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Tag: The Hobbit

  • ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ Gets a Final Trailer

    The final installment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy is almost here. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will be hitting U.S. theaters on December 17. Advance ticket sales for the movie begin in just a few days.

    Three months ago Warner Bros. released a two-minute teaser trailer for The Battle of the Five Armies. Now the “official main trailer” for the movie has been released. The video shows that many fan-favorite characters from the Lord of the Rings movies will make appearances in the final Hobbit chapter.

    The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will depict the climactic events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Titular character Bilbo Baggins, having awoken and enraged the dragon Smaug, must now join Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield’s band of dwarves to defend the Lonely Mountain. The battle for which the third movie is named will also be a part of the story, pitting men, dwarves, elves, goblins, and other Middle-Earth creatures against each other in a sequence that’s sure to rival the Battle of the Pelennor Fields as it was depicted in Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Meanwhile, a dark power familiar to Lord of the Rings fans has begun to make itself known again.

    Richard Armitage, who plays Oakenshield in the Hobbit movies, complimented Jackson and company on the trailer, saying that he is “proud” to have starred in the movies.

    The world premiere of The Battle of the Five Armies will take place on December 1 at Leicester Square in London. The premiere will be attended by much of the movie’s cast and crew. Warner Bros. has announced that the premiere festivities will be live-streamed.

  • “Battle of the Five Armies” is This Year’s Hobbit Movie

    Fans of Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings movies have been enjoying a trip back to Middle Earth through cinema for the past two years. Jackson’s latest trilogy, based on Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit, has dominated the box office during the last two Christmas movie seasons.

    This year fans were expecting a grand finale with a third movie subtitled There and Back Again – a reference to the subtitle of the original novel. Now, though, expectations for the film have been shifted slightly by a significant name change.

    Peter Jackson announced this week that the third movie in The Hobbit trilogy will be titled The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Jackson stated that the change was made because There and Back Again was the title of the final movie when only two Hobbit movies were planned. With the inclusion of last year’s The Desolation of Smaug, the third movie simply doesn’t fit the original title anymore.

    Jackson did state that There and Back Again might be used on a future The Hobbit trilogy box set release. The director is currently in the process of editing The Battle of the Five Armies as well as an extended cut of The Desolation of Smaug.

    All of this was explained in detail by Jackson through a post on his Facebook page:

    Post by Peter Jackson.

    The Battle of the Five Armies is set to release in the U.S. on December 17, 2014, when fans can expect humans, goblins, wargs, elves, dwarves, eagles, and orcs to join in a climactic battle over the Lonely Mountain’s riches. Though the titular battle encompasses only a small portion of the original novel, the movie will undoubtedly present the event with all the action-packed grandeur Jackson became known for through the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

    In the meantime, fans can ease their wait with the many well-produced The Hobbit production videos released by Warner Bros.

    Image via Facebook

  • Evangeline Lilly Talks Hobbit Role

    Evangeline Lilly dished recently about her role as Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. And even though her role doesn’t shine quite as brightly as those of fellow costars Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett, who play Arwen and Galadriel, respectively, she’s still incredibly proud of her character’s place in the film.

    The film picks up where the tale of The Hobbit left off–as Bilbo Baggins and his 13 dwarves head to the Lonely Mountain, which is guarded by a fire-breathing dragon whose name is Smaug.

    Evangeline Lilly plays a working class Silvan elf. She guards the Elven kingdom, and her character wasn’t featured in the original Tolkein book. She was beyond excited when asked to play the part.

    “The Sylvan elves were my favorite characters in the book and it would be a dream come true to play one. I jumped at the opportunity and picked up the phone very quickly,” she said during a recent event in L.A.

    Even after being told her character didn’t appear in the original book, Lilly jumped at the chance to be part of The Hobbit.

    “The most important thing I wanted to bring was a sense of femininity, because I think one of the dangers in modern-day entertainment is we project this idea that female power is in embracing or copying violent men,” Lilly says.

    The trilogy of Hobbit films is based on Tolkein’s The Hobbit, which was first published in 1937. The book has become a literary classic, and the films are on their way to achieving huge merits in the movie world. Evangeline Lilly is likely quite honored to play a small role in that success.

    Image via Wikimedia

  • Evangeline Lilly On Her Role In Smaug

    Evangeline Lilly On Her Role In Smaug

    Evangeline Lilly revealed to reporters, at a recent Los Angeles event, that The Hobbit was one of her favorite books as a child, and that she was thrilled when asked to play a part in the new movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

    “The sylvan elves were my favorite characters in the book and it would be a dream come true to play one. I jumped at the opportunity and picked up the phone very quickly,” Lilly recalled.

