Hollywood executives have confirmed they are searching for a new location for The Lord Of The Rings prequel The Hobbit in the wake of a dispute with New Zealand actors' unions.
All three previous The Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in the country by director Peter Jackson. He will produce the prequel and has urged union executives to reconsider their planned boycott. Relocation would seriously harm New Zealand's entertainment industry.
The movie execs refuse to sign a deal with local unions amid allegations of "unfair treatment" of performers. Organisations in America, Canada and Britain have all backed the boycott.
Executives at the movie studios behind The Hobbit have now spoken out to condemn criticism of Jackson and his film crew, insisting they are "exploring all alternative options" to make sure filming goes ahead as planned.
The joint statement from New Line, Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) reads, "(We) are concerned by the recent allegations of unfair treatment of actors in New Zealand... we believe that in this case the allegations are baseless and unfair to Peter Jackson and his team in Wellington who have been tireless supporters of the New Zealand motion picture community.
"Motion picture production requires the certainty that a production can reasonably proceed without disruption and it is our general policy to avoid filming in locations where there is potential for workforce uncertainty or other forms of instability. As such, we are exploring all alternative options in order to protect our business interests."
The union dispute is the latest production delay drama to hit The Hobbit in recent months. The film is currently on hold due to ongoing financial problems at MGM. Director Guillermo Del Toro quit in May due to the lengthy delays.
The Hobbit rumors abound while awaiting news of MGM's new owner and subsequent Hobbit "green light." Oh who will it be? Time-Warner? Will The Hobbit be in 3D?
Award-winning FX man Richard Taylor, the Weta Workshop co-founder recently filled us in on The Hobbit rumors and news. Why did Taylor's friend and colleague Peter Jackson step away from The Hobbit and its sequel after the Lord of the Rings trilogy instead handing the director's gauntlet to Guillermo del Toro? Taylor says it's "probably because he's spent so long in Middle Earth... and probably felt a director such as Guillermo could bring something passionate and unique and original and new to the content for the sake of the fans."
Taylor says there will be consistency for characters that appear in both LOTR and The Hobbit stories, but outside of that is anyone's guess. "It's an absolute delight to be working with Guillermo Del Toro," Taylor says. "We've all enjoyed his craft as seen in Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies. His unique aesthetic and storytelling style brings a lovely aesthetic to the world and one we're enjoying being part of."
And what about the current 3D rumors? Jackson himself is currently dabbling with 3D on Tintin? Taylor only says that "Like any film, there will be an effort to utilize the tools that are available to us today to achieve visual images that will excite and intrigue an audience as we did try 10 years ago."
With this being said, The Hobbit more than likely will be in 3D in order to satiate rabid, obsessed 3D fans. Is there even a doubt? Not!
Big box retailers are currently rolling out 3D monitors. Avatar and Alice in Wonderland fans will be thrilled to learn that studios have shortened the DVD and Blu-ray release time from four to three months after theatrical release.
James Cameron has confirmed that the DVD and Blu-ray release of Avatarhas been set for Earth Day, which is Thursday April 22nd. Cameron has also confirmed that another DVD and Blu-ray version will be rolling around in November. The April release will be extras-light, it seems, while a "value-added DVD" and "3-D Blu-ray" will be coming in November 2010.
Fox has since come along and said that the 3D Blu-ray won't be out then, because "3-D is in the conceptual stage". Fox hasn't confirmed those dates either, but we'd kind of assume that Cameron is the daddy on this one right now.
The Hobbitis scheduled to begin a 14 month production schedule this July in New Zealand.
Though with MGM up for sale the green light will be dependent on MGM getting their finances in order. The studio is being targeted by a series of rival firms following a bidding round, and needs an injection of $450m within weeks
If a buyer cannot be found it’s possible it will have to break up it’s assets and sell them off individually. Studio executives are still hoping to secure new funding to allow the company to continue to exist in its current form.
Six companies made nonbinding bids in January for MGM, which owns the rights to 4,100 movies and TV shows and has a stake in future James Bond and The Hobbit films.
News Corp., the owner of the 20th Century Fox studio, which backed Avatar, made a one-page proposal in January to provide an unspecified amount of cash to help MGM operate independently and restructure its debt, but didn't get a formal response. The offer valued MGM at $1.5 billion, said a person familiar with the offer who spoke on condition of anonymity because the bids are meant to be confidential.
