I got this email from a friend who’s just arrived in London:
“On my trip from LAX to London on B.A., I browsed through the inflight magazine “highlife”, as you do when you have 9 hours stuck in a seat just that exact width to be perfectly uncomfortable. In such mags, they typically do articles on a number of travel destinations. I was a little suprised to read in the little highlights-strip on the bottom of the cover:
PLUS: St Moritz, South Carolina, British Columbia, Middle-Earth
Woa! I don’t know what they put in the drinks on BA, but transporting you to Middle-earth would be a feat.
Anyway, there is a small article – lovely glossy photo of hobbiton, still under construction(!). Title is “Will Middle-Earth cost the earth?” Stupid title, they don’t talk about cost-overruns or anything. Oh well. Pretty std article, the only things picked up that I didn’t know about (but you probably already do) was:
– it said PJ “has experimented with the idea of digitising the entire movie, so details such as cloud formations could be changed and sunrises and sunsets could be added, or enhanced.” I noted the past tense – I guess that means they AREN’T doing it??(Doing some I think, not all – T)
– He has hinted that he may be filming extra battle footage for a non-PG 13 version for later release on video and DVD.
– I didn’t know that after the 36 minute executive screening of battle scenes, it was New Line that requested 3 movies instead of the 2 because they were so impressed.” This info taken mostly from the 1998 Jackson/AICN’s ’20 Questions’ interview, I think – T)
