Message From Peter Jackson Via Official Facebook Page

Thanks to everyone who tuned into our Live Event last week. I’ve never done anything like that before, and I was pretty nervous. Hope it was ok. 

If you saw it, it was a pretty accurate picture of what life is like at the moment. Jabez and I sit in that editing room all day, every day, editing the second Hobbit movie, and we actually start on the third next week! A lot of that movie was shot nearly a year ago, so I’m looking forward to seeing it come alive, shot by shot in the cutting room. It’s like assembling one of those complex 2000 piece jigsaw puzzles.

For us, this is really the being of 2013, so I look forward to posting a bunch more stuff as we work through the year.

I think that an edited version of the Live Event is being made available over at the official Hobbit site, and Warner Bros have kindly let me post a 6 min excerpt here, to give everyone who missed it a sense of what it was like.

Cheers,
Peter J

‘The Colbert Report’ To Have ‘Hobbit’ Themed Week

Stephen Colbert has never been afraid to show off his passion for J.R.R. Tolkien on The Colbert Report (see: this James Franco interview and this dissection of John McCain’s Lord of the Rings debt ceiling analogy) but next week he will take that love to new nerdy levels. Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report will present four nights of Hobbit-themed programming (Dec. 3 to Dec. 6), pegged to the Dec. 14 release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, EW has learned. Guests will include stars Ian McKellan (Dec. 3), Martin Freeman (Dec. 4) and Andy Serkis (Dec. 6), along with director Peter Jackson (Dec. 5).

Said Colbert in a statement: “Elen sila lumenn‘ omentielvo*… I mean that sincerely.”

Our host may or may not be sharing screen time with a few Hobbit actors on the big screen as well: He is rumored to have shot a cameo in the trilogy while visiting the New Zealand set. “It’s yet to be confirmed or denied,” Jackson told EW last month, though he did praise Colbert by saying, “I have never met a bigger Tolkien geek in my life” and calling his “encyclopedic knowledge” of the fantasy author “spectacular.”

(*Translation: “A star shines upon the hour of our meeting”)

EW.com

The Hobbit Premiere: Sir Ian McKellen To Miss While Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood & Others Are Confirmed

Sir Ian McKellen will give the premiere for The Hobbit: An Unexpected journey a miss as other stars of the movie turn out in Wellington next week. In a statement from Warner Brothers today, McKellen said he was envious his co-stars could attend. 

“It is thrilling that Peter and my other friends from the cast and crew will be re-united for the world premiere. I know they will have a wonderful welcome from the fans and I envy them. As ever, my heart is in Wellington, and I send my love.”

Those who will attend the red carpet along the capital’s Courtenay Place include Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis who are reprising roles from Lord of the Rings in the new JRR Tolkien-inspired movie.

Martin Freeman, who plays the central role of Bilbo Baggins will attend, as well as Richard Armitage who plays Dwarf warrior Thorin Oakenshield. The Company of Dwarves will also join filmmakers Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

http://tvnz.co.nz/hobbit-news/sir-ian-mckellen-miss-premiere-5225235

Ian McKellen Reveals He “Broke Down” On ‘Hobbit’ Set

Sir Ian Mckellen broke down in tears on the set of The Hobbit after becoming so frustrated filming green screen scenes with only visual aids to act opposite. The thespian, who reprises his role as wizard Gandalf in the new Peter Jackson movie, found it difficult to shoot scenes on his own with just photographs for reference - and he reveals he threw a tantrum.

He tells ContactMusic,

“In order to shoot the dwarves and a large Gandalf, we couldn’t be in the same set. All I had for company was 13 photographs of the dwarves on top of stands with little lights - whoever’s talking flashes up. Pretending you’re with 13 other people when you’re on your own, it stretches your technical ability to the absolute limits. I cried, actually. I cried. Then I said out loud, ‘This is not why I became an actor’. Unfortunately the microphone was on and the whole studio heard.”


http://www.contactmusic.com/news/ian-mckellen-broke-down-on-the-hobbit-set_3378939

Radagast the Brown

The Hobbit Sountrack Sneak Peek- Howard Shore

‘Premieres’: Ian McKellen’s Official Blog (11/1/2012)

The premiere in Wellington is nigh, followed by another in New York City and the prestigious Royal Film Performance at London’s Leicester Square, where I hear two cinemas will be needed to accommodate the guest-list.  It’s not yet announced which royals will attend but I can tell you that those who will, specifically requested to see The Hobbit as they are fans of The Lord of the Rings.  I’ve not yet decided whom to take as my date but no applications please – it will be a close friend or maybe two.

Meanwhile the publicity has started and giant wizards are turning up all over the place.  Way back, the cast posed for 3D-effect photos, so expect to see our eyes following you in your cinema lobby any day now.

I’ve been busy talking to journalists (about 70 so far) and reminiscing about the shoot.  Their opening question is usually identical:  “So, what was it like going back to New Zealand, a decade after LOTR. Did it feel the same?”

Well much of it was just the same, thankfully: the same crew and technicians and heads of department behind the cameras.  Rick Findlater did my make-up again and Emma Harre undressed and dressed me twice daily, as she did last time.