It was confirmed yesterday that Time Warner Inc (TWX.N), Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (LGF.N) and billionaire Len Blavatnik's Access Industries put up rival bids of $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion for studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Time Warner seen as top bidder with about $1.5 billion and is seen as most likely to walk away with MGM and its library of mostly classics, such as the James Bond franchise.
With the decline of the DVD market, and a lack of regular hits, MGM's library is worth far less now, and cash flow has been inadequate to support the debt load. Production slowed to a crawl.
The situation reflects the tough state of Hollywood economics: While mega-budget films like Avatar have broken box office records, the record of middle-budget dramas and comedies has been hit-or-miss for several studios.
Here's hoping the sale of MGM is settled quickly so that The Hobbit (Part 1) can start lensing in July as planned.
This weekend will be packed with events celebrating the world of J.R.R. Tolkien and the music of Howard Shore. Tickets are available for either the Friday, October 8th or Saturday, October 9th shows. Showtime is 7:30 PM.
Tickets range from $59.00 to $150.00 USD. Get your tickets online now at Ticketmaster! Tickets are selling fast...the $150.00 level is already gone for both days.
Rumors that Tobey could play the character of Bilbo first surfaced last month, but he dispelled them at the time — though he admitted he would be interested if he were approached.
“I have not met or spoken to the director Guillermo del Toro or the producer Peter Jackson or anybody. Nobody has given me a script or approached me about it,” he said.
“I love Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson and I certainly wouldn’t take myself out of the conversation.”
Filming for The Hobbit begins this summer, and it will be split into two movies, set for release in 2011 and 2012.
Sam Worthington as Jake Sully and Zoe Saldana as Neytiri in 'Avatar'
Oscar-winning director James Cameronof Titanic and Terminatorfame was honored yesterday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the same day his extraordinary 3D Avatar event, a sci-fi epic thriller, opened in theaters around the world. The immersiveness is a step forward for cinema as a visual experience; the lifelike animation has an expressiveness and a vitality surpassing anything we’ve ever seen. The visual detailing alone warrants repeat viewings.
Director James Cameron received a new star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Friday, Dec. 18, 2009 Photo: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
Avataris all about an evil corporation using USA military to exploit the natural resources of a foreign planet. It delivers a good "green" message.
Avatar is set in 2154 and takes place on the faraway new world called Pandora inhabited by noble savages called Na'vi. With the Earth depleted of energy sources the human race arrives on Pandora with the goal to mine an elusive and criminally profitable mineral at $20 million a kilo, that the Earth desperately needs. Pandora represents no threat to Earth. We send in the military to attack and conquer them with armored hover ships and machine guns, just like modern day politics.
Pandora's atmosphere is not breathable by humans. To venture out on Pandora we use avatars--Na'vi lookalikes grown organically (DNA of humans mixed with Na'vi). The avatar clones are mind-controlled by their humans who remain wired up in a trance-like state in chambers. While acting as avatars, they see, fear, taste and feel like Na'vi.
Sam Worthington as Jake Sully; his avatar in the background
Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully a paraplegic ex-Marine who is recruited to aid the rare mineral mining expedition on the distant jungle moon of Pandora. Only his DNA will bond with the expensive avatar that was created for his recently deceased twin brother. In avatar state he can walk again. The military leader strikes a deal with Sully to infiltrate and betray the Na'vi in exchange for restoring movement to his legs. Sully is in no danger, because if his avatar in destroyed, his human form remains untouched. The only danger is evident when his avatar goes limp and lifeless while he functions outside the chamber, as a human.
Zoe Saldana as Neytiri
Every great epic movie has a love story and complications ensue when Sully falls in love with the beautiful, seductive Neytiri played by Zoe Saldana. There are many Na'vi clans scattered around Pandora, but the one Sully comes to know is the Omaticaya Clan, who have lived inside of the 1000 foot tall Hometree for 10,000 years. The Omaticaya clan uses the different tiers of the tree's interior structure as their village. The Na’vi and the humans clash and Sully is forced to choose which side of the battle he’s on.