    Despite Lilly’s enthusiasm, many were upset, and concerned, that Peter Jackson, the writer/director/producer of the movie, was adding a character that wasn’t originally in the book. However, Lilly stands behind Jackson’s decision and explains why adding a female heroine adds to the film.

    “And then they said, ‘Your character is not in the book.’ And I took great pause. As a great fan of Tolkien, I gulped and went: ‘What? Everyone’s going to hate me.’ And it didn’t take long for them to completely convince me that it was the right thing to do and it was a good idea,” she said.

    “I think, in his defense, Tolkien was writing in 1937 and the world is a different place today,” she continued. “I keep repeatedly telling people, ‘In this day and age, to put nine hours of cinema in the theaters for young girls to go and watch and not have one female character is subliminally telling them you don’t count, you’re not important and you’re not pivotal to story.’ And I just think [the filmmakers] were very brave and very right in saying, ‘We won’t do that to the young female audience, who will come watch our films.’ And not just the young female audience, but even women of my own age. I think it is time that we stop making stories that are only about men, especially only about heroic men, and I love that they made Tauriel a hero.”

    What do you think about Jackson’s choice to add Lilly’s character? Leave your comments below.

    Image via Twitter

  • ‘Anchorman 2’ Barely Beats Out ‘The Hobbit’

    Anchorman 2 barely beat out The Hobbit sequel in box office sales on Friday. Opening this past Wednesday, predictions had the Ron Burgundy sequel grossing upward of $40 million by the end of the weekend. Given Friday’s numbers, it’s not looking like the film will reach that goal.

    Despite the lower box office numbers, Anchorman 2 still debuted in the number one position. Friday’s totals saw $8.7 million–just a tad above The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, coming in at number two with $8.61 million. American Hustle came in third place, Frozen in fourth and Saving Mr. Banks in the number five spot round out the weekend’s top earners.

    Anchorman 2 star Christina Applegate tweeted her excitement about the film’s opening this week. And even though it’s really too early to tell (it is the week before Christmas, and many people are way too busy making holiday preparations to see a movie) how the sequel will fare, her enthusiasm on behalf of the cast and crew will hopefully become contagious as the next few days go by.

    Will Ferrell has been touring the country doing news broadcasts and weather clips at TV stations–in full Ron Burgundy character–to ramp up enthusiasm for the show. Paul Rudd hosted SNL earlier in the month. It will be very interesting to see if Anchorman 2 has the kind of following as the original film–which incidentally came after its box office run.

    Is Anchorman 2 on your Christmas week box office list? Christmas Day could be a do-or-die day for the film, and all its counterparts that opened this past week.

    Image via Facebook

  • ‘LEGO The Hobbit’ Previewd in New Trailer

    ‘LEGO The Hobbit’ Previewd in New Trailer

    Last month TT games surprised nobody by announcing LEGO The Hobbit. Similar to LEGO Lord of the Rings, LEGO The Hobbit will allow players to explore Tolkien’s Middle-Earth as envisioned by Peter Jackson in The Hobbit: And Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The third Hobbit movie will almost certainly get its own LEGO game adaptation.

    Players will take on the role of a young Bilbo Baggins and dozens of other Hobbit characters, including all of the dwarves and Gandalf himself.

    The game will be coming to nearly every video game platform, including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, 3DS, and PC. The content and graphics will, of course, vary from platform to platform, and it isn’t out of the question that LEGO The Hobbit will one day make its way to mobile platforms, as LEGO Lord of the Rings has for iOS.

    Warner Bros. and TT Games today released the first trailer for LEGO The Hobbit. Unsurprisingly, the game heavily resembled the Hobbit movies and uses much of the same dialogue and sound effects. This is augmented by the added silliness that has always been part of the charm of the LEGO video games:

  • Evangeline Lilly Hits the Red Carpet for The Hobbit

    Evangeline Lilly, along with fellow Hobbit actors Martin Freeman and Orlando Bloom, hit the red carpet in Los Angeles last night for the world premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The second installment of The Hobbit series hits the theaters on December 13.

    Lilly plays Elf warrior Tauriel in the new film and gives Legolas (Orlando Bloom) a run for his money as far as skills with the bow and arrow go. Lilly’s character didn’t appear in the book, but was instead created by director Peter Jackson to bring in another female to a mostly male cast.

