The Hobbit Movie Blog

Lilly Evangeline Provides More Tauriel Details

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:45:00 +0000

While promoting the recent release of Real Steel on home video, Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel) spoke with Entertainment Weekly about her role in The Hobbit films. Specifically she provided a few more details on what role her character of Tauriel has in the film since it is not based on one in the books. While she did not say exactly what her character does, she is reporting back to New Zealand for the last half of five months of filming which a recent casting call strong indicates will be to film the Battle of Five Armies. The Hobbit portions are below, the full interview can be found here.

Speaking of small and little, I’d be remiss not to bring up The Hobbit. You’re playing a new character named Tauriel, who’s a Mirkwood elf, and that would lead me to believe that she is a warrior of some kind. Did you have to learn archery and swordplay?
Yes, she is a warrior. She’s actually the head of the Elven guard. She’s the big shot in the army. So she knows how to wield any weapon, but the primary weapons that she uses are a bow and arrow and two daggers. And she’s lethal and deadly. You definitely wouldn’t want to be caught in a dark alley next to Tauriel.

Lego Lord of the Rings at UK Toy Fair 2012

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:51:00 +0000

Recently the UK Toy Fair 2012 was held and with it comes news of the upcoming Lego sets based on the Lord of the Rings films. As the picture shows, the entire Fellowship will be represented but the cost of getting them all will not come cheap as will need to buy 7 sets with a price range of $11.99 to $99.99. The Lego sets are environment sets that attempt to re-create moments from the film, which has been the norm for Lego movie properties(exclusing Star Wars). Below is a description of each of those 7 sets thanks to From Bricks to Bothans. The sets are expected to arrive in the UK around August, probably about the same for the States. Read more »

More from Andy Serkis on Gollum

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:43:00 +0000

It seems that Andy Serkis is getting a little more attention lately thanks to his buzz surrounding his award worthy turn as Caesar in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." While critics loved his performance, it seems the often older crowd of the Academy still does not understand motion capture technology; most still believing it is taking away actor's jobs. This was evidenced by todays' Oscar nominations which snubbed the actor and only gave the film one nomination in the Visual Effects category. In an interview with Hero Complex (from a few days before), the actor talked about the Oscar buzz, winning a Critics' Choice Award, playing Caesar and returning to Middle Earth. Below is The Hobbit related portion, the full interview can be found here.

On returning to Gollum for “The Hobbit”: Gollum’s never really gone too far away from me because he’s indelibly kind of printed into my DNA now, I think. I’ll tell you what was weird is going back and playing a character that has been so sort of absorbed into public consciousness that you almost don’t feel like you own it anymore. And to sort of gather it back — I mean, I did feel, I think, probably in the first couple of days going back into it that I was sort of doing a weird impersonation of him rather than being him because there have been so many spoofs and people’s impersonations and so on, and some people’s impersonations are really great. And I’m kind of thinking, “Oh gosh, that’s how to do it, yeah.” And you know, then you get back into it. … Meaningfully getting back into it was really exciting.

Casting Call for The Hobbit

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:09:00 +0000

If you live in the Wellington, New Zealand area, then good news for you as Peter Jackson's The Hobbit is on hte hunt for extras. Based on the height descriptions it seems they are looking for their Five Armies extras as the requirements would cover Dwarves, Goblins, humans, and Elves. Details can be found here. (via AICN)

The Middle-Earth Family Tree

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:24:00 +0000

Emil Johansson has recently started the website LOTR Project that attempts to put together all the relationships in Middle-Earth that goes beyond The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and includes everything Tolkien wrote. The result is an impressive family tree table that isn't even completed as he continues to work on it. He tells The One Ring, "The first family tree I made was probably six years ago and consisted of two huge papers, 1 by 1 meters. I quickly realized this was something I wanted to share, but my knowledge of the web was too poor to allow it. I was not until November last year that I decided to give it a try. Even though much of the research already had been done, programming the site and adding the characters into the database have taken a lot of time. Too much for me to want to think about it." It is a must view site for any die hard Tolkien fan. Click here to check it out.