Zoe Saldana as Neytiri (no this isn't Beyonce and her new look)
Giovanni Ribisi plays Parker Selfridge a heartless corporate type whose only loyalty is to the shareholders of the elusive mineral found on the Na'vi's scared grounds of Pandora. Sigourney "cigarette" Weaver plays Dr. Grace Augustine a fiery, impatient, chain-smoking botanist.
Giovanni Ribisi and Sigourney Weaver in a scene from Avatar
Stephen Lang embodies the macho military leader Col. Miles Quaritch. His overacting and cliche dialogue kicked me right out of Pandora a few times. I would have loved to see Col. Quaritch portrayed as a deliciously, wicked, immoral and evil military character comparable to Col. Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds, who is played by multi-award winning Austrian actor Christop Waltz.
Stephen Lang as Col. Miles Quaritch
Pandora harbors a visually stunning, luscious, exotic never-before-experienced tropical rainforest inhabited peacefully by the Na'vi, a blue-skinned, golden-eyed race of 10 feet tall slender giants. The rainforest resembles a giant coral reef with trees measuring over one thousand feet, with giant ferns, fronds and mountains that somehow float. It lights up magically at night with a plethora of flourescent rainbow colored flora. A gentle tap on a giant neon spiral frond closes it and shrinks it to the ground. A smaller and gentler Pandoran species is the jellyfish-like Woodsprite, which waves silky tendrils to move gracefully through the night air. Called Atokirina by the Na'vi, they are actually seeds of the sacred Utraya Mokri "Tree of Voices," and thus an important part of the "soul" of the rainforest. When they land upon Sully, Neytiri interprets this as an important sign, and things take an unexpected turn.
Pandora's floating mountains
Pandora's diverse fauna menagerie includes the deer-like Hexapede; the ferocious Hammerhead Titanothere, a rhinoceros-like herbivore with a bad attitude and a head like a sledgehammer; and the Leonopteryx, the king predator of the sky, striped scarlet, yellow and black, with an 80-foot wingspan. The most fearsome of Pandoran creatures is the Thanator. "The Thanator could eat a T-Rex and have the Alien for dessert. It's the "panther from hell". Then there are the Viperwolves, hairless with shiny skin that looks like overlapped armor. Most disturbing are its paws, which are like leathery hands. Pandora's Direhorses resemble six-legged alien Clydesdale with moth-like antennae.
A winged creature known as the Banshee is a key figure in Sully's journey; in a Na'vi rite of passage, he must dominate and ride a banshee to assume a rightful position in the clan community. The test's stakes are further heightened by the fact that the banshee that most wants to kill him is the "chosen one" he must capture.
Pandora's many wonders include the world's neural network, through which all its plant and animal life are connected. Akin to a human nervous system, this network enables all life on Pandora to function as a single harmonious system. The center of this network - and the moon's heart and brain -is a massive, gnarled and ancient willow tree that is the Na'vi epicenter, an extension of their lifeblood, and a place of regeneration and knowledge. This "Tree of Souls" is situated at the center of Pandora's most powerful magnetic field, the Flux Vortex. Eons ago the invisible field created the unusual geological formations of arches that form rainbows of stone, above a deep caldera, with the Tree of Souls at its center.
Eric Saindon a visual effects supervisor for Weta Digital in New Zealand, said the scale of Avatar was the most challenging part. “There were so many shots and so much to do in this,” Saindon said. “It was pretty much a full-generated jungle and planet, basically. And we had three years to do it.” About 10 years ago Saindon landed his job at Weta Digital, the special effects brainchild of a group of New Zealanders including director Peter Jackson. Weta Digital just began work on Stephen Spielberg’sThe Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, and the crew also plans to return to Middle Earth with Guillermo Del Toro’sThe Hobbit.
The movie showcases a notable advance for performance capture, which is how the Na'vi were created. As was done with Gollumin The Lord of the Rings and King Kong in King Kong, the Na'vi were made with cameras and sensors recording the movements of the actors and transposing them onto the CGI Na'vi creatures. All newfangled 3-D has ways of capturing the movement of the actors, the shape of the faces, but Cameron went much further. His process, solved the problems of dead eyes.
"Jim actually used the pupil of the eye as a tracking point, and he's able to track all of the subtleties and high frequency movement of the eyes," producer Jon Landau said. "He was even able to record and reproduce the moisture level on the surface of the eye, a key to conveying emotion."
