The Hobbit

[Rico]

Hopefully this will finally get filming next month after all the off/on delays.

[Bromptonboy]

The production of the Hobbit films is currently looking for people to play ELVEN HORSE RIDERS and ELVEN EXTRAS, according to a new casting call:
The Elven physical build is tall and slender.
   MEN – aged 17 – 40, Height 6ft (183cm) and taller
   WOMEN – aged 17 – 40, Height 5ft 9 (175cm) and taller
The location of the casting call is Te Whaea – National Dance and Drama Centre, 11 Hutchinson Rd, Newtown, Wellington and is taking place on Saturday 26 February 2011 between 9.30 – 12pm and 1.30 – 3pm.
If you attend the call, please make sure to take some pictures and let us know!

[Feathers]

If only I was still in the age bracket!

[Bromptonboy]

If only I was still in the age bracket!

I would need the ad to read:
"The Dwarven physical build is short and stout.
   MEN – aged 40-50, Height 5ft 7in (~168cm) and taller"

That would be an advert I could answer....

[Geekyfanboy]

Man I can't do either.. what are the requirements to be a Hobbit :)

[Feathers]

If only I was still in the age bracket!

I would need the ad to read:
"The Dwarven physical build is short and stout.
   MEN – aged 40-50, Height 5ft 7in (~168cm) and taller"

That would be an advert I could answer....

I can meet that too. The trick would be maintaining the required physique during gruelling days of filming. Wait! Don't they have free catering on these things...

[Bromptonboy]

Freeman, when asked about the trouble the production has faced recently and if he is concerned about a "Hobbit" curse, admitted:
"I'm not [worried]," he said of the so-called curse. "There are some bits of bad luck to do with it, I guess, that are almost comical, I suppose. But we're all very optimistic about it. We're all ready to go, just as soon as 2015 rolls around. We will be there and ready."
Freeman also admitted to taking inspiration from Sir Ian Holm, who played Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy:
Obviously I've been looking at what he was doing," he said. "There's a certain level, of course, at which I have to match what he was doing and then forget it as well. Without being either big-headed or falsely modest, I think I'm quite a good match for him. I mean, I've seen worse matches ... we'll find out."

[Bromptonboy]

Aidan Turner (Kili) discusses "dwarf boot camp"
Posted: 20 Feb 2011 02:04 PM PST

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Aidan Turner – otherwise known as Kili in the upcoming 'The Hobbit' films, discusses his new beard and life in dwarf boot camp:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You were sporting a pretty impressive beard at the Hobbitpress conference. Is that for Kili?
AIDAN TURNER: Yeah, it is. I'm growing out the beard. We're giving it a chance, seeing what it looks like.
Is that how Peter Jackson plans to make you less handsome and more dwarf-like?
To de-handsomify me? [Laughs] No, not really. I mean, famously in the books, the dwarves have really long beards, so we're just trying stuff out and seeing what it looks like.
Are you in "hobbit boot camp" now?
Yeah. Well, it's dwarf boot camp, not really hobbit boot camp. It's just all dwarves—training and stuff.
What are you training in?
I can't really give too much away, you know? But it's pretty much everything. It's physical training and everything you can imagine, really. I guess just working as an actor helps you for these things. It's more physical than anything else, but there's dialect coaching and all those kind of things.
How did your Being Human cast react to you getting The Hobbit role?
They were all very happy—super happy. Everyone was thrilled.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Aidan Turner (Kili) discusses "dwarf boot camp" is a post from: The Hobbit Movie
       

[Bromptonboy]

Ian McKellen writes his first blog post 'From the middle of Middle Earth':
A wizard is never late: but I hadn't intended last Thursday to arrive in Wellington for The Hobbit filming, five weeks early.  Yet, what's new?  Just a year ago, touring New Zealand with Waiting for Godot, I had expected to start shooting in July 2010, with Guillermo del Toro in charge.  I was staying at his spare house on Breaker Bay, close to the Jackson compound.  There he told me why he was abandoning Middle Earth, as Warner Brothers and MGM got perilously close to postponing The Hobbit forever and he worried about his commitments to other work.  So my plan to jump straight from Beckett to Tolkien had to be abandoned and I flew home for a prolonged break.
A year on, filming was to start at the end of February 2011.  I curtailed a holiday in India to make sure I would be on time.
Then, while I was away, Peter Jackson had his stomach operation.  The insurance company has insisted on five weeks recuperation.  Which is why, yet again, I¹m here early.  Waiting for Bilbo.
I was hoping to see Peter up and kicking at the party Philippa Boyens threw last week for the actors and again the following day, when Graham Mactavish and Gwen had a house-warming party in their garden and house overlooking the Wellington harbour.  No luck: but there were many others to say hello to; beginning with 13 dwarves.
To be continued.
Source: mckellen.com

[Bromptonboy]