Elijah Wood on Filming The Hobbit

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:44:00 +0000

In an interview with Collider, Elijah Wood comments on his month long return to New Zealand to film his scenes for The Hobbit. He spoke about the sense of family since many of the crew members worked on the Lord of the Rings, working in 3D, and how he enjoyed the trailer. No specific filming details were revealed but he clearly enjoyed returning to Hobbiton. The full interview can be found here.

You guys all commemorated your experience on The Lord of the Rings by getting tattoos. Did you do anything to commemorate your experience on The Hobbit, or was it just too short?
WOOD: It was too short. My involvement is so small. It was a gift to go back and return. I was in Hobbiton again, for the first time in 11 years. I turned 19 in Hobbiton. I’m 30 now. That put a lot of things into perspective. It was beautiful. It was just beautiful to go back. I only worked a small amount when I was there. I was there for a month, and the majority of my time was just going to set every day and meeting a lot of the new cast members, catching up with old friends, and being in Wellington again. It feels like home, and those people feel like extended family to me. It was such a treat to go back. It was awesome!

Jackson on Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Consistency

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:38:00 +0000

In a MTV interview, Peter Jackson comments on making The Hobbit movies and his attempt to make sure that the Hobbit films have a continuous look and feel to create essentially a five film series. He also said that the final block of filming will start in early February and conclude by July. (via TOR)

Lego Legolas Poster

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:13:00 +0000

Lego has released their next line of teaser posters for the upcoming Lord of the Rings line of Lego sets with Legolas. The previous images were Aragorn and Bilbo.

Cameraman Talks Motion Capture on Lord of the Rings

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:31:00 +0000

Recently motion capture pioneer Andy Serkis (Gollum) commented about the developments in motion capture that have reached a point where it truly captures a full acting performance where "Every reaction, every emotion, every acting choice and beat happens there and then." Sadly most critics and fellow actors continue to believe that motion capture is the equilvant of animation where the actor is more of a guide then true acting. Someone who knows there is more to it then some dots, suit and computers is Return of the King camera man Evan Pugh who wrote about his experience working with Serkis on the Butchers Hook blog.

People who dislike the increasing use of CG in films should remember that movie making is about creating magic, about making make-believe. At the end of The Lord of The Rings trilogy, before the hobbits are able to have their overextended self-congratulatory epilogue, Frodo bites the ring from Gollum's finger, Gollum then falls into Mount Doom. As he flails backwards into a sea of fire we watch his horror, not at his impending demise, but at his loss of the ring and then as he falls his glee that the ring is going with him. This dramatic scene was all made possible because Andy Serkis contorted himself over the back of a broken office chair in a draughty warehouse in a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. As a member of production explained at the time this was a 'Kiwi job'. Who cares that the practicalities of shooting that scene - both for facial expression and motion capture -weren't salubrious, when the technology allowed it to be transformed into the magic that made the final cut.

Serkis Briefly Talks Hobbit Motion Capture

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:37:00 +0000

In an article about how Hollywood ignores the real acting that occurs with motion-capture, Andy Serkis commented briefly on how motion capture was used on the set of The Hobbit when he reprised the role of Gollum for the film. As for the image, it was first posted by Collider. It shows Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) with Sting. Based on the webbing on Bilbo and in the background, this is a scene involving a fight with the giant spiders of Mirkwood.

What’s changed as a result of Weta's new active-LED system used for "Apes" is that there are no longer any breaks in the capture sequences: "Every reaction, every emotion, every acting choice and beat happens there and then," Serkis emphasized.

Indeed, that's what happened when Serkis revisited Gollum after a 12-year absence for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (December 14). Shooting live on set provided a more dynamic sense of play in his scene with the young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman). "The way we approached the scene was very much to treat it like a chamber-theater piece, where we could experiment and try different things out," Serkis explained. "Of course, the other significant change now is that we're using facial capture, so my facial muscles are driving the facial muscles of the digital puppet."

Richard Armitage's Talk Hobbit With MTV

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:33:00 +0000

As part of their 2012 Ones to Watch series, MTV spoke with The Hobbit's Ricard Armitage as he spoke about working on The Hobbit and his role of Thorin. Filming is currently on break but the third block will start at the end of January until July with possibility another block in 2012. Below are the highlights (with spoilers if not read the book) with the full Q&A here.

