The Hobbit

THE HOBBIT to Star Billy Connolly as Dwarven Warrior

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 4:57 pm

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe there is a vast array of characters available for actors to portray. Some, like Evangeline Lilly’s elf, Tauriel, are created specifically for The Hobbit, while some actors, like Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse), lend their performance and voice to a mythological creature. Then there is Billy Connolly (Boondock Saints) who gets to play one of the most fearsome and storied dwarves in all of Tolkien’s tomes. The Scottish actor will play Dain Ironfoot, cousin to Thorin Oakenshield (played by Richard Armitage) and a power-player in dwarven royalty. Having brought Connolly on as Ironfoot, director Peter Jackson commented on how this latest addition has completed the cast. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Andy Serkis Talks RISE OF THE APES, THE HOBBIT, Directing 2nd Unit, 3D, and More at SBIFF

by Christina Radish    Posted: February 5th, 2012 at 8:36 am

Although he is an accomplished stage and screen actor in his own right, Andy Serkis has become the go-to guy for motion capture performance. He was remarkable as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and as the title character in King Kong, but it was his work as the intelligent chimp Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes that earned him a Virtuoso Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). Collider was there to cover and attend the event, and we’ve compiled the highlights of what the actor had to say, both on the press line and during the Q&A.

While there, Andy Serkis talked about how performance capture technology is just another form of acting, finding his inner ape to play Caesar and why that character is different from Kong, what it was like to revisit the character of Gollum for The Hobbit films, so many years later, how great it is to work on the live-action set this time, and the experience of working with all of the actors who are new to Middle Earth while also directing Second Unit. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

New HOBBIT and THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Toy Images Include a Chess Set, the One Ring 10k Solid Gold Edition, and Bane Wacky Wobbler

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: February 1st, 2012 at 10:02 am

With New York City Toy Fair starting in less than two weeks, the movie studios are starting to announce what will be on display at the convention.  If you’re a toy collector, it’s Christmas, because you get to see almost everything that will be arriving over the course of the year.  And for movie fans, it’s also great, as you get first looks at the costumes and gadgets that have been under wraps during the entire production.  While the studios are usually great at keeping everything under wraps, Toy Fair offers the fans a lot of answers.

Anyway, Warner Bros. Consumer Products just sent over a number of images of some of their Hobbit and Dark Knight Rises items that will be on display.  While we posted some of the items last night, we’ve now got high resolution looks at the Funko line of Wacky Wobler’s and Pop Heroes, and we’ve also got a Dark Knight Chess Set, Thinkway Toys U-Command Batpod, and The Noble Collection’s The One Ring 10k Solid Gold Edition.  Hit the jump for the images.

New Images from THE HOBBIT and ARGO

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 30th, 2012 at 2:40 pm

Warner Bros. has released new images from Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit and Ben Affleck’s Argo.  As you can see, the new image from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey shows Bilbo being offered some food, and the Argo image shows Ben Affleck doing a reading for his mission to rescue some American hostages from Iran.  So…nothing Earth-shattering but we’re all really looking forward to these movies so we’ll take what we can get.

Hit the jump to check out the full images.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D on December 14th.  Argo opens September 14th.

Evangeline Lilly Reveals Character Details Regarding THE HOBBIT; Says She Appears in the Second Film More Than the First

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 25th, 2012 at 10:15 am

To say Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit is an ambitious undertaking is a bit of an understatement. What began as a fairly straightforward one-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein’s classic novel quickly morphed into a sprawling epic told across two feature films. We know that this isn’t necessarily a page-to-screen feature film version of the novel, as Jackson is bringing back many characters from The Lord of the Rings that don’t appear in The Hobbit. Included in this ginormous ensemble is a brand new character created for the film named Tauriel. Lost star Evangeline Lilly plays the character, and she recently spoke quite a bit about what to expect from Turiel, how much she appears in the adaptation, which of the two films she figures into the most, and how long she’s had to be onset. Hit the jump to see what she had to say.