The cast was mostly new, though: 13 dwarves and a hobbit who all wanted to know “What will it be like?”  Yet the first actor I met on set was Elijah Wood, 13 years older and yet looking the same ever-youthful, modest, enthusiastic, charmer as before.  That other charmer, Orlando Bloom, was back, too, living with his family next-door to me on the Wellington bay.  It was old times especially when Elrond and Galadriel flew in from Australia, and our reunion a high spot of the whole shoot.  Saruman joined us for our scenes in Rivendell but Christopher Lee was actually filmed later in London, though you’d never guess from the finished cut.  There was less work on location, once we had revisited Hobbiton, rebuilt in Matamata.  Concentrated into two months touring both islands with our caravanserai of trucks and trailers and 4-wheel drive saloons.  The studios in Miramar were luxuriously improved, particularly Studio K (K for King Kong), though the Bag End interiors were housed in the old paint factory as of old. I noted that the front door keys were nowhere to be seen.  That’s because they hang on a hook by my back door in London.  Don’t tell anyone.

— Ian McKellen, London, 1 November 2012

http://www.mckellen.com/cinema/hobbit-movie/121101.html

Sean Bean “Disappointed” Yet “Understanding” About ‘Hobbit’ Omission

English actor Sean Bean was one of the lead characters in the Lord of the Rings movies, when he portrayed the character Boromir in the Peter Jackson films. However, Peter Jackson is now working on The Hobbit trilogy but there is no sign of Sean Bean in any of the movies. While Sean does admit that he is slightly disappointed not to be involved in The Hobbit trilogy, he does understand the reasons for his character’s omission. The Hobbit is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the events take place 60 years before then, with Boromir yet to be born.

Bean told Digital Spy, “[My character] wasn’t around at that time, in The Hobbit, and I don’t know if Viggo [Mortensen] as Aragorn was. And they’re sticklers for getting things absolutely right and trying to faithfully translate the book, so they’re not likely to stick me or Aragorn in there just for the sake of it.”

Well, EW has put the rumor swirling around a potential Colbert cameo directly to Hobbit director Peter Jackson—and Jackson isn’t denying it! Then again, he isn’t confirming it. “I read that, too—it was very, very interesting,” Jackson says, laughing. “It’s yet to be confirmed or denied.” Jackson will, however, confirm one thing: Colbert is a serious Tolkien fanatic: “I have never met a bigger Tolkien geek in my life,” Jackson says. “Philippa Boyens is our resident Tolkien expert, and when Stephen came down to visit the set, we put him head to head with Philippa on a Tolkien quiz—and Stephen triumphed. I have to say, his encyclopedic knowledge of Tolkien is spectacular, and points to a deprived childhood in some respects.
Entertainment Weekly (via takemewithyer)

“What About Second Breakfast?” Denny’s Announces ‘Hobbit’ Inspired Special Menu

Hobbits love breakfast and big-budget blockbusters love merchandising tie-ins, so it’s not particularly shocking to learn that Denny’s restaurants will feature a Hobbit-inspired menu starting on November 6.

The chain, best known for “Grand Slam” breakfasts, will offer up culinary delights based on the film with names like “Frodo’s Pot Roast Skillet,” “Gandalf’s Gobble Melt,” and the unfortunate “Hobbit Hole Breakfast.” All in all, Denny’s will offer 11 menu items tied into the film, as well as promotional trading cards and QR codes on your placemat to unlock exclusive content via your phone.

Denny’s explained the rationale behind the move to Ad Age:

“We just felt with the two breakfasts that whole notion of comfort eating and comfort food were a fit for Denny’s,” said Frances Allen, CMO at the restaurant chain. She added that The Hobbit has a huge following “across a broad spectrum of people,” including families and millennials, which are Denny’s top targets.”

Will you be ordering a plate of “Radagast’s Red Velvet Pancake Puppies” this November? Would hobbits love Denny’s if they’d been around in Middle-earth? We suspect they probably would have. 

http://www.movies.com/movie-news/hobbit-unexpected-journey-running-time-dolby-atmos-dennys-menu/10046?wssac=164&wssaffid=news&_r=true

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Run Time Revealed

First up, Empire brings us exclusive news concerning the run time of Peter Jackson’s latest epic. If you were worried that the plan to expand the story to cover three films instead of two would result in three shorter films, you were probably wrong.

Jackson tells the magazine that An Unexpected Journey will be the shortest Middle-earth film yet — but that’s sort of like saying the 6’5” guy standing next to Andre the Giant is short.

Jackson says “It’s looking like it’s going to be about 10 minutes shorter than Fellowship was, so it’s going to be officially our shortest Middle-earth yet. I mean, Fellowship was just under three hours and this is about two hours 40 minutes at the moment.”

That time will fluctuate a bit, most likely. The credits will certainly add some minutes to the final tally, and some of the FX shots haven’t been completed yet, so those could factor in as well — but the main takeaway here is that fears that An Unexpected Journey would be 90 minutes long are unfounded.

http://www.movies.com/movie-news/hobbit-unexpected-journey-running-time-dolby-atmos-dennys-menu/10046?wssac=164&wssaffid=news&_r=true

Stephen Colbert to make cameo in 'The Hobbit'

Colbert’s cameo will not come in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, according to the source. The first film in Jackson and Warner Bros.’ trilogy hits theaters Dec. 14 with a cast that includes Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, Benedict Cumberbatch and Andy Serkis.

Top