MTV: Is it easy to forget you're acting? Do you get lost in the world the production creates?
Armitage: The soundstages they made in Wellington, [New Zealand], most of the time it doesn't feel like we've been working on a set. Even when there's a green screen there, Peter's vision of it is so clear and his description of it is so clear. The pre-production CGI that they've already created really fires up your imagination. That was the shoot we started with. On location, it's just theirs to program these amazing images into your head, so we can now take them back into the studio.

Lego Aragorn Poster

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:53:00 +0000

Coming this summer is new Lego sets for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. Previousily Lego released a poster depicting the Legoized version of Frodo and now below is Lego Aragorn in his Return of the King pose for your enjoyment.

Cumberbatch Reveals Minor Plot Spoiler

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:34:00 +0000

In an interview with Empire to promote BBC's Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch commented on his roles of Smaug and the Necromancer, revealing a tiny plot change.

"I’m playing Smaug through motion-capture and voicing the Necromancer, which is a character in the Five Legions War or something which I’m meant to understand. He’s not actually in the original Hobbit. It’s something [Peter Jackson]’s taken from Lord Of The Rings that he wants to put in there."

In the novel, the Battle of Five Armies (his Legions reference) is essentially a fight over Smaug's treasure after his defeat. The Necromancer (aka Sauron) was defeated in a battle at Mirkwood that occurred "off screen" halfway through the novel. In the book, Gandalf left Bilbo and co to their own devices why taking care of an unspecified adventure that was revealed in later books to be a fight with
Sauron.

The comment above suggests either a few things. One is Peter Jackson merged the two battles, giving a greater purpose to the Five Armies battle beyond simple greed. I think the more likely possibility is both battles are depicted in the movies (Mirkwood in Unexpected Adventure, Five Armies in There and Back Again), with Mirkwood being the first fight with Sauron and the Five Armies being the second while retaining its significance as would provide a nice transition to Sauron rising to power in Mordor for The Lord of the Rings. This fits with what little we know of filming as the departure of Gandalf is kept in the movie (per an AICN set report) and while providing a significant battle for the first movie, something the book didn't have. If true, Tolkien purists will pitch a fit but I doubt movie goers will complain.

Stunt Doubles for The Hobbit

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:41:00 +0000

The One Ring has posted an article that provides a few details on the stunt doubles that will help sell the realism of The Hobbit films and of course keep the actors safe. The full details can be found here, a quick summary is below with name, who stunt for. All count Starz' Spartacus, Lord of the Rings, King Kong and/or The Adventures of TinTin in their recent stunt credits.

Bronson Steel for Stephen Hunter (Bombur)
Mana Davis for Richard Armitage (Thorin)
Peter Dillion for Ken Stott (Balin)
Sean Button for Aiden Turner (Kili)
Winham Hammond for Graham McTavish (Dwalin)
Allan Smith for Jed Brophy (Nori)
David J. Muzzeral for Adam Brown (Ori)
Isaac Hammon for John Callen (Oin)
Vincent Roxburgh for James Nesbitt (Bofur)
Tony Marsh for Peter Hambleton (Gloin)
Scott Chiplin for William Kircher (Bifur)
Jeremy Hollis for Mark Hadlow (Dori)

R.I.P. Bob Anderson

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:24:00 +0000

The Lord of the Rings family has lost one of its own this New Year’s Day when sword master and fight choreographer Bob Anderson passed away at the age of 89. He had a long career creating the epic fights scenes for many movies and training the actors and stuntmen to pull them off. Or in some cases doing it himself like performing Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. His work includes The Princess Bride, Highlander, Pirates of the Caribbean, and many more. In short, if you have geeked over a sword fight sequence in a favorite movie, don't be surprised if he either helped create it or influenced the person that did.

