General Hobbit Movie Info (AVOID IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS)

Mon Dec 21, 2009 6:23 pm

I thought it would be nice to have a thread for things that don't necessarily fall into the category of "Cast Speculation" or anything else that we have a current thread on, but don't really justify there own topics.

Nothing particularly new in this clip, but still worth checking out:

Sir Ian McKellen on The Prisoner, Godot and Gandalf

Post by **Elmtree** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:52 am

Might not be "new" but it's now "confirmed" to me... so the script is finished and McKellen has seen it.
I am reminded of when we were following the embryonic LOTR films from conception until maturity. It's like 1999/2000 again:).. we know almost nothing at this point but I still want to read (or watch) every bit of news.

Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:54 am

Me too, Elm. I missed much of the internet news and discussion leading up to FOTR, so I'm keen to be on the boat from the beginning.

It's always great to see you here!

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:53 am

Yes, it certainly is!

I didn't discover TORC until close to the release of FotR (IIRC), so it's fun to see these very early nuggets of news discussed by Tolkien readers.

Post by **Alatar** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:41 pm

Funny, I had the opposite experience. I was there for all the really early discussions before Fellowship and I left just before it came out cause of the ridiculous (to me...) Purist vs Revisionist stuff. You would not believe how many pages of vitriol there was over stuff that never even ended up on screen. Arwen at Helms Deep anyone? And the stuff from the trailers that was going to completely DESTROY the movie, like Ring on a Plinth and Boromir Holds the Ring!

Anyway, I got so frustrated with the nit-picking I left. I think my skin is thicker now.

Post by **yovargas** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:49 pm

Wait......Boromir Holds the Ring?????????? AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!

Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:37 pm

That turned out to be one of the best invented scenes in the whole trilogy.

Post by **vison** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 6:42 pm

I am torn - agreeing with both Alatar and Voronwë.

I'll let you know what happens . . . .

Sat Dec 26, 2009 7:54 pm

If you are "torn" this is the emoticom that you are supposed to use --->

Post by **vison** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 8:02 pm

Post by **Padme** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:53 pm

I miss Torn

Post by **sauronsfinger** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 4:41 pm

Peter Jackson interview

http://www.3news.co.nz/Extended-Lovely- ... fault.aspx

the HOBBIT parts

“We had slipped a copy of the script to Ian McKellen, who read it – because obviously we want Ian back again as Gandalf. Literally, we had somebody fly to London with the script in their hand baggage, they went to his house, gave him the script and then when he was finished with it he gave it back and that person took it to a shredding machine and shredded the script. The security is so tight.”

On The Hobbit casting:

“We’d like the people that are reprising their roles from The Lord of The Rings to come back. We haven’t offered the roles to anyone yet because we can’t do that yet. But Hugo Weaving would be great to have back as Elrond. And Galadriel – Cate Blanchett would probably have an appearance in The Hobbit. But the Hobbits – Merry and Pippin, Sam and Frodo – they weren’t born when The Hobbit takes place.”

Post by **Elentári** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 9:06 pm

Thanks SF, it's good to hear confirmation that Cate and Hugo are wanted back...

There was another interview posted over at TORn during the Holiday period...

http://video.hollywoodreporter.com/serv ... 8379948001

Peter Jackson has recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about the casting process for his upcoming film “The Hobbit” that has taken place. Claiming it is not easy to find the depicters of the lead characters, including the hobbit, dwarf and elf, the filmmaker explained, “They have to have a particular type of physical appearance.”

During the same occasion, Jackson also affirmed previous statement that the script for the second part of the movie will be delivered around Christmas. Meanwhile, the production is expected to be kicked off in March or April 2010. However, he noted that the schedule could be changed because the shooting should wait for a green light from the studio.

"The Hobbit" will re-create the scenes of the novel, with additional events that make an impact to "The Lords of the Rings", such as the expulsion of Sauron from Mirkwood by The White Council. The first of the fantasy movie is scheduled for December 2011 U.S. release, while the second film, "The Hobbit 2", is expected to hit theaters a year later.

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00029775.html

Post by **Padme** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:21 am

That's Sir Peter Jackson

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/usmovies.t ... and-knight

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - The king of Middle Earth is being made a knight — for real.

Film writer and director Peter Jackson, whose widely acclaimed "Lord of the Rings" trilogy scooped 17 Oscars, has been made a knight in New Zealand's New Year Honors' list.

He becomes Sir Peter Jackson for what the annual list honoring the country's worthy citizens simply calls "services to film."

New Zealand knights and dames, among the nation's highest honors, are sanctioned by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, New Zealand's head of state — stemming from the country's past as a British colony.

Post by **Elentári** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:08 am

That's great news, Padme, thanks...I'm not totally sure it was mentioned with the British announcements over here, so it was a nice surprise!

Here are Sir PJ's comments from his written statement:

“One of the best things about growing up in New Zealand is that if you are prepared to work hard and have faith in yourself, truly anything is possible,” says Wellington’s newly-knighted Peter Jackson.

He sees his knighthood (which was announced today) as “recognition of the collective achievement of our terrific crews and our film pioneers … who trailblazed a path towards the creation of a modern Kiwi film industry”.

In the New Zealand Herald, Sir Peter says “I didn’t think anything would surpass the 2004 Academy Awards, but I was wrong. The feeling of gratitude and pride I have in accepting this honour from my home country is profound.”

The Herald is quoting from a written statement. It seems that Sir Peter is away on holiday – his first for many years.

http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=18568

Interesting tidbit on the background to the honours system in NZ:

New Zealand has made its most famous film-maker a knight in the reinstatement of the title for the first time in a decade.

Peter Jackson, maker of the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, said the award was "better than the Oscars".

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, who had abolished British knighthoods in 2000, was made a member of the Order of New Zealand.

This is the highest honour available in the country.

It carries no honorific and is limited to 20 living New Zealanders at any one time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 435718.stm

Post by **sauronsfinger** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:04 pm

Sir Peter Jackson. That does have a nice ring to it.

Post by **solicitr** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:15 pm

You would not believe how many pages of vitriol there was over stuff that never even ended up on screen. Arwen at Helms Deep anyone?

And those scenes were shot! PJ cut them in great part due to the firestorm of Internet protests by those annoying Purists.

Post by **Padme** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:30 pm

Annoying Purists...where?

I thought one of the other reasons Arwen at Helms Deep was cut was because Liv wasn't gracefull enough to pull off Elf Princess during her fight scenes, i.e. she was too lanky and ill-coordinated to pull it off. It's why there are not many 5"10" ballerinas. Corus girls and other types of dancers however there's plenty of super tall women. I've seen some of Liv's other work and she isn't the most gracefull person in the world. She obviously did not inherit her daddy's sense of rhythm.

I do hope is she is in The Hobbit and Hobbit II and is shown dancing around the forrest that they get her serious dancing leasons.

Post by **Inanna** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:52 pm

It will be interesting to see how they reconcile LOTR's stately elves, with Hobbit's dancing, gleeful, childish elves, singing la-la. After all, lot of movie goers will expect the same kind of elves

Post by **Padme** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 6:07 pm

I agree. I have always thought the LoTR were a bit too stoic in the movies, maybe a bit in the books also. I am much more partial to the book Elves.

There a lot of differences between the Hobbit and LoTR, the Hobbit is much lighter tone. PJ and Company are going to need to darken it up a bit to have it match the tone of LoTR.