For those who are interested in the finances behind the making of The Hobbit trilogy, here’s a news story from the NZ Herald about the subsidies that Warner Brothers received (thanks to ringer Ataahua for the link):
New Zealand taxpayers put up an “extreme” amount of money to get the Hobbit films made here – and the real winner was Warner Bros, the Green Party says. The Government has defended the spending of close to $200 million as having wider benefits – including more than one in ten visitors citing the movies as a reason they became interested in visiting.
The latest statements for Warner Bros Entertainment’s New Zealand subsidiary, 3 Foot 7, show the firm received a large budget screen production grant of $38.3 million in the 12 months to March 31 this year. That adds to the $54.6 million it received in the 2014 year, $31.3 million in 2013, $46.9 million in 2012 and $20.2 million in 2011. Across the five years, production costs amounted to around $1.1 billion, meaning the Warner Bros unit has claimed about 17 per cent of total costs under the grant.
Green Party finance spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter said the level of taxpayer money stumped up was “pretty extreme”.Read More…
After weeks of rumors (and some nail biting), it’s official! The DVD and Blu-ray editions of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, will be available on Tuesday, November 17. Those who prefer a digital copy can own it four weeks earlier, on Tuesday, October 17. The official press release follows:
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES
EXTENDED EDITION
A PRODUCTION OF NEW LINE CINEMA AND
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES, THE FINAL FILM IN THE EPIC THE HOBBIT TRILOGY, ARRIVES ON BLU-RAY™, DVD AND DIGITAL HD FROM WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
EXTENDED EDITION FEATURES A 20-MINUTE LONGER CUT AND
MORE THAN NINE HOURS OF NEW SPECIAL FEATURES
The Hobbit Trilogy Extended EditionAlso Available on
Blu-ray 3D™, Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD
Burbank, CA, August 25, 2015 – The adventures of Bilbo Baggins come to an epic conclusion when “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” from Academy Award®-winning* filmmaker Peter Jackson, is released as an Extended Edition on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), the extended cut of the final film in The Hobbit Trilogy includes 20 minutes of extra footage and more than 9 hours of bonus features that will complete every Hobbit fan’s collection. The film, the third in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on November 17 and will be available early on Digital HD on October 20.
BOFTA EE Canadian cover – courtesy of digitalbits.com
Bill Hunt over at Digital Bits.com came out with two updates on The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies yesterday afternoon. The first, which you can read here, is that the street date for the DVD release looks to be Tuesday, November 17th, according to Amazon.ca which, according to Bill, almost always coincides with with Warner Bros. release date. The second update is that the official running time appears to be 164 minutes, which means the EE will be around 20 minutes longer than the theatrical version, not 30 minutes as intimated by Peter Jackson in various news outlets last December.
The shorter running time has been rumored for the last week or so, with the reaction from our Hobbit forum users mostly reflecting disappointment regarding the ‘lost’ 10 minutes. Of course, there are also the ‘glass half full’ fans that are hoping that quality will beat out quantity in this case. Let us know what your reaction is in the comments, on the forum, or in Barliman’s chatroom. In the mean time, Bill believes an official announcement from Warner Bros should be forthcoming in the next few days.
The summer of Smaug continues with another new product of the best dragon to ever appear on the big screen. We’re pleased to team up with our friends at The Bridge Direct to exclusively announce their Smaug action figure for their The Hobbit Trilogy line of figurines. This huge Smaug figure has an exclusive pre-sale starting TODAY at WB.Com in which fans can place a pre-order for this figure that will be limited to only 3000 pieces world-wide. Smaug could be yours for $69 and will be shipping from WB.Com in December of this year.
Full description of Smaug from The Bridge Direct:
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ™ Smaug ™ Large Scale Poseable Action Figure
From the depths of Erebor and the film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies comes this detailed, limited edition Smaug the dragon large scale action figure, complete with a surprise 1.5″ figure and accessory. Featuring an impressive 22 inch wingspan, Smaug stands tall, measuring 21 inches. No details were overlooked as this center piece of any action figure collection was in development. Smaug boasts ten points of articulation and underwent over 140 painting procedures. The figure is plastic, but Smaug’s tail and wingtips have a wire core, allowing for additional poses. This item has a limited edition production run of 3000 units and each box will be labeled with a gold sticker indicating the number.
Some of the coolest things you’ll see at Comic-Con are the Lego built characters either at their booth, other booths, and even outside of the convention center itself.
This year if you happen to make it to the Warner Bros. booth (#4545) you will get to see a Lego Smaug standing over six feet tall and weighing 411 pounds. Smaug took 625 hours to complete and includes 83,433 pieces. The folks at Lego also have some surprises for fans showing off new sets for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies as well as an exclusive Bard figure. Continue reading “Lego Smaug coming to Comic-Con 2014”
Further to our earlier report this week, attorney and message board member Douglas C. Kane aka Voronwë the Faithful has once again sent us a breakdown on the latest Tolkien Lawsuit.
Further to our