    Since there isn’t a lot known about Lilly’s character, thanks to the character not previously existing in Tolkien lore, Lilly provided the following description of Tauriel. “Tauriel is the head of the Elven Guard. She’s a Sylvan Elf, which means she’s of a much lower order than the elves we all became acquainted with in The Lord of the Rings,” Lilly said. “She doesn’t hold the same kind of status that Arwen or Galadriel or Elrond or Legolas do–she’s much more lowly. She sort of goes against the social order of the elves a little bit.”

    While a lot of fans are hoping to see a little on-screen romance between Lilly and Bloom, Lilly isn’t giving away any details, but does describe Tauriel and Legolas’s relationship as “significant.” At any rate, from the poster one user shared on Twitter, it looks like the pair will at least woo the audiences with their butt-kicking abilities, even if nothing romantic pans out.

    Despite the fact that Tauriel is a newbie as far as the other character are concerned, some people are certainly embracing the Elf and Lilly was even featured in a stamp series for The Hobbit in New Zealand, where the movies were filmed. “I’m on a stamp and coin from Middle-earth. It doesn’t get much cooler than that,” Lilly said. “I have so much love for New Zealand and so I’m honored that she is showing me such love.”

    Check out the trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug below.

    [Image via YouTube]

  • ‘LEGO The Hobbit’ Officially Announced

    ‘LEGO The Hobbit’ Officially Announced

    Just over one year ago, Warner Bros. and developer TT Games released LEGO Lord of the Rings. The game became yet another successful LEGO video game, going on to be released even on iOS mobile devices.

    Now, with The Hobbit movies making millions in theaters, Warner Bros. is bringing a younger Bilbo Baggins to the LEGO games. The publisher today officially announced LEGO The Hobbit. The game will be released sometime in spring 2014 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, PS Vita, and PC.

    As only the second of the planned three Hobbit movies will have been released by next spring, LEGO The Hobbit will be limited to the story told in those movies (gamers can probably expect another LEGO Hobbit video game after the third movie has been released). The game will cover the events seen in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug using a quest system similar to the one seen in LEGO Lord of the Rings. Players will be able to take on the role of Bilbo, Gandalf, and all of the dwarves.

    “We are thrilled to depict the characters and environments of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth in LEGO form with the LEGO The Hobbit videogame,” said Tom Stone, Managing Director at TT Games. “Our family-friendly take on these thrilling adventures will have kids and parents playing and laughing together as they build and explore in LEGO Middle-earth.”

  • J.R.R. Tolkien Biopic Film Is In The Making

    Have you ever wondered what went on in the mind of the man who created the popular Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit novels?

    There is now a film in the works that is being developed about the well-known author’s life, taking a closer look at what caused him to write the books that have become one of the most popular trilogies of all time.

    The biopic film has almost become a genre of its own in recent years with the big productions done with films such as Walk The Line, Ray and others. Now fans of his famous fantasy books will get a chance at a closer look at J.R.R. Tolkien. There is no doubt that it will be well-received after the success of his books, and the films that were adapted from them.

    The question is, who could play such an icon? There has been no casting done on the film yet, but the film is in the development stage with a script being penned by David Gleeson.

    Fox Searchlight and Peter Chernin’s Chernin Entertainment are currently working to develop the project, which would chronicle the big moments that had an impact on J.R.R. Tolkien’s life. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit in 1937, and began his Lord Of The Rings trilogy in 1954.


    J.R.R Tolkien certainly led an interesting life, and one that is worth exposing to those who are not familiar with him. Before writing his famous books, he fought in World War I, and he was a code breaker in waiting during World War II. He was also known for his friendship with C.S. Lewis, who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia.

    It is surprising that such an iconic author has not been given a biopic film already, however with the reemergence of the Lord of The Rings popularity through the films, it seems that this may be the best time to do it.

    Before the J.R.R Tolkien film goes into production however, fans can get excited for the final two films that will be adapted from his books. The new hobbit film is set to come out next month, with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug due to hit theaters on December 13th. The Hobbit: There And Back Again is already set to be released on December 17th, 2014, getting fans excited over a year ahead of time.

    Image via Youtube

  • Google’s New Chrome Experiment is ‘Hobbit’-Branded

    Throughout the past two years, Google has been releasing its “Chrome Experiments” showcasing what its web browser and HTML 5 are capable of. Past experiments have included a variety of topics and games, including star charts, skee ball, and multiplayer air hockey.

