Sci-Fi Storm

See what happens when you work for 24 hours straight without much net access? You miss BIG news.

Peter Jackson announced on his Facebook page yesterday that The Hobbit will, in fact, be split into three films, instead of the originally planned two:

It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’

We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.

So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.

It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, “a tale that grew in the telling.”

We already know The Hobbit was being split up into two films, with subtitles “An Unexpected Journey” and “There and Back Again”. But producer/director Peter Jackson sparked rumors that it could in fact become three movies!

While speaking at Comic-Con during which he showed footage of the films, he said that he’d like to film some more footage. “We’ve been certainly talking to the studio about some of the material we can’t film,” he said. “And we’ve been asking them if we can do a bit more filming next year. Which I don’t know what would come of that, whether that would be extended additions or not. But those discussions are ongoing. I’d like to shoot a bunch more material that we can’t shoot. There’s so much good stuff in the appendices that we haven’t been able to squeeze into these movies. That’s a discussion that we’re having.”

It appears that the stuff they “can’t” film is stuff from the appendices, but that they DO have rights to film material from notes that Tolkien made about The Hobbit, and was included in the end of Return of the King.

But with the first movie making it’s debut this December, is it too late to be thinking about reorganizing the films to add footage?

Update: I missed this, but the studio (Warner Bros) told Variety there are “no planned or surprise announcements” involving a third film. “The plan was always for two.”

After 266 days of shooting, Peter Jackson announced on his Facebook page on Thursday that they have completed principal photography for The Hobbit, and will be heading in to start editing – although with a side trip to Comic-Con!

It’s been a while since I posted one of these, but enjoy the latest video from Peter Jackson behind the scenes on the production of The Hobbit. This time they take it to the studio…
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It seems there are still white knights out there…or at least White Wizards. Gandalf himself, Ian McKellan, along with The Hobbit co-star Stephen Fry, both stepped in to pay the licensing fee for a Southhampton, England pub that for twenty years operated under the name The Hobbit.

It seems that the forces of Mordor let loose the orcs-I mean, Saul Zaentz Company, which has held various rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit since the 70s, sent in the lawyers to force The Hobbit to change their name. The pub also uses character likenesses as well as having drinks named after characters. Zentz then also offered the pub to pay a licensing fee instead.

In step McKellan and Fry, along with their followers on Facebook and Twitter, asking the company to “stand down”, with Fry calling the action “self-defeating bullying” and McKellan saying it was “unnecessary pettiness”. They then told the pub that they would pay the licensing fee.

The pub is still cautious though…the terms haven’t been worked out just yet. “Until everything is in black and white, on paper, we’re going to be a bit reserved because it could be $100 this year and $20,000 next year,” according to the owner, Stella Roberts.

Peter Jackson is still at work, and he’s still letting us tag along for the ride! The locations are beautiful, and you can also see several of the actors in makeup. And I find humor that they film near a city named Dunedin (the Dúnedain were the descendants of the Men of Numenor, including Aragorn…)

100 more days of shooting!

This is just breaking: Scottish actor Billy Connolly (The Last Samurai, Brave) will join the cast of The Hobbit as Dain Ironfoot, the cousin to Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage, Robin Hood). And it appears that there are just around 100 days left of shooting!

Actor (and Tolkien aficionado) Sir Christopher Lee, who turns 90 in May, gave a video Christmas message to his fans via YouTube, in two parts, which you can see below.

In part one, he talks about his roles of 2011, including Hugo and The Hobbit.

Unfortunately you can see that he has become weaker with age, and he even mentions that he doesn’t take long parts any more as he doesn’t have the energy. About the The Hobbit films, he says, “I hope to live to see.”
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All I can say is…YES. I’m going back to Middle-Earth.

In the latest video blog from Peter Jackson, they discuss about filming in 3D, including some of the tech involved. I need to see this movie NOW!