Showing posts with label The Hobbit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Hobbit. Show all posts

Spielberg talks Jurassic Park 4' and other projects



According to The Wrap:

Legendary director Steven Spielberg said on Friday he's on track to make a fourth in his "Jurassic Park" blockbuster series.

"We have a script," he told a cheering crowd in the massive Hall H at this year's Comic-Con convention.

He was there to promote the upcoming film "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn," and his collaborator, producer-director Peter Jackson, was a surprise arrival. (He was on a filming break from "The Hobbit," which he said has another 200 days before it wraps.)


Spielberg said he was working on a Jurassic script with his partners and expected a new "Jurassic Park" would be out in "two to three years."

It’s been 10 years since the last “Jurassic Park,” the third in the series.

That movie took in $365 million in worldwide box office.

The first film in 1993 was the first time audiences got to see computer graphic characters generated on a huge screen, in this case dinosaurs.

Meanwhile, the panel with Jackson showed the latest in motion-capture techology, with clips of "Tintin." The main character, a Belgian journalist who gets involved in all kinds of life-risking adventures, is voiced by Jamie Bell.

Spielberg noted that he hadn't been aware of the classic Tintin comic books until he saw a review of his movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" comparing the Indiana Jones film to the Georges Remi books.

"I don't read French, but I didn't need to read the words, I could see the commonality," Spielberg said.

The director also talked about casting big names such as Daniel Craig in a movie that applies performance-capture technology and thus, strictly speaking, doesn't literally feature the actors.

"As with casting all movies, you find the best actor for the part," Spielberg said. "You don't identify Daniel Craig, you won't see his face, but you will see every nuance of his performance through the thin digital skin that [special-effects company] Weta created."

Spielberg was joined by "Hobbit" director Peter Jackson, who flew into town from filming "The Hobbit" to discuss the movie, which he produced. Unlike Spielberg, Jackson grew up as a fan of the books.

"I was a huge Tintin fan, and I was looking forward to Steven's Tintin movie. I was kind of looking forward to it for a quarter-century," Jackson said.

During the question and answer, a fan stood up wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the message that he really hoped to meet Steven Spielberg and shake his hand. So the director obliged (see photo)

Before discussing his latest big-screen venture, the fabled director was bestowed an award for his esteemed catalog of work.

"We're all in the same world together; let's keep working together," Spielberg said while thanking the audience and clutching the trophy.

The Hobbit will be a no-show at Comic-Con this year...

From Peter Jackson’s Facebook yesterday:


Good news and bad news today. Bad news is that we won't be doing any Hobbit presentation at Comic Con in San Diego this year. New Line and Warner Bros were very happy to support a presentation, but I declined, simply because I felt it was too early. There's so much more of the films still to shoot. I just wanted to get that out there, because I've seen various references to the possibility of something Hobbity at Comic Con. Hate to disappoint anyone. But something tells me we will be there in force next year.


Now for the good news...


We've just finished a new video blog, covering a little more of the first block of shooting. So please enjoy this—at least you don't have to travel to San Deigo to see it!


[Video blog and more after the cut...]


I've been on the go since wrapping the first shooting block, but I'm about to settle down and get into the much delayed 20 Questions. I've a few half-written and will get those done very, very soon! I promise!


Cheers,

Peter J

Actual solid casting news for The Hobbit?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, yes:

Lost's Evangeline Lilly will star in The Hobbit, Peter Jackson announced on his Facebook page Sunday. Read Jackson's full letter, below.

Yikes! I can finally get back to some postings! We've finished our first block of shooting and moved straight into location scouting. More on that soon... But today, I'm thrilled to announce two new cast members who will be joining us for our second block of shooting.

Evangeline Lilly will be playing a new character—the Woodland Elf, Tauriel. Her name means 'daughter of Mirkwood' and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.) What is not a secret is how talented and compelling an actress Evangeline is; we are thrilled and excited she will be the one to bring our first true Sylvan Elf to life.

I'm also highly excited that Barry Humphries will be portraying the Goblin King, in much the way Andy Serkis created Gollum. Barry is perhaps best known for his business and social connections as the long-time manager of Dame Edna Everage. He has also been an ardent supporter of the rather misunderstood and unfairly maligned Australian politician, Sir Les Patterson. However, in his spare time, Barry is also a fine actor, and we're looking forward to seeing him invest the Goblin King with the delicate sensitivity and emotional depth this character deserves.

Evangeline and Barry, along with Welsh actor Luke Evans as Bard and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug, just about rounds out the major casting. I cannot wait to get stuck into these new scenes!

More soon, including a flurry of answers to your questions. Sorry for the delay!

He signs off "Cheers, Peter J."

Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom are among the stars confirmed for the next installment.

The Hobbit films will be released in December 2012 and December 2013. They're being co-produced by New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production, Warner Bros Pictures handling domestic distribution and MGM distributing internationally.

'The Hobbit' films get their release dates...

...and you can read about them here, courtesy of Deadline:

The first of the Peter Jackson-directed installments will be called The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and Warners will release the film December 14, 2012. The second installment, The Hobbit: There And Back Again, will be released a year later, on December 13, 2013. The films revolve around the adventures of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), and his efforts to thwart the fearsome dragon Smaug. I'd heard way back when that Jackson was eyeing Bill Nighy to provide the voice of the dragon, but Jackson hasn't yet announced who he got and I'm told the whole thing is being kept under lock down. Jackson has brought back from The Lord of the Rings such cast members as Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Christopher Lee and Hugo Weaving.

The other unanswered question is, since Jackson is shooting the Hobbit films in 3D, will New Line owner Warner Bros convert the original LOTR franchise into 3D format? Despite the recent indications that audiences are tiring of forking over extra money for 3D conversions on films like Pirates of the Caribbean that seem just as palatable in 2D, seeing Middle Earth in 3D through that classic trilogy seems like an event that many would feel is worth an extra couple of bucks. It would give the trilogy a new theatrical and ancillary life. It seems inevitable, though it might be a ways down the line.-Joey's Two Cents: I don't care much for the LOTR trilogy, but this is still something to take note of...thoughts?