    Today Google revealed its latest Chrome Experiment, a partnership with Warner Bros. for a look at Tolkien’s Middle-earth from the perspective of the new Hobbit movies. The experiment puts players in an overhead view of Middle-earth, with different locations from the Hobbit movies highlighted. Clicking one of these locations brings up an interactive overview of the site and characters related to it that can be navigated horizontally using the mouse. One and two second clips from the first Hobbit movie slide by in motion-comic style while narration is read by Gandalf the Grey.

    Compared to past Chrome Experiments, this “Journey Through Middle-Earth” is relatively simplistic. However, it could provide a basic overview of key locations from the first Hobbit movie for those who need a refresher.

    There are a few things missing, however. The Shire is inexplicably missing as a location for more in-depth examination. In fact, there are currently only three locations available for a more in-depth look: the Trollshaw Forrest, Rivendell, and Dol Guldur. Three other locations surrounding the Lonely Mountain (Lake Town, Thranduil’s Hall, and the Lonely Mountain itself) are also shown on the map but are currently locked. It’s safe to assume that these locations, which will feature heavily in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, will be unlocked in the lead-up to or after the release of the new movie.

  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Featurette [WATCH]

    We’re about one month away from the next chapter in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit movie franchise. With that in mind, we’re sure to see the films marketing go into overdrive. Recently a featurette was released which focuses on another beastly character from Middle Earth: Beorn. I would describe it for you, but I believe Sir Ian McKellen does it better: a Beorn is, “”a man who’s sometimes a bear … or a bear who is sometimes a man.”

    The featurette really shows the amazing care and meticulous work that goes into every detail of the movie. If you’d like more information about the film, you can read the official synopsis below:

    “The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.”

    The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will release nationwide on December 13, 2013. You can checkout a trailer for the film below:

  • Benedict Cumberbatch Noted For His Sexiness

    According to the magazine, Empire, thirty-seven-year-old Benedict Cumberbatch has been placed at the top of the 2013 list for sexiest stars. The British actor surpassed the likes of Ryan Gosling, Robert Pattinson, Chris Hemsworth, and Bradley Cooper.

    Other popular male British actors to make the list — although lower on the list than Benedict Cumberbatch include: Man Of Steel‘s star Henry Cavill as well as the villain from The Avengers, Tom Hiddleston.

    Benedict was paired against fellow British thespian, Emma Watson, who topped the female list of the world’s sexiest film stars. Twenty-three-year-old Emma Watson beat out Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson, and Mila Kunis for the coveted title.

    The list was determined by votes from 50,000 movie fans.

    Benedict Cumberbatch seemed amused by the recent recognition of his sexiness factor and shared his opinion.

    “It puts a bit of a spring in your step. It’s nice, you swagger a little bit, it’s enjoyable. I’ve punched well above my weight this year… I find it hysterically funny… It’s a giggle. I wield it with a massive smile,” Benedict said.

    The popular Sherlock star has quite an impressive list of movie credits to his name including: The Fifth Estate, Star Trek: Into Darkness, 12 Years A Slave, August: Osage County, and The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.

    James Dyer, who is the editor for Empire spoke about the results for this year’s list of sexiest stars.

    “This list also reflects the continuing popularity of superhero movies: six of the top 10 men have played superheroes and five of the top 10 women have appeared in comic-book movies,” James said before adding that the votes proved to be, “a great result for British stars”.

    Fans of the popular British actor don’t have too much longer to wait to hear him voice the dragon, Smaug, in the upcoming The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug.

    [Image Via Wikimedia Commons]

  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer Takes Us Back To Middle Earth

    Say what you will about Peter Jackson’s decision to take a 310-page book and turn it into a three-part, almost nine-hour excursion that’s being released over the course of three holiday movie seasons, but the fact remains, his gift for visual spectacle remains strong. That much is certain after watching the two-plus minute trailer for the upcoming second installment, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Familiar faces are abound as Middle Earth’s heroes, led by Bilbo Baggins, continue their quest for Smaug’s treasure.

    The trailer gives the impression that the stakes have been raised as Jackson moves his retelling towards the climatic Battle of Five Armies, which will undoubtedly be making love to our eyes in December 2014. Until then, it looks like the battle with the dragon Smaug is taking center stage in the second installment, which promises all kinds of visual delight.

    In true 21st century marketing efforts, Warner Brothers has been using The Hobbit’s Facebook fan page to spread the word of upcoming material. To prep the masses for today’s trailer, social media managers for Warner Brothers posted five new banner posters yesterday, effectively generating the buzz of anticipation. It helps that these multimedia creations are worth your time, especially if you’re a Tolkien fan.

