Future “Hobbit” director Guillermo del Toro and former “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson sat down with a world-wide internet audience and answered a lot more than the announced “20 questions” this weekend.

Hosted by Weta, there were a lot of minor details and significant confirmations and revelations about the gigantic production that will yield two “Hobbit” related movies, one in 2011 and the second in 2012.

Peter Jackson said,

“2009 will be dedicated to pre-production on both movies and 2010 will be the year we shoot both films back to back. Post productin follows one film at a time with The Hobbit being released Dec(ember) 2011, and F2 (film two) release(d) Dec(ember) 2012.”

Continue reading “Hobbit chat with Peter Jackson and G. del Toro peppered with big news (and little details about both films)”

Guillermo Del Toro 2In an exclusive interview with TheOneRing.net, Guillermo del Toro talks about Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Howard Shore, Animatronics vs CGI, the ‘tone’ of the upcoming ‘Hobbit’ films and much more!

We had the opportunity to chat with Guillermo del Toro this morning from his current HQ in London. He’s hard at work putting the finishing touches on ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ and taking interviews from news outlets about that film, and the recent announcement that he’ll be doing ‘The Hobbit’ and a subsequent Hobbit sequel down the line.

First things first, YES, that is him on our message boards, he told me he intends to post there as often as he humanly can. And yes, he is as cool and approachable as he sounds. Take a look at my interview! Continue reading “Guillermo del Toro Chats with TORN About ‘The Hobbit’ Films!”

Lawrence French writes: While watching the extended DVD version of LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING the other night, I was once again enthralled by the magnificence of the production, and thought back to several of the interviews I had done on the movie that never made it into CFQ’s December 2003 issue on the film. Director Peter Jackson had grown up in New Zealand as an avid reader of CFQ, so I had virtually unlimited access to anyone I wanted to speak with about the making of the picture. Unfortunately, by that time, Cinefantastique founder-publisher-editor Fred Clarke was no longer at the helm of the magazine, so what would have certainly been a deluxe double issue if Fred had been in control, containing comprehensive material on the first fantasy film to ever win a best picture Oscar (and ten others), ended up cut down the to a mere 15 pages! Supernal Dreams: Tolkien artist Alan Lee on designing middle-earth for “Lord of the Rings”

Alan Lee in ParisBoard member Beren had the good fortune to interview Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee recently at the Paris Book Fair where Lee was invited by the French Tolkien publishing company, Christian Bourgois Editeurs, to sign the French translation of “The Children of Hurin.” In the in-depth interview, Lee describes the joys and challenges of illustrating Tolkien’s world, and comments that it would be nice to be involved with The Hobbit. [Read More]

Smeagirl and many other fans sent along this email from HarperCollins: As a registered member of the official HarperCollins site for J.R.R. Tolkien, we wanted to give you the best opportunity possible to take advantage of a forthcoming, special signed and limited edition of his final masterpiece – The Children Of Húrin. The book is an essential for all Tolkien fans and represents a unique opportunity, with only 500 being printed. Click here to register your interest or read on for more information. As you are doubtless aware, The Children Of Húrin was completed by his son Christopher last year and the special signed and limited edition is being released in conjunction with the Tolkien estate and publisher HarperCollins. Continue reading “HarperCollins Offers Signed Limited Editions of ‘The Children Of Húrin’!”