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Exclusive to The Hollywood Reporter:

Gollum Actor Andy Serkis to Serve as Second Unit Director on ‘The Hobbit’ (Exclusive)

“There is really a sense of Peter [Jackson] wanting people around him who totally understand the material and the work ethic,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Andy Serkis, who played the iconic Gollum in Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Rings, is taking on a new role in The Hobbit 1 and 2. In addition to reprising his role as the tragic creature, Serkis also has been tapped by Jackson to serve as second unit director on the two films, which are now in production in New Zealand.

“I think I understand Peter’s sensibility and we have a common history of understanding Middle Earth,” Serkis told The Hollywood Reporter. “A lot of the crew from The Lord of the Rings was returning to work on The Hobbit. There is really a sense of Peter wanting people around him who totally understand the material and the work ethic.” [Full Release] (Thanks to Ringer Kookie for the heads up!)

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The long road to ‘The Hobbit’ filming was full of hurdles. And sometimes, it seems those of us whom report on the topic are downright anxious to raise the alarm when another possible ‘hurdle’ presents itself. Local NZ sources are reporting that the the permission by the Matamata-Piako District Council to film on the land where the Hobbiton set is built will run out by the end of April. Obviously with the start of filming being delayed for a variety of reasons, the most recent PJ’s hospital stay, that time frame is going to have to be adjusted. Is there a soul out there who actually believes the local council is not going to approve an extension? Ultimately, the production company will apply for an extension and it will be granted. Not too worry. With that said, here are links to two articles on the topic. [Article 1] [Article 2]

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Thanks to Ringer Linuxelf for sending along a scan of Monday’s Dominion’s Post newspaper article ‘Filming on The Hobbit begins today.’ Obviously published on March 21st 2011, the article features the now very famous image of Peter Jackson walking through the doorway of Bag End. Don’t you wish you lived in a place where Hobbit news was front and center in your local paper? Click the image for the large version. [Large Version]

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How cool is this pic!? On the left is Peter Jackson from ‘Women’s Day’ magazine June 14th 2001 sitting in Bag End. Now, nearly 10 years later, on the right, Peter Jackson at the start of filming for The Hobbit films. Again sitting in a revitalized and appropriately different Bag End. As you can tell, a few things have changed on the physical set, but that is to be expected since we are looking at Bag End 60 years earlier on the right. We’d like to thank our facebook buddy David V. for posting a version of this pic on our wall and inspiring the large version above. [Download Large Version]

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The headlines related to ‘The Hobbit’ films have been unpredictable as the weather! We thought it might be a fun exercise to discuss what ‘The Hobbit’ headlines will be in September 2011. Will it be…’Lazy Lob! Attercop! Spiders revealed!’ or maybe ‘No delays for The Hobbit! Production on Schedule’. How about ‘TheOneRing.net’s Server Under Water!’ What do you think? Share your thoughts in our forum, comments or on Facebook!

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TORn was one of the guests this week on Fictional Frontiers with Sohaib to talk about ‘The Hobbit’. You can listen to the broadcast right here. Other guests include film critic James Berardinelli and the incomparable Stan Lee!

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Hollywood Reporter: Andy Serkis to serve as Second Unit Director on The Hobbit!

Category: Director Rumors