    Click to see the full size versions:

    Hobbit Banner

    Hobbit Banner

    Hobbit Banner

    Hobbit Banner

    Hobbit Banner


    As you can see in the banners, the second installment of The Hobbit hits the theaters on December 13. Are you going to be there, or are you waiting until it is released for the home?

    [Lead image courtesy of Warner Brothers]

  • ‘The Hobbit’ Trailer Recreated With LEGOs

    Back in June, the long-expected trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was finally released. The preview gave Tolkien fans their first glimpse of the dragon Smaug, voiced in this adaptation by Benedict Cumberbatch.

    This week, the dedicated artists of the Brotherhood Workshop have re-created the entire trailer using only animated LEGOs. The artists claim that the project took two months and “countless” man-hours to complete. Even the teaser phrase cut-aways and title from the trailer were painstakingly spelled out in LEGO.

    The Brotherhood Workshop has also provided a side-by-side comparison of their animation and the original Hobbit trailer. It shows exactly how precise and detailed they were in their recreation:

    The entire project, from start to finish, has been chronicled on the Brotherhood Workshop’s Facebook page. The page states that the group is simply a few “quirky artists who love to be creative” and who dream of someday creating movies. The group has created LEGO animations in the past, many of them also Tolkien-related. In addition to a humorous take on the Battle of Helm’s deep, the group has also parodied the Harry Potter movies.

  • Smaug: Hobbit Trailer Gives Us First Glimpse Of The Dragon

    Smaug is the central antagonist in The Hobbit. Unfortunately, he wasn’t really seen in last year’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. That will all change with the next film.

    In the latest teaser for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, we get out first look at what the famous dragon will look like. Spoilers – he looks like a dragon. If you ever took a look at any of the old illustrations for The Hobbit, Smaug will look pretty familiar. He’s an imposing figure that will undoubtedly look great in motion.

    Don’t take my word for it though. Check out the trailer below:

    There a few other things besides Smaug to look out for in the trailer. The biggest is the return of Legolas in an unnecessary role as he wasn’t present in the original novel. Of course, Peter Jackson has already shown that he’s willing to take some liberties with The Hobbit to tie it in with The Lord of the Rings.

    The film also looks like it’s full of much more action than the first film. I never really saw The Hobbit as being an action packed book, but a movie about walking wouldn’t exactly be exciting for movie goers. It’s an unavoidable pitfall when adapting the prequel to a film franchise that’s more known for its action set pieces than the lore and culture in Tolkien’s work that might be seen as “boring” to some moviegoers.

  • Check Out This Custom-Built “Hobbit House”

    Check Out This Custom-Built “Hobbit House”

    A life-long Tolkien fan who has been collecting memorabilia and books for more than 30 years has worked with architect Peter Archer to create an abode which would make even Bilbo Baggins proud.

    Archer says they first had to find the perfect spot to begin building the structure, and found it in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

    “This isn’t something that you can recreate on a suburban cul-de-sac; it was made for this specific location and it wouldn’t work anywhere else,” Archer said.

    Although the home has modern heating, air, and plumbing amenities, any evidence of those things has been cleverly hidden by Archer, who says he wanted everything to have a timeless quality rather than to just look like a recreation.

    The 600-square foot home features an adjacent garden and stones from an 18th-century rock wall which was original to the property.

  • Middleton Premiere: “Hobbit” Appearance Canceled

    Kate Middleton was scheduled to attend tomorrow’s London premiere of “The Hobbit”, but won’t be able to attend due to the extreme morning sickness she’s experiencing while pregnant.

    The Duchess was famously hospitalized for the condition earlier this month, which resulted in a highly publicized prank call to the hospital by two Australian radio DJs and ended in a nurse taking her own life during the backlash.

    The condition, called Hyperemesis Gravidarum, is not too common anymore and involves severe nausea at all times of the day during pregnancy. The Palace released a statement regarding her condition and the cancellation of her appearance at the film premiere, saying that due to a wish for privacy, they won’t be giving constant updates on how she’s doing.

    “The Duchess of Cambridge will not attend The Hobbit Premiere tomorrow evening and will continue to rest privately. The Duke of Cambridge will attend as planned…until further notice, to allow the Duchess a degree of privacy during her pregnancy, we do not intend to offer regular condition checks or advise of routine developments.”

