If you bought a copy of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, last night you were treated to a special live presentation of Peter Jackson talking about the upcoming sequel, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  In addition, Jackson was joined by stars Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, and Lee Pace as well as The Lord of the Rings cast members Orlando Bloom (who also appears in Smaug), Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan as well as special surprise appearance by Tolkien super-fan Stephen Colbert, who has a cameo in The Hobbit trilogy.  In the presentation, Jackson showed off new concept art, behind-the-scenes video, and a scene from the film.

Hit the jump for more including when we’ll see the first trailer.  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in 3D on December 13th.

Update: WB has asked us to take down the images. 

It seems as if pseudo-Conservative talk show pundit and comedian Stephen Colbert may be joining the cast of J.R.R.Tolkien’s beloved characters in Peter Jackson’s upcoming The Hobbit trilogy.  This is completely unconfirmed and more for fun speculation at this point, but Colbert talked about his visit to The Hobbit set in a recent interview and neither confirmed nor denied a possible cameo.  He did confess to being a Tolkien fan, however, and if that enthusiasm proved enough to sway Jackson, there’s already a precedent set for a Colbert cameo. Hit the jump to see what Colbert had to say.

[Update: THR confirms that Colbert will indeed be making a cameo in The Hobbit, but he won't appear in this fall's An Unexpected Journey so keep an eye out for Colbert in The Desolation of Smaug and/or There and Back Again.]

Thanks to the upcoming slew of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey merchandise heading our way, we now have our first look at Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.  The character doesn’t appear in J.R.R. Tolkien‘s novel, but back in January, Lilly described Tauriel as a warrior and head of the Elven Guard.  “She’s the big shot in the army,” said Lilly. “So she knows how to wield any weapon, but the primary weapons that she uses are a bow and arrow and two daggers. And she’s lethal and deadly.”  So basically she sounds like female Legolas.  Lilly also added that her character would have a larger role in the second movie, although this was back when there were only two movies.  It will be interesting to see how Tauriel gets divided up between Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and There and Back Again.

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

When director Peter Jackson touted the high frame rate of 48 frames per second for his upcoming fantasy epic, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, we were understandably excited.  However, the reality of the technology had the unexpected consequence of looking too real, as if one were standing on set watching a movie being filmed.  While Warner Bros. still believes that 48fps is the way of cinematic future, they’re being careful with their first major release by limiting the sites that will screen The Hobbit at the higher frame rate.  There is talk of expanding the release of future installments in 48fps dependent on audience reaction.  Hit the jump for more.

A new trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has gone online.  As it’s only subtly different from the one that was previously released, folks are referring to this one as The Hobbit 1.1.  Regardless, I’ll take any new footage of Martin Freeman and Ian McKellan I can get at this point.

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.  Hit the jump to check out the new trailer.

The reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise has lingered in development for years now.  Chris Pine has been attached since 2009 and watched director Jack Bender come and go as the months passed.  Though there is still no title, the project is finally making significant forward progress now that Kenneth Branagh signed on to direct and play the villain.  With the hero and the antagonist set, the next task for Branagh and Paramount is to decide on the female lead to play Jack’s wife Cathy.  Deadline hears Keira Knightley is the frontrunner for the role, but Felicity Jones and Evangeline Lilly are also in the mix.  Total Recall co-stars Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel also met for the role, but are reportedly no longer in the running.  Whoever lands the role would sign a deal with options for three movies.  Hit the jump for more on the story.

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.. 

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.

Real Steel is a true underdog tale that combines the grand spectacle of robot boxing with the grounded story of three abandoned beings – a father, a son, and a discarded robot – who, together, have the chance to become real heroes. In 2020, boxing fans have become bored with watching human beings fight each other, so the sport has evolved to the point where robots pummel each other to the death. Washed up, former heavyweight Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) begrudgingly teams up with his long-abandoned son (Dakota Goyo) to turn a junkyard robot into the champ they believe he can be.

At the film’s press day, director Shawn Levy talked about the challenge of getting the robots to work, the decision behind not giving his star robot Atom a face, why he feels he is able to direct kids so easily, creating his own version of the year 2020, the Simul-Cam B technology used to shoot the film, and his personal philosophy for directing. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The greatest achievement in Shawn Levy’s Real Steel is building the world of robot boxing.  The term “robot boxing” sounds incredibly stupid when you hear it and flashes of Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots and the failed TV show Battlebots come to mind.  But Levy does a tremendous job for showing not just the hi-tech wonder of the World Boxing Organization (WBO), but he takes us to the back-alleys, run-down theme parks, and country fairs where a punching robot and its owner can make some cash and win some glory.  Paired with well-choreographed fights that wisely make heavy use of animatronics and practical effects, Real Steel almost has an unbeatable combination.  But the clunky storytelling and awful performance from child actor Dakota Goyo stop the movie from landing a knock-out punch (I promise I’ll try to keep the boxing puns to a minimum).

