in magazines and watch footage in trailers on TV before seeing the real thing on the big screen. Director Peter Jackson has recognized that the peering blogs of the Internet don't keep anything secret for long, so he's introduced a commitment to transparency through his Facebook page. Jackson has already delivered a Master class in frame rates, and his latest offering is a video blog that goes behind the scenes of The Hobbit, chronicling the start of production.
watch the video >> Posted 04.14.11 by Ryan -
At one point, it seemed that The Hobbit was never going to get off the ground. Several major setbacks have delayed the movie for years, even forcing director Guillermo del Toro to leave. But today we have good news for fans of Middle-Earth.
Production has finally began on the massive two-part $500M movie. Jackson's assistant Matt Dravitski said the crew is "raring to go." Jackson even posted new photos on his Facebook page (as almost proof to nonbelievers). And Warner Bros. announced that Cate Blanchett and Andy Serkis would reprise their roles as Galadriel and Gollum, respectively.
The Hobbit was written by Jackson, del Toro, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens. Also reprising their LOTR roles are Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, and Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf. New case additions include Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Sylvester McCoy as the wizard Radagast, Mikael Persbrandt as the shape-shifter Beorn, Ryan Gage as Drogo Baggins, father of Frodo, and 13 actors who will play the company of dwarfs.
Posted 03.21.11 by reelz -
Peter Jackson has been slowly assembling his cast for The Hobbit, the upcoming prequel to his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Jackson hired British actor Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins last October, then brought back Cate Blanchett as Galadriel in December. Blanchett's character does not appear in J.R.R. Tolkien's original novel, but neither did Elijah Wood's Frodo, though Wood will also return as Frodo, possibly in a narrator kind of role.
Two characters who were are definitely in Tolkien's Hobbit are the wizard Gandalf and Gollum, played respectively by Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis, who, curiously, had yet to be signed for the two-part prequel. That's all about to change.
who else will be returning? >> Posted 01.11.11 by Ryan