Last week, we reported that Peter Jackson was in serious talks with Warner Bros. on how to expand his two-part adaptation of The Hobbit into a trilogy.  The studio obviously would love to have another tent pole flick lined-up, but they also had to consider the costs of extending contracts and pouring more money into additional shooting.  There was already some bewilderment on the part of fans when Jackson wanted to develop J.R.R. Tolkien‘s relatively short novel into two movies, but the writer-director is pulling from more than just the narrative.  He’s using material from the appendices and Tolkien’s notes in an attempt to tonally “make it as similar to The Lord of the Rings,” so all the movies could be viewed as a cohesive whole.

Now it looks like Warner Bros has agreed to another trip to Middle-earth, and the third installment in The Hobbit trilogy will arrive summer 2014.  Hit the jump for more.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is due out December 14th.  The Hobbit: There and Back Again is due out December 13, 2013. [Update: Possible titles for the new installment have been uncovered.  More after the jump.]

Peter Jackson has decided to return to Middle Earth for not two, but three, The Hobbit movies.  Why settle for just The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again when you can have a whole prequel trilogy as a companion to The Lord of the Rings?  That seems to be Jackson’s thought process as he and production partner Fran Walsh are currently sorting out the logistics of a third film along with screenwriter and producer, Philippa Boyens (The Lord of the Rings trilogy). Jackson had previously teased the idea at Comic-Con, but now the director is reportedly in serious discussions with Warner Bros. to get them on board for the trilogy.  Hit the jump for more details.

The latest video blog for director Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has gone up, and it’s quite the treat.  At the film’s Comic-Con panel (you can read my recap right here), Jackson debuted a new video blog that focuses on the final days of principal photography.  A portion of that blog is now available to the general public, along with some new footage at the beginning that documents Jackson’s trip to Comic-Con and the cast’s experience at Nerd Fest 2012.  It’s a nice watch for those that were unable to make the trek to San Diego, and it gives a sort of “behind-the-scenes” look at what filmmakers go through when attending The Con.

The Hobbit portion of the blog gives us some great looks at the city of Dale, the Goblin sets, Beorn’s house, as well as our first peeks at actors Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown and Barry Humphries as Gorkin the Goblin King.  Hit the jump to watch for yourself.

While at Comic-Con for a big presentation in Hall H, director Peter Jackson, along with actors Martin Freeman, Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis, talked to press about the highly anticipated release of The Hobbit films, and whether or not there might be some additional shooting for a possible third film.  During the press conference, they discussed how The Hobbit films will fit in with The Lord of the Rings films in their tone, why it was right to shoot in 3D and 48 frames per second, and the biggest advances in technology since Rings.  You can read our recap of the Comic-Con panel here.

Andy Serkis also talked about how he came to be the Second Unit director, while Martin Freeman revealed that Season 3 of Sherlock is likely to shooting from January through April, of next year.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Continuing on with this massively exciting day in Hall H at Comic-Con 2012, director Peter Jackson brought us some new footage from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as well as some looks at scenes from the second part of the adaptation, There and Back Again.  Jackson shot his two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein’s novel in 3D at 48 frames-per-second, and following the mixed reaction from CinemaCon I was really hoping to be able to judge the footage myself.  Alas, Jackson opted to screen the new footage in 2D and at 24fps.  Nevertheless, we still got to see footage from Jackson’s return to Middle Earth and hear from the lovely Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and more.

Hit the jump for my full recap of the panel.

After numerous delays and production limbo, Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit went in front of cameras in March 2011.  Today, filming has wrapped on the two-part prequel to The Lord of the Rings.  Jackson released the following statement on his Facebook page:  “We made it! Shoot day 266 and the end of principal photography on The Hobbit. Thanks to our fantastic cast and crew for getting us this far, and to all of you for your support! Next stop, the cutting room. Oh, and Comic Con!”

I’m curious if the terrific production blogs will continue, and we’ll get a peek into the films’ editing process.  In any event, we’ll definitely be getting a new look at the film when the movie comes by Hall H next Saturday.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D on December 14th.  The Hobbit: There and Back Again opens in 3D on December 13th, 2013.  Hit the jump for the synopsis, and in LOTR-related news, click here for the first Mondo poster for the beloved fantasy franchise.

Comic-con may be the first place that a lot of us will get to see Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit in motion before we get closer to its December 14th release, but for now we’ll have to settle for this new image of Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.  The magazine’s annual Comic-Con issue also features interviews from Jackson and the actors.  The story of The Hobbit, which will be split into two parts (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and December 13, 2013′s The Hobbit: There and Back Again) tells the story of a younger Bilbo Baggins, before the adventures of his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood) in The Lord of the Rings. Hit the jump to check out the cover image and to read some tidbits from Jackson and McKellen.. 

The Hobbit has posted yet another production blog on its Facebook page, and the series continues to set a high watermark in behind-the-scenes featurettes.  Rather than just have interviews talking heads and a look at what’s happening on stage, these blogs have taken viewers into the true nitty-gritty of production.  In the latest blog, we take a trip around the Stone Street stages, and get to drop in on the production offices to see the minor but crucial details like handing off new script pages, and trying to get flight arrangements for composer Howard Shore.  We also move to the workshop aspects like building the prosthetics, weapons, and see the massive stages and backlot where green screens and hundreds of technicians create the movie magic we know and love.  There are also visits to the actors’ trailers, the art department, and so much more.  And stay tuned to the end for a big, Elfish reveal.

Hit the jump to check out the production blog.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D on December 14th.  The Hobbit: There and Back Again opens in 3D on December 13th, 2013.

With director James McTeigue‘s (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin) The Raven opening April 27, earlier today I got to speak with Luke Evans by phone since he’s busy shooting Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit movies in New Zealand.  If you’re not familiar with The Raven, the story takes place in 1840s Baltimore where a series of grisly murders appear to have been inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe (played by John Cusack).  Poe and a detective (Evans) must team up to find the killer before he takes out the woman Poe loves (Alice Eve).  The film also stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Brendan Gleeson.   For more on the film, here’s the trailer and 40 images.

While I’ll have the full interview with Evans online next week, I wanted to share what he said about The Hobbit today.  As most of you know, Jackson is shooting the films digitally on the RED EPIC in 3D and he’s pushing the boundaries of cinema forward by filming 48fps (frames per second) instead of the normal 24fps.  What that means is, you’ll see very little motion blur when the camera moves or during the action scenes.  I’ve seen 48fps and 60fps first hand and it’s like you’re looking through a window without any glass.  It’s incredible.  For more on 48fps, here’s Jackson’s recent video blog.  Anyway, Evans talks about his reaction to this new way of filming and what it means to be involved in the films.  Hit the jump for more.

As the holiday break has come to an end, director Peter Jackson has unveiled yet another production video taking us behind the scenes of The Hobbit. We’ve already been given an in-depth look at the 3D filming process, and during the last production video Jackson showed us what goes into the film’s expansive location shooting. This latest blog is essentially a “Part 2” to the on location video, as Jackson shows us more of the breathtaking locations used to bring Middle Earth to life. This video also gives us a great look into Andy Serkis’ work as second unit director. He shows us how he beams the scenes the he’s shot over to Jackson and his camp in order to keep Jackson up to date on all aspects of the shoot.

Hit the jump to check out the video. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D on December 14th, followed by The Hobbit: There and Back Again in 3D on December 13th, 2013.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.