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When it comes to The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Ian McKellen returning as Gandalf or Andy Serkis returning as Gollum seems natural, considering their characters' involvement in the original J.R.R. Tolkein novel, but Dominic Monaghan and his fellow hobbits returning seems odd, since their characters were not even born when The Hobbit takes place. Still, that's precisely what Monaghan revealed to MTV: "They really want us to come back, and I think there's a really strong chance that we might be back."
The return of Monaghan and company would have to include some serious re-writes, however. "We're not in 'The Hobbit,' no, but I think the idea in [Peter Jackson's and director Guillermo del Toro's] heads is that the trilogy of the Lord of the Rings films was so beloved by the fans that they're really keen to try to say thank you for the support that they gave to the Lord of the Rings movies and possibly bring back some of those characters that they know and love."
Whether Monaghan and company will appear in The Hobbit or its sequel, which will link the movie to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is uncertain.
One thing that is is clear is that Serkis is ready to protect his "precious" again as Gollum: "I am going to really be looking forward to it," he told ComingSoon.net, "I mean the combination between [Del Toro] and Peter is extraordinary as well. I know they are writing at the moment."
Posted 01.19.09 by Ryan -
Comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) have joined the cast of Tintin, the 3-D motion-capture adaptation of George Remi's classic comic. Rather than aging '80s pop icons, these Thompson Twins are a pair of bumbling detectives identical in every way except for the shape of their mustaches.
Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) will play Tintin's sidekick, Captain Haddock. The lead role of Tintin has not yet been cast.
Tintin is a two picture project being directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.
Source: Variety
Posted 01.06.09 by reelz -
Rumors have been circulating recently that Steven Spielberg would no longer be directing the first film in the Tintin trilogy for Dreamworks. Although Peter Jackson was slated to direct the sequel, the recent buzz around town was that the Lord of the Rings director would be stepping into the director's chair for the first film in place of Spielberg.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, these reports are false. Spielberg will indeed direct the first Tintin film and Peter Jackson is still slated to direct the sequel.
Tintin is based on the comic strip character created by Belgian artist Georges Remi under the pen name Herge in 1929. The first movie is based on "The Secret of the Unicorn" and "Red Rackham's Treasure." It will be animated with motion capture technology. Thomas Sangster (Love Actually) stars as Tintin and Andy Serkis (King Kong) stars as Captain Haddock.
The trilogy is being produced by Herge Studios.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Posted 08.27.08 by reelz -
After months and months of speculation, it's finally been confirmed that Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro has officially signed on to direct both The Hobbit and its as-yet-untitled sequel. Variety reports that del Toro, currently hard at work putting the finishing touches on Hellboy II: The Golden Army, will soon be packing up his belongings and moving to New Zealand, where he'll spend the next four years making the films with the help of Lord of the Rings demigod Peter Jackson and his WETA wizards.
The recent announcement throws one heck of a monkey wrench into del Toro's already packed schedule of upcoming projects, including a possible third Hellboy movie. Somehow I think the fanboys will find a way to forgive him.
Source: Variety
Posted 04.24.08 by reelz -
Lord of the Rings geeks have reason to rejoice this morning. According to the The Hollywood Reporter, fanboy favorite Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) is currently in talks to direct the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit, based on LotR author J.R.R. Tolkien's follow-up to his acclaimed fantasy trilogy. It's a welcome development for Tolkien aficionados, the majority of whom would likely list del Toro as their second choice to helm The Hobbit after LotR director Peter Jackson, who has opted for Executive Producing duties on the highly anticipated pair of films.
Del Toro is currently hard at work putting the finishing touches on Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, which opens July 11, 2008.
Posted 01.28.08 by reelz -
The oft-discussed Halo flick, once dismissed as "entirely dead" by its own director, Neill Blomkamp, has apparently been upgraded to "mostly dead." According to CVG.com, a representative for Peter Jackson has confirmed that Jackson's FX studio Weta Workshop recently restarted pre-production on the videogame adaptation, with producers shopping the project to potential distribution partners.
Hopes for a Halo flick appeared completely quashed a just few weeks ago, when Fox and Universal, the two studios who'd partnered to bring the project to the big screen, backed out of the deal, citing mounting costs as the primary reason.
Could Halo hero Master Chief finally be ready for his close-up? We're not holding our breath.
Posted 10.31.07 by reelz -
Dreamworks has won the bidding war to produce Peter Jackson's next project, The Lovely Bones, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
THR describes the story, based on Alice Sebold's novel, as a supernatural drama about "a young girl who is murdered but continues to observe her family on Earth after her death. She witnesses the impact of her loss on her loved ones, while her killer skillfully covers his tracks and prepares to murder again."
Uh-oh. "Supernatural drama" sounds suspiciously like "supernatural thriller." As we all know, supernatural thrillers invariably suck. Not like erotic thrillers. Those are awesome.
Posted 05.07.07 by reelz