Smaug WETA Temp CoverDue to be released
on April 1 (no, not an April fools joke), the new book Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon comes from the same wonderful team behind the three The Hobbit: Chronicles books. This release will be 96 pages, exploring the creation of the title character of the second Hobbit film from concept art to digital realization. Final cover art is not yet available, but you can order the book on Weta’s website as well as Amazon.com and other online book stores. Continue reading “‘Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon’ now available for pre-order on Amazon.com”

TheOneRing.net with Galatia Films offer this exclusive interview with the always phenomenal Richard Taylor, Daniel Falconer and Peter Lyon of Weta Workshop. If you watch the video you will learn about Weta’s first meeting with Peter Lyon and how “The Lord or the Rings,” behind-the-scenes videos were created, developed and even changed people’s lives. The original interview was done for Galatia’s Live Reclaiming the Blade Day. Check out its Kickstarter page for more details and the full interview. Tomorrow we will release another interview from the live broadcast, this with one of the stars from “The Lord of the Rings” film. Tune in tomorrow to find out which one! You can also support the Kickstarter campaign for a new film that will feature “The Hobbit” swords and Narnia actors Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) and William Moseley (Chronicles of Narnia).

Weta Workshop has produced well over fifteen thousand museum quality weapons for projects within the creative industries of film, gaming and replica collectibles, including Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong,” Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander,” Edward Zwick’s “The Last Samurai,” Andrew Adamson’s “Chronicles of Narnia,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Hellboy,” Stephen Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the Microsoft Halo 3 short films and, more recently, James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9.”

We are happy to share with you our complete coverage of the happenings at Comic-Con 2013! Check out the video series below!

Meet The Hobbit Artists

Meet several of the artists who worked on The Hobbit and learn more about what they’re up to, along with several other talented folks at Weta, including Greg Broadmore and the comedic antics of Daniel Falconer! [Happy Hobbit Goes to SDCC: Meet the Hobbit Artists]

Continue reading “Happy Hobbit: Complete SDCC Coverage”

SDCC2013 TH WETAPreview night at San Diego Comic Con is just that, a 3 hour preview of the show, with the Exhibitor’s hall open, and several sneak peeks of upcoming network Pilot shows for the Fall Season of new television. There are no panels or major presentations going on, just the room screening the pilots (no guests) and the gigantic exhibit hall. Here you see an image of the side approach to the WETA booth from a bit of a distance, just look for Gandalf watching over everyone.  Continue reading “SDCC Wednesday Preview night Recap”

Fell Beast being hoistedOf the three trips I took to New Zealand in 2003 and 2004 to conduct interviews for my book, only the first happened before the release of The Return of the King. I didn’t go thinking that I would suddenly be privy to spoilers and secrets. Shooting was over, I assumed (wrongly), and I figured my interviewees would not tell or show me anything confidential.

But at times they did. In my previous installment of this series, “Places Full of Magic,” I wrote about the facilities I visited. Now it’s time to reveal a few things I learned there—and kept quiet about. Continue reading “Researching THE FRODO FRANCHISE: Part 4, Now It Can Be Told: Secrets and Spoilers”