Our story so far: Peter Jackson made three Middle-earth movies and people loved them. Now he is making two more and people already love them too. MrCere, Senior Staff, writer and photographer at TheOneRing.net (around since 1999) went to NZ to see what he could see. Landed in Queenstown, found lots of LOTR stuff, drove north to see the people of the ring, visited Hobbiton set and now is in Wellington, center of NZ’s cinematic empire.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND — I thought, and it makes me chuckle now, that when I landed in Wellington I would finally be based in one place long enough to really crank out some copy. Ha!
Instead, Wellington has been a whirlwind but that is a great thing, not a bad thing. I often contemplate cancelling one of the events here so I can spend hours writing and posting photos but I haven’t cancelled anything yet and each time I go to do something, I find that I am very glad to have been along.
Some of those events have tourism ties and then end up having direct ties to things here at TheOneRing, even when I think they will not. Other things, like spending the day with the kids at Weta, are directly tied in. None of them so far have been worth sacrificing and time is running out fast. But stories I have in some stage of ready:
* Hobbit set visit with images
* An exclusive with Richard Taylor Continue reading “Wellington is a whirlwind, smells like Hobbit”
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Last month, Andy Serkis’ rep hinted to EW that he expected a legitimate Best Supporting Actor Oscar campaign for his client, whose Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes was by far the most compelling and fully-formed character that motion-capture technology has yet produced. At Monday’s Gotham Independent Awards, Fox CEO Tom Rothman seemed to confirm such an effort, telling the Hollywood Reporter that the studio planned to “push … hard” for Serkis to become the first mo-cap performance to be recognized in the Academy’s acting categories. More..
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Put some cheer into your “Black Friday!” To kick off the holiday season, we’ve cast some of the Hobbit gang in a musical revue guaranteed to put a smile even on the grumpy ole’ Necromancer’s face. From TheOneRing.net to you, go forth and make merry! Enjoy!
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Rebecca Keegan writes: Oscar’s supporting actor race will be a hairy one this year — and something of a digital proving ground. Andy Serkis, who played Caesar, the hyper-intelligent chimp in this summer’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” is getting an awards push courtesy of 20th Century Fox. Serkis’ performance — which tracks Caesar from his childhood raised by a human scientist (James Franco) through his political awakening as an adult chimp in a cruelly run primate sanctuary — was delivered via the same computer-graphics techniques used in “Avatar.” More..
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IGN caught up with Andy Serkis and, among other things, asked him when fans can expect the first trailer for The Hobbit. Here’s what Andy had to say:
“There will be a trailer fairly soon, actually. Around Christmas time, I believe.”
Besides reprising his role as Gollum, Serkis has also taken up duties as Second Unit Director on the films, concerning which he says:
“It’s quite fascinating, I’m having a ball. It’s a huge operation, really. We’re on the road at the moment, at various different locations on South Island in New Zealand. There are some truly remarkable landscapes that we’re filming in. It’s just stunning.”
Andy also spoke a bit about shooting in 5K at 48 fps. To read the entire interview, head over to IGN.
So which December film will have The Hobbit trailer playing in front of it? Join the speculation on our boards.
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Variety recently interviewed Benedict Cumberbatch about the iconic roles he’s lately been playing on both TV and cinema, and there’s a small bit where the man talks about his preparation for the role of Smaug.
The relevant excerpt follows:
“I’ll be donning … well, probably not Andy Serkis’ sweaty wet suit … I’m sure they dry clean it.
Playing a reptile is something I don’t believe has been done before. I’ve already started working out, crawling around on my belly whenever I can without alarming people too much.”
Thanks to message board member Oleander Took for the alert!
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