Cameron's technology captures the actor's facial performance - it's not a computer model of a static face manipulated by animators. Other directors have bragged that their computer modeling technology may replace actors, but Cameron has no such goal. "We're enabling them to play characters they would not otherwise play," Landau said.
He offered the example of a young actor playing an old man. The reason it usually looks so phony, he said, is that makeup artists can only add layers. They can't shrink a face, which is what happens when a person ages. Cameron's facial mapping can capture a face and resize it, even as animators tweak the skin composition.
An actor can be realistically old, or he can be a 10-foot-tall blue alien, like the ones Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana play in "Avatar." "We're not replacing actors," Landau said. "We're liberating them."
Avatar's stunning visuals deliver! The 3-D world he created cost $230 million, the kind of investment that studios usually expect to be repaid, with interest. A sequel is rumored. It would be far less expensive to produce. All of the complex computer models, the entire roster of characters, are alive in some hard drive in New Zealand, waiting for marching orders. Cameron's sequel will no doubt focus on further character development and more on the story itself now that the characters and 3-D technology have been perfected.
Avatar is an extraordinary movie with the essence of love, family, relationship, humanity, action, and adventure. It is destined to become a cult classic much like that of Lord of the Rings. The out-of-this-world Pandora adventure totally immerses and captivates for an entire 2 hours and 40 minutes. James Horner's sumptuous score takes the mystical and spiritual experience to a whole new level. Be prepared to leave the theater awestruck, bedazzled, and mesmerized. A truly unforgettable jaw-dropping trip!
Bravo James... we can hardly wait for the sequel!
MPAA rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking. Rated 4.5 stars (out of 5)
Casting is scheduled to begin on the upcoming MGM Studios feature film The Hobbit Part 1 in London, LA and New Zealand. Peter Jackson says they are throwing a large net and casting for every role apart from the one of Gandalf which is spoken for. Principal photography on this two-part project is tentatively scheduled to begin in New Zealand around May or June 2011.
“What we’ve done over the years is discover a lot of interesting actors, like Orlando Bloom (in ‘Rings’), Kate Winslet (in ‘Heavenly Creatures’), Saoirse Ronan (in ‘The Lovely Bones’). So if you start looking and auditioning seriously, it’s amazing what incredible talent you’ll find out there.”
When asked about the rumors of James McAvoy being chased for the part of Bilbo Baggins he said they had not settled on any actors.
“Apart from Ian McKellen, who we obviously want to return as Gandalf, we are not really offering any roles to anybody until we’ve done a casting sweep,” Jackson said.
He also went on to say he felt no pressure to cast stars in for any of the main characters in The Hobbit explaining he sees Tolkien as the real star.
“(These movies) have never been a star-driven vehicle. The star is (author J.R.R.) Tolkien and the world he created. We are not under any pressure. We want to find the right people. Casting someone to portray a hobbit is not as easy as you might imagine. They have to have a particular type of physical appearance and a sensibility. And the same with an elf or a dwarf. These are fantastical characters, but you’ve got to find the right people to play them, the right humans to translate these characters.”
NEW ZEALAND CASTING INFORMATION
Please submit photos and resumed by mail only. No phone calls or personal drop-offs (you will simply annoy people and get your file thrown in the trash).
PRINCIPAL ACTOR CASTING Liz Mullane Casting 17 Taipakupaku Road Karaka Bay Wellington, New Zealand 6022
EXTRAS CASTING Miranda Rivers PO Box 6479 Marion Square Wellington, New Zealand 6022
PRODUCTION COMPANIES Do NOT send photos and resumes to the production companies (they will most likely end up in the trash can). They do not cast the films. They hire casting directors who sort through the thousands of submissions and hold the acting auditions.
MGM Studios 10250 Constellation Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90067
New Line Cinema 116 N. Robertson Blvd. Ste 200 Los Angeles, CA 90048
Key Creatives Creating, LLC 9595 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 800 Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Wingnut Films / Necropia PO Box 15-208 Miramar Wellington, New Zealand 6003
STORY The adaptation of JRR Tolkien'sThe Hobbitwill be made into two live action films. Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarfs. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo alone and unaided who had to comfort the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside.
