News from the set

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! i'm supper excited!!!! Trailer's comin soon too!!!!

http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/188227/visitation-hobbits

Sylvester McCoy will play Radagast the Brown in the Hobbit films, and though he has already visited New Zealand twice for both studio work and shots on location, he will be back for more in 2012. McCoy spoke to TVNZ earlier this year, and said he would be “coming back for a couple of days” in February.

He mentioned how he played the Fool to Ian McKellen’s King Lear when they both toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2007. When asked if there was anyone that he looked up to, McCoy joked, “I look up to everybody; I’m not very tall. […] Ian McKellen I look up to all the time, but again, it’s because he’s such a tall fellow.”

McCoy is very tight-lipped about details of The Hobbit films, joking that he had been “programmed by Weta” to cover his mouth every time he said the word “Hobbit.” Fortunately, at Dragon Con Atlanta in September 2011, he remarked, “I can’t tell you anything about the costume. But if you think about Saruman the White and what he wore, and if you think about Gandalf the Grey and the color he wore, there might be a hint in my name. That’s all I can say.”

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/52094

Honestly, the AICN reports are almost as good as the production videos. I'll miss them when they're finished. Also, thank you for posting them all here so I don't have to find them myself, chris!

yes you are right Eldo Quints reports are great, hes really in the thick of all the action, I am so jealous.

Eldorion wrote:Honestly, the AICN reports are almost as good as the production videos. I'll miss them when they're finished. Also, thank you for posting them all here so I don't have to find them myself, chris!

Anytime

Hobbit trailer before Tintin

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Hobbit-Trailer-May-Debut-Adventures-Tintin-Next-Month-28072.html

Gandalfs Blog

http://www.mckellen.com/cinema/hobbit-movie/111129.htm

Well now I'm going to go see Tin Tin!!!! Apart from the fact my name's in the title...

chris63 wrote:Hobbit trailer before Tintin

Interesting ... I suspected it would be before Sherlock Holmes 2. Well, only way to find out is to wait and see, I guess. I do hope its before Holmes since that movie comes out earlier, though.

Do people really go to see a film they are not that keen on just to see a trailer for a film they are? Cause if so, that's mad.

I know several people who have quite seriously said that, although I was interesting in seeing both SH2 and Tintin before the trailer was announced. But yeah, I agree it's weird, particularly since the trailer will inevitably be on YouTube as soon as it's released.

seeing it on the big screen has more wow factor.

True. I guess I just wish I had the money to spent $8-10 to see a movie trailer.

The Hobbit’s second unit has been spotted filming on Treble Cone, in the Matukituki Valley. Belinda Lee Hope, who is the unit manager, told the Otago Daily Times that the second unit had been split into two camps for a time, and would not confirm whether Andy Serkis was present. She did mention that the crew was enjoying their time in Wanaka, adding, “It is great. It is a perfect day. And all the local helicopter companies have been great.”

When Otago Daily Times journalist Marjorie Cook visited, she guessed that there were about 250 crew members, 40 trucks, and 40 other vehicles at the camp. She saw four Queenstown-based helicopters, and described their activity. “On helicopter ferried a large box into the mountains on a strop, another hovered over Twin Falls and two more were hovering over the peak of Treble Cone,” she said.

Publicist Ceris Price also raved about the “support from local people” saying, “They have all been very co-operative. We are very grateful for that. And it is a very beautiful area. We love filming in that country and showing it off.” Price expected that filming would be finished by today, but would not comment as to the second unit’s next location.

I can’t help but muse about possible locations from The Hobbit that they could have been filming. We don’t know much about what they were shooting, but we do know that it was a mountain, so that leads me to three possible conclusions. It could be the mountain cave where Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves find the trolls’ horde or it could be the location of the eagles’ eyries. It is also possible that the location is in some way a stand-in for the Lonely Mountain itself. I guess we’ll have to wait to find out!

Given that they are filming in mountains, plural, I don't think they're shooting scenes for the Lonely Mountain, singular. I hope not, anyway: the Lonely Mountain is called lonely for a reason.

I do wonder just how much filming for the Misty Mountains sequence they'll do on location. I'm sure Gollum's cave was a set, but I don't know how feasible it would be to have the exterior scenes be on location. Hopefully there won't be any cast or crew members climbing up the side while everyone else flies, though.

Poor Boromir

Wait what? explain!

Sean Bean is afraid of flying. The scene where Boromir picks up the Ring in Fellowship was shot on location on the side of mountain and all of the cast and crew flew their by helicopter. The experience was so bad for Sean Bean, though, that whenever they had other scenes where most people flew, he would go on foot, even if it meant mountain-climbing in full costume.

Poor Boromir indeed!!!!

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/12/02/50931-bards-son-bain-to-be-seen-in-the-hobbit/

Bard’s Son Bain to be Seen in The Hobbit?

Otaku-sempai writes: It seems that Bain, the son of Bard, will be included in the films. Actor Michael Fowler has allegedly been cast as the Tall Scale Double for the character. Michael Fowler on starnow.co.uk

That doesn't make any sense. Even if they were looking to include a descendant of Bard during the LOTR-era framing sequence, they would need Brand -- Bard's grandson. Unless of course the filmmakers are just showing their usual (lack of) knowledge about Tolkien and confused the two.

Barrels out of bond

http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/6090867/Hobbits-elude-us-but-we-get-to-set

That's great! I hope the guy doesn't get in trouble; maybe they'll do like with LOTR and invite him back. Loved the Predator reference, too.