    Prince William did comment on his wife’s struggles recently, saying she feels the sickness will never end.

    “I don’t know why they call it morning sickness — they should call it all day and all night sickness. [Recovery is] a long old process but she is getting there. She feels like it is going to go on forever.”

  • Hobbit Nausea: Movie Might Make You Sick

    Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” has been screening in New Zealand, and fans have had an unexpected reaction: dizziness and even nausea over the film’s high rate of speed.

    Jackson chose to film the epic movie at 48 frames-per-second–double the usual amount–because of fast-paced action sequences which often become blurred when filmed at the regular rate. The faster pace means the image comes across in higher definition, which some fans enjoy and some are on the fence about; higher definition can sometimes take the cinematic look of a film and make it look like something one might watch on television. Also, the action scenes can be a little dizzying for those who aren’t used to seeing the new method on a big screen.

    “It’s a little bit different and anything that’s different visually can be nauseating,” said Alex Block of The Hollywood Reporter.

    But despite the woozy reactions of some moviegoers, Jackson insists it was the best choice for the film. Warner Brothers released a statement about the complaints recently, saying the incidents were isolated:

    “We have been screening the full-length HFR 3D presentation of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY extensively and feedback has been extremely positive, with none of thousands who have seen the film projected in this format expressing any of the issues described by two anonymous sources in media reports. We share the filmmakers’ belief that by offering filmgoers the additional choice of HFR 3D, alongside traditional viewing formats, they have an opportunity to be part of a groundbreaking advancement in the moviegoing experience and we look forward to having audiences everywhere share in this new way of storytelling.”

  • This “Goonies”/”Hobbit” Mashup Will Give You Chills

    As a child of the ’80s, there are certain things I hold dear. One of them will always be my love for the films and books which instilled in me a love for adventure, and bravery, and good triumphing over evil. As youngsters, many of us thrilled at the idea of finding a map leading to buried treasure (or, even better, treasure that was hidden away on an old pirate ship), of leaving our parents behind to go off on our own and save the day.

    Nothing accomplished such a feeling of pure joy for me than “The Goonies”. I watched and re-watched it, eventually learning every line by heart and wishing I lived in a big house with an attic full of forgotten treasures instead of a lame trailer. So, maybe it’s the supreme nerd in me, but seeing this mashup video of clips from the movie set to narration from “The Hobbit” actually gave me a little thrill instead of a laugh, which is what I think was supposed to happen. Sure, it’s funny to think of one of the evil Fratelli Brothers as Gandalf, but give me haunting/dramatic music, a quest, and scenes from my childhood and I’m hooked.

    Check out the video and enjoy the mashup, which also mashes up the universes where Samwise Gamgee and Mikey Walsh exist.

  • The Hobbit’s World Was Brought To Life With 3D Printers

    Weta Workshop is one of the premier special effect studios on the planet. The studio is responsible for bringing The Lord of the Rings and other high profile films to life. Now they’re working on The Hobbit, and much of the modeling work is being done with advanced 3D printers.

    A news report from July featured an inside look at Weta Workshop’s current operations, including the studio’s custom 3D printers. The report says that Weta is creating many of the props for the film with these 3D printers. The studio is even experimenting with a new kind of 3D printer attached to a large robotic arm for life size prop creation. It’s said that they could even build a car with it.

    Another high-profile film from this year – Men in Black III – also used 3D printing for prototype prop modeling. The reports makes it seem like Weta is actually using the 3D printed props they create. Of course, 3D printed swords and other weaponry are most likely prototypes that help in the production of the actual metal-cast props used in the film.

    The use of 3D printers at Weta may just help spur their use across other film mediums. Much of the Star Wars prequels were shot in front of a green screen, but Disney may opt to make Star Wars Episode VII feel more real with actual props and sets. I would love to see Industrial Light and Magic get into 3D printing.

    [h/t: Fabbaloo]

  • Hobbit Films To Be A Trilogy, Says Peter Jackson

    What once was two, has now become three. Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson has confirmed that his sure-to-be-epic take on The Hobbit will come to us in three installments.

    He announced this in a Facebook note:

    It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’

    We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.

    So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.

    It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, “a tale that grew in the telling.”

    Cheers,

    Peter J

    We knew that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (set to release on December 14th) would be one of at least two films focusing on Bilbo Baggins. There had been rumors that a trilogy was in the works, and Jackson just confirmed it.

    Now we know that you’re going to have to block out two days for the Hobbit – Lord of the Rings marathon that you’re already planning.