Good luck...may you land the Hobbilicious role of your dreams! When you do, drop us a line to let us know!
Director Guillermo del Toro recently sent a little message to TheOneRing updating Tolkien fans about the upcoming two-part film adaptation of The Hobbit. The film has yet to get a official green light and there is an explanation of why below. GDT and Peter Jackson are still doing everything they can to get ready to shoot the movie.
Here is what GDT had to say:
One of the most read members of TORn’s message boards dropped by to update us on “The Hobbit”. How reliable is this guy? Well, since he happens to be directing the two-movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s first published book in Middle-earth and is living in New Zealand to do so, we think trusting Guillermo del Toro’s information is rock solid. But, we are going to make you click inside to see what he had to say. (It was a lot) You can also follow the link to his post on our message boards and join in the conversation.
The highly decorated director writes: So, now that PJ’s Lovely Bones tour is almost over, I thought it wise- seeing how some can whip up into a frenzy- to drop by and chat a bit.
A) About ONLY 3 actors returning: I think the emphasis on “only” is what slant the news the wrong way. I cannot imagine Gollum being played by anyone but Andy and in the second script there is still much in discussion to lock everything for now. Both PJ and I chime in on things “as they are at the moment” and, of course, things change.
I, for one, understand where Peter’s coming from since 30% of my STRAIN tour questions, HELLBOY II, ORPHANAGE promotion questions, etc, etc where about the Hobbit. At different time we have been closer in locking on a piece of casting or hoping to get a script delivered, etc and things simply changed as we went along. So, don’t etch this in stone or anything we both have said in the past, in stone since we communicate what we can when the window of exposure to the press and fans happens.
I still prefer to keep the dialogue open- inexact as it may get- that to remain mum or one-sided with the community that can really understand this project.
B) The target for production. Its simple: we may say what we want but until there are two scripts delivered and budgets and schedules to support them we will be all under a yellow light of development. THAT we have not stopped. As I have reported in the past, we are scouting, designing (my last 3 hour meeting with Weta was this morning) and will not stop. BUT the greenlight and thus commencement can only be granted by the studio. Pete as producer and me as director will do everything we can in the meantime.
C) Is there any trouble brewing with WB? Not at all. All I can say is that they reacted to our delivered script with great delight and we have been receiving strong support in our development.
Smaug is being animation tested, we are editing the previs, doing final selections on Dwarven War Artifacts and Gear and starting many fabrication tests for armies, prosthetics and wardrobes, etc
However, I do plan to be less and less in the public spotlight for two simple reasons: One: I am damn busy prepping this two Behemoths. Two: quite likely, I’ll have very limited, if any, promotional time for Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark or The Fall (Second Strain Book) myself but fear not- I will drop in as much as possible, as always.
Love GDT
The Strain Trilogy's The Fall (Strain Trilogy 2) and The Night Eternal (Strain Trilogy 3) will be out in June 2010 and 2011, respectively.
The excitement continues to build. I can’ wait until we actually find out who ends up being cast and seeing the creature designs for the film. Be prepared to be blown away!
Production on the Guillermo Del Toro-directed version of The Hobbit was previously set to begin in March of 2010. Latest news speculates it will be delayed to mid-summer 2010, possibly July. The German site, moviereporter.net, reports that, as part of an interview regarding The Lovely Bones, Peter Jackson estimates filming will begin towards the middle of next year:
“We’re currently working on the second script which we hope to have completed by the end of this year or beginning of next. When the scripts are completed, we can begin with the exact calculation of the necessary budget. We hope to start filming in the middle of next year. However, we’ve received no green light from the studio yet.” (translation courtesy of TheOneRing.net)
More than two years elapsed between the start of filming for The Lord of the Rings movies in October, 1999, and the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in December 2001. However, they are only tackling two films this time, plus the previous movies provide them a head-start on on a number of pre-production items such as some of the set and location designs (Bag End, Rivendell).
The issues facing MGM might be what is holding up that green light, but no one is saying for sure. Jackson also hasn’t given any indication whether this will delay the film’s proposed December 2011 release date. This was for the first film in the new two-parter with the second film scheduled for December 2012.
The One Ring stated in a post yesterday that its trusted inside source revealed a treasure of updates on Guillermo del Toro’s two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s children’s classic The Hobbit. Here's the Twitter version of the highlights.