Elijah Wood Talks THE HOBBIT, Filming in 3D, and the Film’s Similarity to LORD OF THE RINGS; Says He Was On Set for a Month

by Christina Radish    Posted: January 22nd, 2012 at 9:43 pm

While at the FX portion of TCA Winter Press Tour, on behalf of his comedy series Wilfred, actor Elijah Wood sat down with Collider for an exclusive interview to talk about the Season 2 return, and what fans can expect after the dramatic Season 1 finale. We will run that portion of the interview closer to the show’s June 23^rd return date, but in the meantime, we wanted to share what he had to say about his return to New Zealand for his role in The Hobbit.

Even though he only worked on the film a small amount, Wood was there for a month, which gave him time to hang out in Wellington, New Zealand, catch up with old friends and meet a lot of the new cast members. As a result, he was very excited to see the trailer and thought it was awesome. He also talked about the experience of working with 3D cameras that shoot 48 frames a second, and the advancement in technology allowing them to watch the playback in 3D while they were still on set. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

New Image from THE HOBBIT; Peter Jackson and Co-Writer Philippa Boyens Talk About the Production

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: January 14th, 2012 at 11:35 am

A new image from The Hobbit has surfaced online today.  It is especially heroic, depicting Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins covered in dirt, wielding a sword Sting, a determined growl on his face.  [Update: Commenter Deepak pointed out that Freeman's hand is around Sting, "the blade that glows blue when Orcs are close."  My Hobbit knowledge doesn't run that deep, but it sounds noteworthy.]  In case you needed any, this is more evidence to me that Freeman is an inspired choice for the part.

Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, and Stephen Fry also star.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14, 2012 followed by The Hobbit: There and Back Again on December 13, 2013.  Hit the jump for the full image in high resolution, plus quotes from director Peter Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens on the story and production.

Bret McKenzie Talks THE MUPPETS, THE HOBBIT, FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS, and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 6th, 2012 at 9:10 am

I was excited when I heard a new Muppets movie was in the works.  I became more excited when I heard it would be a musical.  And then I became ecstatic when I learned that Bret McKenzie would be the film’s music supervisor.  My elation came from being a huge Flight of the Conchords fan.  McKenzie is one-half of the folk-music-comedy duo (the other half being Jemaine Clement), and through their albums and HBO series, they’ve shown they can easily play with any music genre.

Earlier this week, I got to speak with McKenzie over the phone and we discussed his process on creating the songs for The Muppets, his musical and comic inspirations the possibility of a song from the movie being nominated for an Oscar, his work on The Hobbit, his future musical endeavors, a ukulele orchestra, and more.  Hit the jump to check out the interview.

New Images from PROMETHEUS, BRAVE, and THE HOBBIT

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 5th, 2012 at 5:44 pm

Hot on the heels of the first image from The Bourne Legacy, we’ve got new images from Ridley Scott’s sci-fi pic Prometheus, the next James Bond entry Skyfall, Pixar’s upcoming fairy tale Brave, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. While nothing’s too groundbreaking, we do get our first official look at Daniel Craig in Skyfall (Correction: the image is actually from Casino Royale, so we’re still lacking an official image of Craig in Skyfall), and you can’t really get enough of Martin Freeman as Bilbo in The Hobbit. The Twilight image seems familiar so I’m not entirely sure it’s new , but I figured Twilight fans wouldn’t mind another gander if they’ve seen it before (Correction: it’s from Breaking Dawn: Part 1, but I still included it because, you know, Bella and Edward).

Hit the jump to check out the images.

Christopher Lee Talks THE HOBBIT, HUGO and DARK SHADOWS

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: December 29th, 2011 at 4:34 pm

In a Christmas address by the incomparable Christopher Lee, the actor remarked on his completed works of 2011 (including a tongue-in-cheek clarification of his role in The Wicker Tree). More notably, Lee also touched on his role in Hugo and his working relationship with director Martin Scorsese, his own personal vitality (Lee will turn 90 in 2012) and his work in Dark Shadows with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Oh and you might have been wondering about his reprisal of the role of Saruman in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit movies. Not to worry as Lee goes into some detail about his involvement and it’s safe to say the actor’s work has been completed on both films. Hit the jump to check out the video.

