Posted on Wednesday, May 29th, 2013 by Angie Han
J.R.R. Tolkien‘s The Hobbit unfolds decades before Frodo ever got his hands on the One Ring, but all the same, the three-part movie adaptation from Peter Jackson managed to rope in a bunch of familiar faces from the Lord of the Rings cinematic trilogy. Some, like Ian McKellan’s Gandalf, were part of the story as originally conceived by Tolkien; others, like Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel, were made to fit into the plot; and still others, like Elijah Wood’s Frodo, were included as part of a framing device.
All of which is to say that Jackson probably could’ve found a way to work in another fan favorite, Viggo Mortensen‘s Aragorn, if he’d really wanted to. Turns out, though, that the actor wasn’t having it. Hit the jump to read his comments.
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Posted on Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 by Angie Han
Guess who’s been hanging out in Middle-earth again! Also after the jump:
- There will be three more Transporter movies
- Sly Stallone wants The Raid stars for Expendables 3
- “Fuck, yeah,” Guillermo del Toro says about having Pacific Rim 2 ideas
- Details uncovered on Transformers 4‘s new robots
- Who else has an Anchorman 2 cameo lined up?
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While initial trailers for The Hobbit have some footage that will likely be in the second chapter, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (as the trailers were crafted before the adaptation was split into three parts) the first “official” look at the second movie came via a live web event for those who bought The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Blu-ray or DVD.
Now Peter Jackson has posted a condensed version of that live event for everyone to see, and the six-minute clip has the writer/director answering questions about the film, as well as some behind-the-scenes views of scenes from The Desolation of Smaug. You’ll see Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman, and Evangeline Lilly as the elf Tauriel, among other things
And there are even appearances from Stephen Colbert, who asks a pretty hyper-detailed question about Jackson’s Middle-Earth, and Lord of the Rings actor Billy Boyd. Read More »
Some casting, some directing, some controversy and a couple Star Trek details are in this edition of Sequel Bits. After the jump, read about the following.
- Olivia Wilde talks of possibly returning for a Tron: Legacy sequel.
- Greg Kinnear and Josh Lawson join Anchorman: The Legend Continues.
- Paul W.S. Anderson is definitely directing Resident Evil 6.
- Warner Bros. is suing the J.R.R. Tolkien estate over a breach in contract with The Hobbit.
- Bad Robot’s Action Movie FX App will get a Star Trek Into Darkness upgrade.
- New Zealand is the latest country to get Star Trek Into Darkness a week early.
- Peter Serafinowicz joins The Muppets…Again and Tina Fey discusses her character.
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Posted on Friday, February 15th, 2013 by Angie Han
In a weird way, special effects are never less noticeable than when they’re done really well. The best artists are able to blend the real and the unreal so seamlessly that it’s all but impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. So it’s cool to get a chance to see the painstaking labor that goes into enhancing these films, as we do in two new VFX reels for Looper and The Hobbit.
In a similar vein, we also have behind-the-scenes featurettes from Brave and Life of Pi, which not only explore the making-of processes but also offer commentary from directors Mark Andrews and Ang Lee (respectively). Watch all four videos after the jump.
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Posted on Friday, December 21st, 2012 by Angie Han
It’s a sad fact for geeks that there’s still no way to actually become a hobbit or a wizard. But thanks to two new spots, we can at least pretend for a little while.
The King’s Cross station in London has opened a new souvenir shop at Platform 9 3/4, which Harry Potter fans know is where Hogwarts students catch the train to school. Meanwhile, Hobbiton in New Zealand has transformed the Green Dragon Inn set into a working pub. Read more and check out some photos and video after the jump.
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Posted on Monday, December 17th, 2012 by David Chen
In this episode, Dave, Devindra, and Adam chat about the spate of hot new sci-fi film trailers, lament the preachiness of Flight, and get really troubled by Compliance. Special guest Joanna Robinson joins us from Pajiba. Be sure to check out the bad language in Lincoln, the science of high framerates, and how Tolkein retconned his own books.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993.
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Today’s the day — over a decade after the premiere of Peter Jackson‘s The Fellowship of the Ring, the director returns to Middle-Earth with the first of three planned films adapting J.R.R. Tolkien‘s first novel The Hobbit. The films won’t adapt only that book, however, as Jackson and co-writers Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro have also incorporated elements from appendecies and supplements to The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien eventually devised a dense amount of parallel story to buttress the episodic adventure of The Hobbit, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey incorporates some of that material.
The film is also Jackson’s first film set in Middle-Earth to be shot on a digital camera and in 3D, and the first studio feature film ever to be shot and projected at a high frame rate of 48 fps, compared to the standard 24fps.
Suffice to say, despite the presence of familiar Lord of the Rings faces such as Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Christopher Lee, and Hugo Weaving, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is very much a different look at Middle-Earth. Germain has weighed in on the film itself, and I’ve put down some thoughts on the high frame rate presentation. Now, tell us what you thought of the film, below. Spoilers follow in the text after the break, and are encouraged in the comments to facilitate full discussion of the film. Read More »