The Script The writing team is in the process of polishing the scripts but the "key" people have read them in first draft form.
Casting Filming begins early in 2010. In addition to Bilbo and Gandalf (Ian McKellan), it seems likely that Thorin Oakenshield has also been cast.
Sets Work is 50% complete on set and wardrobe design. Fabrics, color palettes and concepts are well underway with the conceptual art being translated to practical applications.
New Construction Miniatures have started construction as well as the construction of a whole new stage to accommodate the scope of the film.
South Island Location scouting in the South Island has started. Several locations have been identified as possibilities.
Script Finalizing The production is actively story-boarding or pre-visualizing the movie before cameras roll.
Monsters The team is already testing the animated models of several creatures and doing puppetry tests for others. Design work is almost 100% complete at Weta.
The Hobbit movies are moving forward and right on track for a March or April start date! Read the full story at TORN.
For months we've been dying to know who is cast in the upcoming Guillermo del Toro film, The Hobbit. One Lord of the Rings actor has officially confirmed that he will not return to the new film, and it’s John Rhys-Davies.
Davies starred in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy as Gimli the dwarf, a memorable character. Over at Empire, they caught up with the actor and got him to talk about a possible return to Middle Earth in The Hobbit, a return that he doesn’t consider likely.
“I’ve already been asked and to be honest with you, I wouldn’t. I have already completely ruled it out. There’s a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. Really I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more.”
Even with that clear declaration, they pressed the actor to see if he would even be interested in making a cameo appearance.
“Why would you want to do it if it was just a couple of shots? When you’ve been 1 of 1, why would you want to be 1 of 13?”
But the production did ask if he'd be interested in returning. "It was just a gentle "What would you feel about putting it on again?" But no. I'd be interested in trying to create a different type of persona within... the thing. That is challenging as an actor. I'd really prefer to play something quite different. Maybe an Elf. They've got a different set of problems with The Hobbit because you've got 13 dwarves, a whole band of them... You're trying to represent a whole race... You're trying to do for dwarves what The Lord of the Rings did for hobbits. "
Hmm, so Gimli won't be playing his own father, it seems - but he isn't completely ruling out a return to the world of Middle Earth. Still, we're going to have to put him out of the running in our fantasy casting of Thorin Oakenshielf, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori.
At the moment the only other actor attached to the film who appeared in the previous LOTR movies is Ian McKellen, who can’t wait to get into his costume again.
Empire caught up with Sir Ian McKellen who was at the San Sebastian Film Festival to pick up a lifetime achievement award. Here's the latest scoop on: The Hobbit and the X-Men franchise.
Firstly The Hobbit: It’s been known for some while now that Sir Ian would be reprising his role as Gandalf (the Grey variety this time) for Guillermo del Toro’s Lord of the Rings prequel. But he had a few additional titbits to spill this time around.
"The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon," he said. "Then they'll be budgeted, and then they'll be cast. And they'll be going when they've always said they would be, which is next spring -- March or April. Guillermo even told me at one point, 'We're going to film for 383 days.' He's got that artistic autism!
"Jackson's the same; they're very, very, very alike. They are also very different, but they've so much in common. They both can't stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they're both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal. Guillermo's one of the most brilliant men I've ever met. His English vocabulary is way superior to mine!”
There’s been fervent speculation about the possible return of other Rings cast members, with the likes of Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom would return as Aragorn and Legolas in the frame for cameos, but Sir Ian isn’t convinced. "Unfortunately, there won't be many of the actors going back," he said, "unless they're going to put masks on and be disguised as dwarves! Andy Serkis is, at the moment, I think, the only other actor who's doing this film."
Of course, we fully expect Hugo Weaving to pop up as Elrond, but that announcement will doubtless come in due course.
X-Men Origins: Magneto is still in a state of flux. Rumour has it that the script would call for a McKellen appearance to bookend the prequel action, but the actor says he’s heard nowt.
“There's meant to be a Magneto script floating around, but I've not read it, so I suspect it wouldn't involve me,” he said. “I think it would be about the younger Magneto, and the most I could hope for would be to top and tail that. They can't have someone whose face is as lined as mine any longer!”