Top 10 Trailers of 2011

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 26th, 2011 at 8:45 pm

A trailer usually has less than two minutes and thirty seconds to dazzle the viewer and put a movie on his or her radar.  The Internet allows studios to go beyond this theater-mandated time limit and not only run a longer trailer, but also ones that have been approved only for the emotionally mature online community.  But no matter the runtime or how many times a character can swear, the trailer still has to grab your attention.  They can sell us on a premise we didn’t know we wanted, and can find a way to make us even more excited for a movie we were already itching to see.

Hit the jump to check out my picks for Top 10 Trailers of 2011.

TOP 5: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, STAR TREK Sequel, Brad Bird Interview, Another Crazy Week in Trailers

by Jason Barr    Posted: December 24th, 2011 at 1:07 pm

I’m writing to you this afternoon in the late stages of a full-on nostalgia buzz. The reason? Last night, I had the pleasure of taking in a performance of the Beauty and the Beast musical at St. Louis’ beautiful The Fabulous Fox theatre. Thanks to Belle’s “Little Town”, “Something There”, and the Academy Award-winning title track, I’m still giddy and in complete tune with my five-year old self nearly 24 hours after the fact. Now, if I could just get my hands on that old Proton Pack I used to lug around at all times, my return trip to the ’90s would be complete…

…In this week’s “Top 5″ you’ll find a collection of items from The Dark Knight Rises, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo interviews with David Fincher, Rooney Mara, and Daniel Craig, tidbits of news from J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek sequel, director Brad Bird talking about Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Incredibles sequel and more, and a recap of what has been yet another crazy week in trailers (Hint: there’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Prometheus, and Wrath of the Titans). Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

Collider’s 15 Most Anticipated Blockbusters of 2012

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 24th, 2011 at 8:37 am

As 2011 comes to a close, it’s time to look forward to the movies set to open in 2012. While many are busy compiling their Top 10 lists from 2011, we thought it’d be a good time to run down the list of our 15 most anticipated blockbusters of the coming year. Will The Avengers deliver as the culmination of four years worth of Marvel movies? Just how much of a prequel to Alien is Prometheus? Will The Dark Knight Rises be the greatest movie ever made in the history of movies and awesomeness? There are a lot of unknowns, and we’ve learned that sometimes the best behind-the-scenes talent can still make a stinker (Cowboys & Aliens), but we’re hoping for more than a few pleasant surprises (a la X-Men: First Class) to appease us in 2012. Hit the jump to check out our list.

New Production Video for THE HOBBIT Takes Us Behind-the-Scenes of Location Shooting

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 23rd, 2011 at 12:25 pm

Director Peter Jackson continues to give fans an incredibly insightful peek into the production on his two-part The Hobbit adaptation with yet another production video. While the last behind-the-scenes look focused on the 3D aspect of shooting (it’s a must-see and I highly suggest you check it out), the latest video gives us a look into the logistics of location shooting. Jackson and Co. are currently towards the end of a seven-week location shoot schedule, which will provide the director with plenty of gorgeous New Zealand vistas that he’ll transform into Middle Earth.

We get a look into the ridiculously herculean task of moving the entire production unit around the country of New Zealand, and we also get to see quite a bit of shooting. In addition to watching Jackson work, we get a peek at Andy Serkis who’s directing second-unit on the pics, and we get to see Elijah Wood return to Hobbiton. Hit the jump to check out the latest production video. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrives December 14th, 2012, while The Hobbit: There and Back Again will hit theaters on December 13, 2013.

First Trailer and Poster for THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 20th, 2011 at 6:51 pm

Finally, the first trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has been released. Peter Jackson returns to direct the adventure of young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) who sets out on an adventure with a company of dwarves. This trailer really is like a warm embrace from an old friend. While most trailers this far out from release show very little in the way of footage, Jackson shows off a great deal. Freeman looks excellent as Bilbo, the dwarves are fantastic (they sing!), and the tag brought a big smile to my face. While a year is a very long time to wait, this snippet is a swell look into the wonder to come.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film also stars Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, and Stephen Fry.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released on December 14, 2012.

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