... And because I like to torture Ben once in a while, the latest news on the near-production-commencement of "The Hobbit"!
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/ne ... 9032.story
The lawsuits have nearly been settled...
MGM might actually have some money left for production...
PJ's ready to direct...
Fans wait with bated breath but the smart ones learned long ago not to hold their breaths!
Peter Jackson's The Hobbit
Well, I don't know how that's supposed to torture me, because that's all very positive stuff and looks like both movies will make their originally planned 2012-13 dates.
This project is so big that any potential problems will just get sorted out, and everyone wants PJ to direct the films so they'll bend over backwards (including New Zealand's Prime Minister, who's entered the fray personally to keep the films there) to get things in place as they know he'll walk if they don't start in January.
Basically, PJ can write his own ticket, and they'll cave in to any demands (like the Tolkien estate's payoff) to make it happen. MGM's even borrowing money from Warner/New Line to make their half of the budget, in return for losing some other rights.
It's happening George. This time it's really happening.
This project is so big that any potential problems will just get sorted out, and everyone wants PJ to direct the films so they'll bend over backwards (including New Zealand's Prime Minister, who's entered the fray personally to keep the films there) to get things in place as they know he'll walk if they don't start in January.
Basically, PJ can write his own ticket, and they'll cave in to any demands (like the Tolkien estate's payoff) to make it happen. MGM's even borrowing money from Warner/New Line to make their half of the budget, in return for losing some other rights.
It's happening George. This time it's really happening.
Re: Peter Jackson's THE HOBBIT - yes, you read that right!
Source E! Online
Being cast in the role of Bilbo Baggins is Martin Freeman. Freeman is best known as Tim Canterbury in the original British version of The Office as well as Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Jackson also announced that the eight dwarfs whom Bilbo ventures with.
Playing Thorin Oakenshield will be Richard Armitage. Armitage is better known as Guy of Gisborne in the recent Robin Hood series produced by the BBC and will be seen as Heinz Kruger in the upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger film.
The dwarfs were cast as follows:
Aidan Turner (Mitchell in Being Human) will play Kili
Rob Kazinsky (Sean in EastEnders) will be Fili
Graham McTavish (Lewis in Rambo, voice of Dante Alighieri in Dante's Inferno) will play Dwalin
John Callen will play Oin
Stephen Hunter will play Bombur
Mark Hadlow (a friend of Jackson's who was prominent in Meet the Feebles and had a bit part in King Kong) will play Dori
Peter Hambleton will be Gloin.
Being cast in the role of Bilbo Baggins is Martin Freeman. Freeman is best known as Tim Canterbury in the original British version of The Office as well as Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Jackson also announced that the eight dwarfs whom Bilbo ventures with.
Playing Thorin Oakenshield will be Richard Armitage. Armitage is better known as Guy of Gisborne in the recent Robin Hood series produced by the BBC and will be seen as Heinz Kruger in the upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger film.
The dwarfs were cast as follows:
Aidan Turner (Mitchell in Being Human) will play Kili
Rob Kazinsky (Sean in EastEnders) will be Fili
Graham McTavish (Lewis in Rambo, voice of Dante Alighieri in Dante's Inferno) will play Dwalin
John Callen will play Oin
Stephen Hunter will play Bombur
Mark Hadlow (a friend of Jackson's who was prominent in Meet the Feebles and had a bit part in King Kong) will play Dori
Peter Hambleton will be Gloin.
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eddievalient
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Re:
13 dwarves; Bilbo is the Lucky Number.eddievalient wrote:Aren't there supposed to be 13 dwarves?
There's still Bifur and Balin left to cast, among others, but think they've covered those that have actual speaking roles in the plot.
(And Gloin will eventually be Gimli's father, so expect some John Rhys-Davies resemblances...)
Balin is the dwarf whose tomb the Fellowship discovered in the first film at Kazhud-dum(?) right?
While I'm stoked that another visit to Middle Earth is happening AND it's my favourite Hobbit book I am a little concerned about making two movies out of the book. Maybe I should re-read The Hobbit as my memory tells me that it really could be done in 2-2.5 hours.
While I'm stoked that another visit to Middle Earth is happening AND it's my favourite Hobbit book I am a little concerned about making two movies out of the book. Maybe I should re-read The Hobbit as my memory tells me that it really could be done in 2-2.5 hours.
Re:
Rankin-Bass did the story in 90 minutes, and only left one or two chapters out of the book--
The second movie (because they think we'd be "disappointed" that this one wasn't a trilogy either), Jackson's producers plan to fill with expanding some of the stories from Tolkien's historical "prologue" and some of the Silmarillion, to tie the gap back into the LOTR series.
Think of the second as a sort of canon-bridging "Middle-Earth Men Origins: Bilborine", or all the last-minute original-trilogy ties they were putting into the end of SW Episode 3.
The second movie (because they think we'd be "disappointed" that this one wasn't a trilogy either), Jackson's producers plan to fill with expanding some of the stories from Tolkien's historical "prologue" and some of the Silmarillion, to tie the gap back into the LOTR series.
Think of the second as a sort of canon-bridging "Middle-Earth Men Origins: Bilborine", or all the last-minute original-trilogy ties they were putting into the end of SW Episode 3.
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GeorgeC
"No locations settled on for Precious!"
"Darn lawyers and economy... Smeagol hates you!"
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/ ... bit-films/
"Darn lawyers and economy... Smeagol hates you!"
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/ ... bit-films/
I'm holding out hope that Hobbit stays in NZ. Not only would a move cause disruption to Jackson's standard working practices, having an impact on the resulting films, but that whole world has been so entrenched in the NZ locations that it needs to stay there for visual consistency. Yep, they could come to London and shoot it, but I think it would be more like "home" to the films if they remained in NZ. That WB hasn't said "no" yet gives me hope, though the alternative is London, which is also exciting...
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GeorgeC
"AAhhhh...! Smeagol's tough negotiation skills save day!....
"Or vain, stupid men get sick watching Smeagol eat fish guts in front of them....!"
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But seriously, you think the tortured production saga of this film is over yet?
What's happened so far would fit at least 2-3 documentaries... and that's without shooting a single frame of the new Hobbit!