Empire, of course, reminded him about the sudden appearance of a mysteriously de-aged Patrick Stewart in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, prompting a hearty guffaw.
“Ooh, he was very pleased with himself that he was going in to be in Wolverine,” cackled Sir Ian. “It was only an hour's work! We were working on Waiting For Godot at the time!”
Marc Bernardin of PopWatch.Ew.com was at the event and reports that "watching it with a crowd who knew every beat (and some of whom were dressed as their favorite elves or wizards), applauded at every major character introduction (it was a loudness-tie between Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn and Orlando Bloom’s Legolas) and minor cameo (like Jackson’s), and knew when to laugh and then shut up was a hoot and a half."
Add to this the spectacle of a live orchestra and choir and this event was an over-the-top treat for LOTR fans! Wish I had been there!
"After the two-and-a-half hours of Fellowship came to an end and the orchestra took their final bows, composer Howard Shore walked out on stage, accompanied by two special guests: Elijah Wood and Billy Boyd. They looked just as tickled by the evening as the audience was." Great news - for those of you who missed this epic LOTR event, the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers will be screened in the same fashion at Radio City on Oct. 9, 2010. I'm there! Who wants to join me for a LOTR weekend in NYC?
Keep abreast of The Two Towers Radio City Music Hall 2010 event by signing up on the RadioCityLOTRConcert.com site. The signup field is located at the top right hand corner of the site.
DeadlineHollywood is reporting that MGM held a very long conference call with bondholders and lenders that caused lots of people to become "very loud and very upset." It turns out that the studio is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The call was to make a desperate plea for money in the amount of $20 million in short term and another $150 million to get through the rest of the year. One major project that MGM needs to fund is Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson's The Hobbit prequel.
In addition, MGM is $3.5 billion in debt and has requested that the bondholders waive the company's interest payments until February 2010. The bondholders know that they probably won't get all their money back if MGM goes bankrupt, since it's only worth about $1.5 billion. Unfortunately, that's exactly the direction they want to go in.
What this means is that if MGM goes bankrupt, it will lose the rights to James Bond (to pay part of the debt) and The Hobbit could be delayed indefinitely. The next step is for the bondholders to have a vote to decide MGM's fate. Stay tuned.
At the end of July we ran a blog post stating there was a possibility that New Line could lose the right to release the The Hobbit if the Tolkien Heirs' lawsuit, Tolkien v. New Line turned ugly.
Today,TheOneRing.net reports the Tolkien v. New Line case has reached a tentative settlement. TORN message board member Voronwë_the_Faithful has the following fantastic news to report from the LA Supreme Court:
“A tentative settlement has been reached in the case. The parties have filed a stipulation that explicitly states that “the parties have entered into a binding term sheet settling this matter, which term sheet is subject to certain necessary ratifications, which may take up to several weeks to obtain.
“In other words, a settlement has been reached, but it needs to be approved by certain unnamed individuals/entities. I’m sure it is a complicated settlement, and I’m relatively sure that it includes specifications to ensure that payments are made on the Hobbit films, so I assume that one of the ratifications needs to come from Warner.
“Generally speaking, these kinds of “ratifications” are a formality and the settlement would not have been entered into unless they were pretty much sure that it would be ratified. I would shocked if the settlement did not go through. In all likelihood, this case is no longer going to provide any obstacle to the Hobbit films.
Hobbiton construction is currently underway in Mata Mata according to director Guillermo del Toro. He laid out a few new Hobbit holes but for the most part Hobbiton will be a reproduction of what was there for the Trilogy. While attending Comic-Con earlier this year Hobbit producer and co-writer Peter Jackson mentioned the script should be finished around this time. Rumour has it The Hobbit script has been finalized and delivered to the studio. The studio may have green-lit the project, and the film is in pre-production. Del Toro recently stated The Hobbit will not be 3D.
Sir Ian McKellan is currently re-reading The Hobbit and is expecting to be back in NZ in March to prepare for his role as Gandalf. Apparently he also knows who they’re getting to play Bilbo.
The Hobbit is scheduled for release December 2011.
Ian Holm and Ian McKellen in "Lord of the Rings." New Line Cinema
The worldwide take for Jackson's LOTR trilogy, from box-office receipts, home-video sales and associated merchandising is $6 billion. Yet according to a lawsuit filed recently in Los Angeles by Tolkien's children and other interested parties, New Line Cinema and its parent company Time Warner (which produced and distributed the films) haven't paid them a cent.
