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Over the weekend, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey reached a milestone when it joined the rest of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in earning $300 million in domestic box office — and neared ever closer to $1 billion worldwide in the process. Obviously, the first of director Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel has done well financially, but audiences and critics alike were polarized by the results of the movie, with the possible exception of the movie's dazzling visual effects, which were nominated for an Academy Award.
Likely in anticipation of this Sunday's Oscar telecast, WETA Digital has released a visual effects reel revealing the work that went into the movie. Highlights from the video include Ian McKellen basically act alone in a green room as Gandalf and the first meeting between Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Gollum (Andy Serkis, in his motion-capture outfit) prior to its digital transformation.
watch the video >> Posted 02.19.13 by Ryan -
Better keep those ruby slippers away from Helena Bonham Carter's sticky fingers.
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Posted 10.24.12 by BrentJS -
More Hobbit footage already? We'll take it!
No doubt fans have already repeatedly devoured the new footage revealed in the second trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but there's already more that has arrived online. The Warner Bros.' official website for The Hobbit offers users a chance to create their own ending to the latest trailer, with five different moments to choose from for the trailer's end. One of those options was used by the studio already, the one where the giant troll lands on top of the dwarves. The other endings include an exchange between Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Gollum (Andy Serkis); Gandalf (Ian McKellen) revealing to Bilbo that bet he had with the dwarves; Bilbo learning an unsatisfying truth about his sword; and Bilbo examining his contract to join the company of dwarves to attempt to "burgle" the treasure that's being protected by the dragon Smaug. Like the troll fall, the endings all reveal the humorous side of the movie, and, luckily, Bleeding Cool has compiled them all into one video so you don't have to watch the trailer four different times (not that you wouldn't want to).
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watch the new footage >> Posted 09.22.12 by Ryan -
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 -
In lieu of another trailer or releasing any new footage, director Peter Jackson has done an excellent job of keeping fans engaged with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first part of Jackson's two-part prequel for The Lord of the Rings, with production videos from the New Zealand set (the seventh of which was released early last month). Luckily, Entertainment Weekly has released several new photos (via The Playlist), as the movie is featured on its most recent magazine cover.
While the photos aren't exactly revelatory, they'll have to do until Jackson and Warner Bros. release something new (likely at Comic-Con), but they do offer new looks at Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage as dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Andy Serkis as Gollum (underneath the layers of animation), and several of the dwarves in barrels (Graham McTavish as Dwalin, Adam Brown as Ori, Ken Stott as Balin, James Nesbitt as Bofur, Mark Hadlow as Dori and Jed Brophy as Nori). There's also a few looks at Ian McKellen as Gandalf, who promised EW that fans will be pleased with the two-part epic.
check out the photos >> Posted 07.03.12 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 -
Is it really already awards season? You bet your ballot it is. Today, the Critics' Choice nominations were announced, and all the usual suspects are in the running for Best Picture, including Hugo, The Tree of Life, War Horse, and The Descendants. A few dark horses also garnered noms, including the polarizing Drive and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which really hasn't had much presence yet this award season.
The Critics' Choice Movie Awards winners will be announced live on VH1 on January 12th, and Reelz will be there on the red carpet with live coverage from the Hollywood Palladium with hosts Sam Rubin and Jessica Holmes starting at 6pm ET and 3pm PT.
more nominations >> Posted 12.13.11 by Chris