Evangeline Lilly is working on the transition from the end of Lost into features.  Step 1 is Real Steel, which based on early buzz, should bolster her rep.  The role after that, though, has the potential to be something iconic—at least in certain realms of fandom.  Lilly is shooting The Hobbit films in New Zealand; while on a break for the Real Steel premiere, she discussed her role as the Woodland Elf, Tauriel.  That name will be unfamiliar even to the most devoted Hobbit fan because the character was invented for the movies by director Peter Jackson and his screenwriting partners Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens.  Lilly vouched for their work:

“I believe [Tauriel] is truly authentic, because Tolkien refers to the Woodland elves.  He just doesn’t talk about who they are specifically… [Jackson,  Walsh, and Boyens] know that world so well.  They are not going to create a character that’s not true to Tolkien’s world.”

Lilly certainly looks the part of an elf, and manages to voice her respect for the material her without condescending or pandering.  The highlight amid discussion of fan response and script security was Lilly whipping out a couple of Elvish phrases.  Watch the clip after the jump.

With director Shawn Levy’s Real Steel getting released October 7th, DreamWorks has sent over seven clips.  Produced by Steven Spielberg  and starring Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, and Dakota Goyo, the film is set in near future when robot-boxing has become the most popular sport in the world.  The pic centers on Charlie (Jackman) a former boxer who is attempting to mentor/program a robot to the top of the android-boxing ranks along with his estranged son.

I got to see a screening a few days ago and have to say…the movie is pretty great and the effects are incredible.  It definitely has the Spielberg magic and I think a lot of fathers and sons are going to really enjoy it.  Also, Levy does a great job with the material and I really think this is his ticket into fandom’s hearts.  Trust me, after this opens, you’re going to see a lot of people talking about Levy in a new light.   It won’t surprise me when people start mentioning his name on some high profile projects.  Hit the jump for the clips and look for new interviews with the cast very soon.

A new trailer for Rock ‘Em Sock—er—Real Steel has been released. This one’s the Japanese version and gives us a look at some more footage (with super-serious Japansese narration!). While the visual effects on the robots looks fantastic, the story still comes off as incredibly ham-fisted. I’m still waiting for something about this film to look appealing besides “the robots look cool.”

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Anthony Mackie, Hope Davis, Kevin Durand, and Evangeline Lilly.  Real Steel opens October 7th.

Peter Jackson has added two more to the cast of The Hobbit. Evangeline Lilly (Lost) and Australian actor Barry Humphries have joined the cast of the two-part adaptation, currently filming in New Zealand. Lilly will be playing a new character—The Woodland Elf, Tauriel. Beyond the name, Jackson is remiss to reveal any other information about the role. Humphries, a talented voice actor and comedian, will be playing the Goblin King using motion-capture, akin to Andy Serkis’ performance of Gollum.

Hit the jump to read Jackson’s fully statement on the casting news. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released on December 14^th, 2012, with The Hobbit: There and Back Again hitting theaters on December 13^th, 2013.

DreamWorks has released a new trailer for Shawn Levy’s Real Steel.  The film stars Hugh Jackman as a washed-up boxer who reconnects with his estranged son (Dakota Goyo, who played Lil’ Thor in Thor) as they build and train a fighting robot to fight in the World Robot Boxing championship.  I’m trying to cast aside cynicism on this project, but I can’t get past Levy.  His films tend to be lowest common denominator family fare and judging by this trailer, it doesn’t look like Real Steel is going to break that trend.  It looks too saccharine to be fun and too silly to be taken seriously.  Hopefully I’m wrong and I’ll finally like one of the guy’s films because he’s certainly not going away anytime soon. It’s worth mentioning that Steven Spielberg was heavily involved in the project and fought to keep the project at DreamWorks when the studio broke away from Paramount.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Click here to check out Steve’s visit to the editing bay.  He thinks the film is going to be good.  Based on what I’ve seen (and granted, he’s seen more of the movie than I have), I beg to differ. Real Steel also stars Anthony Mackie, Hope Davis, Kevin Durand, and Evangeline Lilly.  The film opens October 7th.