Sean Bean in a recent interview commented on whether he expects to play a part in Peter Jackson's upcoming prequel, The Hobbit:
OWF: I have to ask, now that it is ninety-nine percent a go down in New Zealand. Is there any chance of getting involved in The Hobbit? I'm not sure in what capacity.
I am not sure at all about that. I mean I don't know what is happening with it, or when they are filming it. I don't think I would be in it. I mean having played Boromir, I don't think he was around at that time. Maybe he was a young lad, unless I played him as a toddler! [laughs]
DoG: Boromir will always come up, particularly for the kind of websites we write for, and is just a fantastic character. Looking back on it, is it one that stands out for you?
Yeah, very memorable. For all of us, it opened doors. For a lot of us, Viggo and the young guys, the hobbits, it was just something we didn't expect, you know?
I got over there from England to New Zealand and you are kind of spaced out after that flight and I knew about the book. But I didn't realise the scale of it, how big and epic it would be.
Walking round the workshops you saw the drawings in the studios and you thought, "Wow, this looks like it's going to be a big film." But we still didn't realise, even when we were filming. I think it was only the hype, around when it was going to be released, that we realised what we'd done.
We were obviously totally committed to it and we lived there, more or less, for a year in New Zealand and we became very close. Peter knew exactly, having been studying it and visualising it for years and years, he knew exactly what he wanted. It was a big turning point for many of us. With the amount of interest it created and what it received, it created just good things for us.
OWF: Are you still in touch with the fellowship?
Yeah, we did a photo shoot a few weeks ago, Orlando and Bernard Hill, Andy Serkis and a few others. I can't remember what it was for, actually, some kind of magazine celebrating 100 years of film, or 100 best films.
We get together and we do bump into each other now and again. I bump into Viggo occasionally. We get on quite well because we're a similar age and we have a similar sense of humour.

[Bromptonboy]

Sir Peter Jackson and 'Hobbit' production staff have offered their assistance to those affected by the Christchurch earthquake and have been in touch with Civil Defense and Emergency Management to provide help.
Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter:
"everyone involved in the production of The Hobbit is shocked and saddened by the earthquake and it's devastating aftermath."
Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Christchurch and all those affected by this terrible tragedy," he said.
Filming of The Hobbit will be further delayed due to the disaster.
The shoot was set for March 21 at Stone Street studios in Wellington and on location around the country.
Source: entertainment.msn.co.nz
'Hobbit' will be delayed due to the earthquake is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Btw Bromptonboy, thanks for linking these stories, very cool to hear :)

King

[Bromptonboy]

Robert Kazinsky (Fili) takes time out from his filming schedule in New Zealand to answer 'Random' questions from 'Kidz' aged 3 to 12 years old:
How big is your pool in New Zealand?
Bethany 9 years old
I don't have a pool, but I do live on the beach, so the sea is my pool, so in that case my pool is 80% of the world's surface.
When are you going on a train?
Ollie 4 years old
Peter Jackson has a train in his house, so the next time I'm at his house I'll go on a train.
Which Lord of the Rings film is your favourite?
Hag 6 years old
I loved them all equally.
Do you play the Lord of the Rings computer games?
Hag 6 years old
I don't play computer games very much anymore.
Is the Hobbit going to be as good as the other Lord of the Rings films?
Hag 6 years old
It's going to be better.
Is being in The Hobbit exciting for you?
Hag 6 years old
It's the best thing that's ever happened to me, everyday I wake up super excited.
How many of the Lord of the Rings books have you read?
Tobias 12 years old
All of them
Who is your favourite actor in the original trilogy?
Tobias 12 years old
Elijah Wood was perfect as Frodo Baggins.
What did you do the moment you found out you were in the Hobbit?
Tobias 12 years old
I called my parents and told them, then I called my girlfriend at the time and told her, then I sat with my dog, the two of us alone on my balcony in Los Angeles and as the sun set, I cried with happiness.
Source: kidzcoolit.com
Robert Kazinsky (Fili) answers 'Kidz' questions is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

[Geekyfanboy]

'The Hobbit' Gets... a New Title?!
By Scott Harris | March 3, 2011 |

"The Hobbit" is one of the most famous and beloved novels in the history of modern literature, so you would think that Peter Jackson and the folks behind the upcoming big budget adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's seminal work wouldn't have to work too hard to come up with a title.

Apparently you would be wrong, because according to fansite TheOneRing.net, Jackson and New Line Cinema have just registered two brand new titles titles. And the new moniker?

"The Hobbit: Avatar 2."

Okay, we're joking. Actually, the titles are "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," with the split being necessary due to the fact that Jackson is dividing the book into two films.

But which title goes to which half?

"There and Back Again" is the original subtitle of "The Hobbit" and is used by protagonist Bilbo Baggins within the story itself when he chronicles his adventures in helping a band of intrepid dwarves battle the dread dragon Smaug. So it makes sense for Jackson and New Line to use the title.

"An Unexpected Journey," on the other hand, seems to be a more fitting description of the first film, since the story begins with Bilbo essentially being drafted into service by the dwarves and their ally Gandalf the Grey. With that in mind, our guess is that "An Unexpected Journey" will be the subtitle for the first film, with "There and Back Again" reserved for the concluding charter when, you know, Bilbo actually gets there and comes back again.

Of course, with hype building to monumental proportions over the last seven years, they could pretty much call the film anything and it would still be a shoo-in for a billion dollars worldwide. Even if they called it "Gigli 2" we have a feeling fans would find their way into the theater. But it's cool that they have come up with some titles that are organic to the series, because we all know how those hardcore fanboys can get with these kinds of thing.

Under any other name, though, we still have a while to wait for "The Hobbit;" though production is already underway, the first installment isn't scheduled to hit theaters until December 19, 2012.

[Bromptonboy]

Hmmmm....I will remain cautious - but this guy will have my money regardless I am sure.