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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 -
Following hot on the furry little heels of the release of the first poster and trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first chapter of the two-part prequel to The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy — and just in time for the holidays — co-writer, producer and director Peter Jackson has delivered yet another "present" for the fans: a new video blog offering a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie.
The fifth such production video blog Jackson has released to date, the latest one focuses on "the logistics of location shooting." As boring as that may sound to some — and we do see a lot of loading and unloading of vehicles and equipment — the 12-minute video also contains beautiful shots of New Zealand and "Hobbiton" and tons of footage of cast members on the set in full costume, from original LOTR actors like Sir Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, to Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, the central character of The Hobbit, and several (if not all) of the actors who play the company of dwarves (creator J.R.R. Tolkien's spelling) who hire Bilbo to "burgle" for them from the mighty dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch).
watch the production video >> Posted 12.26.11 by BrentJS -
It's been 10 years and one day since The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, the first installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was released, and now the first trailer for the prequel of The Hobbit has debuted online.
Shot in two-parts — The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released in December, followed by The Hobbit: There and Back Again in 2013 — the prequel sees Martin Freeman assume the role of Bilbo Baggins (played by Ian Holm in The Lord of the Rings, who appears briefly in the trailer) and joins the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a company of dwarves on an epic quest that will take him to a dragon's lair and put him in charge of a precious ring. While production has yet to wrap on the movies, Freeman said he felt "no pressure" in playing the role of Bilbo, adding that "so far, what we've done has been more comic than heavy. I keep asking [director and co-writer] Peter [Jackson], 'When are we going heavy?' He assures me it's coming."
While most of the trailer is interested in introducing the wide array of characters, by the end, it looks like Bilbo has entered the "heavy" part of shooting, as it reveals the hobbit's first introduction to the ring's owner.
watch the trailer and see the full poster >> Posted 12.20.11 by Ryan -
Fans hungry for updates on The Hobbit, the upcoming prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, director and co-writer Peter Jackson has been made the production process as transparent as possible, having released three production video blogs so far on his Facebook page.
The latest video focuses on the 3-D aspect of the prequel, which will arrive in two-parts — 2012's An Unexpected Journey and 2013's There and Back Again. While this is certainly the most technically-focused blog that Jackson has released so far, there's also footage of Martin Freeman (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Office) as Bilbo Baggins, the role he takes over from Ian Holm, and Elijah Wood viewing playback footage in 3-D while dressed as Frodo. There's also footage of Hugo Weaving as Elrond, as well as Ian McKellen dressed as Gandalf with the entire company of dwarves.
watch the video >> Posted 11.04.11 by Ryan -
When British actor Martin Freeman (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Office) was cast as Bilbo Baggins in director Peter Jackson's two-part adaptation of The Hobbit, it seemed like a great move for the Lord of the Rings prequel. Jackson recently revealed to The LA Times that, while Freeman wasn't the only actor who auditioned for the role, there was "simply nobody else" who could play the part.
[Freeman] is fantastic and there is simply nobody else for the job. We couldn’t find anyone who was better than him. He is simply fantastic.
Freeman is so good, apparently, that Jackson was willing to schedule in a month long break in production, a break documented in Jackson's second video blog about the shoot. During that "break", Freeman went back to England to act in another series of Sherlock for the BBC (co-starring with Benedict Cumberbatch, who will also feature in The Hobbit), a commitment Jackson was aware of before he was cast. "He had committed to that show before he signed up for The Hobbit," Jackson explained. "And that’s one of the reasons we took a little break."
Freeman is "Bilbo-esque," says Jackson >> Posted 08.25.11 by Ryan -
You could say 1999 was the year of the pop princess — Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore all released their debut albums. Moore seemed the sweetest and most innocent of the bunch. She was also classy enough to not discuss her innocence, or lack thereof, with the media. While the other princesses have either continued their recording careers or moved on to reality television and very public romantic relationships, Moore has moved to acting, with some pretty tame roles... until now.
Watch the trailer >> Posted 08.11.11 by Mandy -
Writer-director-producer Peter Jackson has used his Facebook page to reveal casting announcements, video blogs and more for his upcoming, two–part prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy,The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, but Entertainment Weekly has the first photos from the movie.
An official photo of the cast has been previously revealed, but this is the first time the actor have been shown in costume, though the photos keep mostly to Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo, and Ian McKellen as Gandalf, who should look familiar to all who have seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Accompanying the photos are some notes from Jackson, who complimented Freeman and his performance.
He fits the ears, and he's got some very nice feet. I think he's got the biggest hobbit feet we've had so far. They're a little bit hard to walk in, but he's managed to figure out the perfect hobbit gait.
more from jackson >> Posted 06.24.11 by Ryan -
Director Peter Jackson and his cast of the upcoming, two-part Lord of the Rings, prequel, The Hobbit, have been fairly transparent about the movie-making process, but Martin Freeman may have taken that transparency a bit too far.
In April, Jackson video blogged the start of production and, last week, updated the movie's progress, announcing the additions of actors Stephen Fry and Conan Stevens and a change of role for Ryan Gage. Even Ian McKellen has gotten into the spirit, Tweeting a photo of himself in Gandalf costume and 3-D glasses, and revealing that Bret McKenzie would reprise a small role from the Fellowship of the Ring. Freeman has done a bit worse, revealing a secret casting decision.
what did Freeman say? >> Posted 05.23.11 by Ryan -
One thing that 71-year-old actor Ian McKellen is not shy about using is social media. In March, with production on The Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit still weeks away, McKellen tweeted and blogged about seeing "Bilbo in 3 dimensions." Director Peter Jackson has embraced social media as well, video blogging the start of production almost a month ago.
McKellen's latest missives includes an example of the technological times, as the actor Tweeted a photo of himself in full Gandalf costume wearing 3-D glasses.
THE HOBBIT is being filmed in 3D. Even wizards have to wear the glasses
who else is returning? >> Posted 05.12.11 by Ryan -
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