Tolkien's heirs are likely motivated by a sense of injustice and a desire to reclaim their father's patrimony, as much as by the prospect of a huge payday, but other, more shadowy factors are at work as well. Hypothetically, this case could shut down New Line's forthcoming production of The Hobbit, or turn it over to the Tolkiens, for resale to the highest bidder.
J.R.R. Tolkien sold the movie rights to his “Lord of the Rings” novels in 1969 for 7.5 percent of future receipts. In poor health and facing a big tax bill, Tolkien came away with $250,000, which comes under the heading of It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time. According Eskenazi, New Line is allowed to deduct 2.6 times its production costs plus a certain amount of advertising expenses before it begins to pay the family its 7.5 percent royalty.
The company is taking the position that its production and promotional expenses were so enormous that no royalties are due to the Tolkiens out of those 6 billion dollars, either now or in the foreseeable future. As Pierce O'Donnell, a lawyer who represented Buchwald in his suit against Paramount, told Bloomberg reporter Brett Pulley, Hollywood accounting is "an esoteric world where black doesn't mean black, and white doesn't necessarily mean white."
Purely based on the history of these things, it seems unlikely that New Line/Time Warner can escape without paying the author's children, Christopher and Priscilla Tolkien (who are 84 and 80 years old, respectively), or their heirs a substantial pile of cash, $220 million.
The Tolkien family's claim that New Line's byzantine accounting practices amount to a breach of the contract Tolkien originally signed with United Artists 40 years ago. If such a finding were made, the remedy would be clear. All rights to Tolkien's work would presumably revert to his heirs, and New Line's planned two-part production of "The Hobbit," a pair of LOTR prequels to be produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo del Toro, would be thrust into legal limbo. "Should this case go all the way through trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its right to release 'The Hobbit,'" Eskenazi told Pulley.
This does not mean the Jackson-del Toro "Hobbit" won't get made as some LOTR buffs and reporters have stated.
No one at the table is foolish enough to want to shut down a production that promises to yield, at a conservative estimate, an additional $2 billion to $3 billion in worldwide revenue. What the Tolkiens and Time Warner are fighting over is who controls that production and who will reap the enormous benefits. In that regard, it's worth noting that the Tolkiens' principal co-plaintiff is Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the parent company of HarperCollins, which publishes the Tolkien books. Another News Corp. subsidiary, of course, is Fox, a studio that would be well positioned to take over production and distribution of the "The Hobbit" movie if the rights reverted to the Tolkien family.
Is the Murdoch empire using the Tolkiens to wage a proxy war against Time Warner? There is an intriguing convergence between this case and the long-running rivalry between those two huge entertainment conglomerates. The likeliest outcome is a last-minute settlement that pads the lawyers' pockets and leaves everything else pretty much status quo. Failing that, Christopher Reuel Tolkien v. New Line Cinema Corp. is scheduled to go to trial in October, around the same time as del Toro's "Hobbit" production begins to roll in New Zealand.
Empireonline caught up with Peter Jackson at Comic-Con and collared him on progress with The Hobbitwhich, although still awaiting official greenlighting and casting, is only a few weeks from having its first script draft signed, sealed and delivered.
So could he tell us what the first line of dialogue in part 1 of The Hobbit would be? Video clip: "The film begins in very much the same way as the book begins," says Jackson. In case you haven't consigned the entire book to memory, that means the first words uttered by Bilbo will be "Good morning!"
According to the LA Times Peter Jackson really does own his own Stormtrooper costume. Unfortunately, he opted not to bring it with him to his very first Comic-Con International in San Diego -- meaning he probably didn't get the chance to wander the convention floor incognito and do some shopping, though he really wanted to. "It's very frustrating because I am the sort of guy who'd love to go and buy stuff. I do buy models and collectibles, and it's frustrating not being able to do that."
I'll be so bold as to predict Jackson-del Toro fans will be treated to The Hobbit teaser trailer at San Diego Comic Con 2010. Oh, and be on the lookout for a Stormtrooper roaming the convention floor.
The first 'Hobbit' installment is scheduled for release Dec 2011.
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