Peter Jackson wrote on his Facebook page:

It is a rare, even within the film industry, that you get to work with a legend which was why I was thrilled when Bob Anderson agreed to come on board The Lord of the Rings as our sword-master. In fact, it took a while for it to sink in that I was going to get to work with the same man who had helped create some of cinema's greatest fight sequences - from Star Wars to The Princess Bride. Bob was a brilliant swordsman and a gifted teacher; I will remember him as a wonderfully patient man, possessed of a terrific sense of humour. It was a privilege to have known him.

PJ On The Challenges of The Hobbit

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:16:00 +0000

In an interview with Total Film magazine, The Hobbit director Peter Jackson talked about the differences and challenges of directing The Hobbit compared with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The article isn't online but SpoilerTV has scans here and iO9 summarized the key parts (below).

"The Hobbit is very much a children's book and The Lord of the Rings is something else; it's not really aimed at children at all. I realized the characters of the dwarves are the difference. Their energy and disdain of anything politically correct brings a new kind of spirit to it. And that's why I thought, OK, this could be fun!"

"That was something I worried about. I imagined 13 guys with long hair and beards and I thought, 'How are we ever going to know which dwarf is which? It's an ensemble from hell really. I thought nine members of the Fellowship was a problem; but here, with Bilbo and Gandalf, we've got 15. It's working out fine though. The dwarves give it a kind of childish, comedic quality that gives us a very different tone from The Lord of the Rings."

"I want it to seem like we've gone back on location into Middle-earth; that these two movies feel like they belong at the beginning of the other three. We're the same filmmakers going into the same world."

When Bilbo and Gollum Meet

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 23:10:00 +0000

In an interview for Empire Magazine's current issue, Martin Freeman (Bilbo) and Andy Serkis (Gollum) talk about filming the first time Bilbo and Gollum meet in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and when Bilbo discovers a certain ring in the cave. The scene is essential the critical prequel moment for The Lord of the Rings trilogy as it explains how Bilbo gets the ring and why Gollum knows who the Baggins are.

Freeman: "In the normal run of things, there'd be quite a lot going on for me. I've got ears, the wig and the feet, which three more things than an actor normally has… But then I look over at the dwarves and see what they're lugging! They're absolute troopers."

Freeman: "It wasn’t in my orbit at all. I’m not sure it would have been very helpful if I’d always wanted to play Bilbo Baggins. I’d have come up against someone else’s vision. We’re taking the work seriously, but when we’re looking up at tennis balls that are meant to be trolls, it’s got to be fun."

Freeman: "The first thing I filmed was finding the ring in Gollum's cave. It's good to know, but not play, the importance of the Ring. I'm trying to put a bit more heaviness into it. It's not all comical."

Andy: "It was great for Martin to start off with that chamber piece. He could find Bilbo within the confines of a one-on-one scene. It was almost stranger for me: for the first couple of days it felt like I was doing an impersonation!"

(from ComicbookMovie via iO9)

The Hobbit Production Video #5

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:42:00 +0000

As promised by Peter Jackson, here is a Christmas gift for fans with The Hobbit Production Video #5 posted on his Facebook page. This edition explores the logistics of on location shooting as production moves all over New Zealand to film scenes. The is no minor task as for all intents this become a moving town as need to move all the cast and crew, make sure food and lodging is available, everything that is needed as far as props, costume, and makeup, and so much more. It is an immense undertaking but as the video shows as they arrive at Hobbiton, it is worth it.
Video #1 | Video #2 | Video #3 | Video #4

Peter Jackson Teases Christmas Treat

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:13:00 +0000

In his latest post on his official facebook page, Peter Jackson has teased a Christmas treat for Lord of the Rings fans.

Hi everyone! This year is the tenth anniversary of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring, and we wanted to give the fans a Christmas treat ahead of the release of the two Hobbit movies in Dec 2012 and 2013. Stay tuned for more. Cheers!

What do you think it could be?

AICN's The Hobbit Set Report Part 6

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 06:55:00 +0000

Quint has posted the latest in his occasional series of reports (links below) from the New Zealand sets of The Hobbit from his several months long visit. This addition continues his experience at NZ's North Island, specifically Ohakune where Mount Ruapelu is. The mountain was used as portions of Mount Doom but I suspect here it is being used for portions of Smaug's mountain stronghold. As a sign of respect to the Ngati Uenuku and Ngati Rangi tribes who hold the mountain sacred (and gave permission to film there), the cast and crew participated in a ceremony on their off day. A wooded area near the mountain, Ohakune Beech Paddock, was used for a horseback ride scene as the company of Bilbo, dwarves and Gandalf just outside of The Shire including a moment of Bilbo being deposited on his horse by two dwarves. To read the full details on the ceremony, more into how the scene was put together along with a look at crew member Jared Connon, the supervising location manager (aka hunter of awesome locations for the movie) click here.

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

The Hobbit Trailer Screenshots, Breakdown

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 03:39:00 +0000

Yesterday the first trailer for The Hobbit: An Expected Journey was released. Now here is the opportunity to pick it apart as another site did better then I would. The One Ring has posted 100 screenshots here. Meanwhile, Bleeding Cool has their gallery but with added commentary to put some of the images in context with what limited news has leaked from production. That can be found here. As a bonus, here is wallpaper (below), it was created by Adam (thanks!) using a moment from the trailer. Usually right clicking over the image will give you the option to either save it or set it as wallpaper.

Update: TheOneRing has now posted their own very detailed frame-by-frame breakdown of the trailer here.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Teaser Trailer & Poster

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:10:00 +0000

The first teaser trailer and poster for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has officially been released. Trailer and poster below or click here to view. The official website has launched as well. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is expected to hit theaters worldwide on December 14, 2012.

First Lego Lord of the Rings Box Sets Revealed

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:55:00 +0000

Just a few days ago it was announced that Lego would be releasing officially licensed Lego sets based on the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies in Summer 2012. Thanks to Bricktuts.com we don't have to wait to long to get a taste. They have preview images of some of the upcoming sets and details on the mini-figs they will contain with more in the works. Based on these images it looks like Lego will duplicate their design patterns from the Harry Potter sets with attention to location and specific scenes instead of what they did with Star Wars which focuses on the vehicle designs. The box images can be found here.

• "9469 Gandalf Arrives” - Minifigures: Gandalf, Frodo
• “9470 Shelob Attacks” - Minifigures: Samwise, Frodo, Gollum
• “9471 Uruk-hai Army” - Minifigures: x4 Uruk-hai with a siege crossbow, x1 Rohirrim Soldier, x1 Rider Of Rohan with his horse
• “9472 Attack On Weathertop” - Minifigures: Samwise, Frodo, Aragon, x2 Nazgul
• “9473 Mines Of Moria” - Minifigures: Frogo, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir, x2 Goblins, x2 Skeletons, Cave Troll
• “9474 The Battle Of Helms Deep” - Minifigures: Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, Theoden, x5 Uruk-hai

Image removed at request of a representative of Lego

Freeman Feels No Pressure Playing Bilbo

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:48:00 +0000

In an interview for the current issue of Total Film Magazine, Martin Freeman comments on the lack of pressure he films playing the iconic role in the long awaited films.

"I honestly don’t feel that pressure, no. I really, really don’t. Of course, it is Bilbo’s journey, but I didn’t write it. I’m not directing it… It’s not my film. It’s Peter’s film. The hardest thing is staying ‘up’ and peppy when you’re covered in snot or mud, day after day… I’m sure there’s more to come. So far, what we’ve filmed has been more comic than heavy. I keep asking Pete [Jackson], ‘When are we going heavy?’ He assures me it’s coming!"

The first teaser trailer for the films is expected to hit online tomorrow at 10PM EST.

Stephen Fry Talks The Master of Laketown

noreply@blogger.com (tflamb) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:50:00 +0000

While making the rounds to promote Sherlock Holmes, Stephen Fry talked a little bit about his role as the Master of Laketown for The Hobbit films in the video below from Digital Spy. In short the character is a cowardly bully and disgusting. He also briefly talks about Laketown which is set in the middle of the lake on stilts at the base of the mountain where Smaug the Dragon and his treasure resides (the goal destination of Bilbo and the Dwarves).
Read more »