One of the many things I love about director Peter Jackson, is his willing us to bring us behind the scenes of his films. Ole’ cinefiles like myself like to see the makings of movie magic. We’re completely fascinated with the creative process and principles that go into crafting a cinematic classic. I must say, that out of all the directors, Peter Jackson delivers the most supplemental content. Video diaries, documentaries, featurettes, interviews…etc. He offers up every facet to the film making process. From make-ups, special effects, location scouting, stung work and everything in between. Jackson makes sure that practically everyone involved in the creation of his movies are given a moment to be appreciated. I think that’s so nice. It make me respect the final product more when I realize the amount of work that went into it. Ultimately, it’s simply amazing watching a concept evolve into reality; seeing nothing turn into something.

Now, with all the taint tickling praise for Jackson aside, I think his latest offering isn’t as respectable. It’s not a bad video by any means, it just feels like it was brought to you by the Department of Tourism – New Zealand.

With the poster and the trailer for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug that hit this week, Warner Bros. now takes us behind the scenes in this new featurette on the locations the production shot at in New Zealand.

Alright, guess I’m movie to New Zealand. Who wants to come with me?

Source: ComingSoon.net

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Reaction videos are such a thing nowadays. I guess firsthand reactions are no longer good enough so we must record others’ reactions, and sometimes, even reactions to those reactions. Which leads to reaction videos of reactions to reaction videos! Causing a never ending cycle of reactions until no one is acting anymore, but only reacting and all life on Earth ceases to be proactive and we die!

Sorry, that whole reaction scenario got away from me. What we’ve got here is one of those ‘reacting to a reaction video’ video, but not simply any ‘reacting to a reaction video’ video, this one stars a rather famous trio of elves. Uploaded by some guy, Peter Jackson somebody, is this video of Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, and Lee Pace watching a video of two fans enjoying the hell out of the latest The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug teaser trailer.

It’s delightful seeing not only two girls more excited for Smaug than I’ve been for almost anything in my life, but seeing these so often stern elves letting loose and giggling like idiots.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens this December 13th. Hopefully sooner than later Jackson will deign to upload a production diary instead of a video of giddy elves.

Source: Nerdist

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Earlier today we were treated to the first trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and it melted our collective minds. Well, it melted my mind, I may be speaking too strongly for you. What I’m getting at is that in the middle of this E3 and summer blockbuster madness, I’d almost forgotten about that little hobbit and all his dwarf buddies and now I’m stoked to continue their adventure.

Along with the first teaser are these eight images, all taken from said teaser, but they’re pretty and offer great looks at franchise newcomers Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and Beorn the Bard (Luke Evans), take a look,

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens this December 13th.

Source: CBM

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Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is poised to obliterate the summer blockbuster competition and in a move that smacks of, “If you can’t beat them, join them,” many studios are doing whatever they can to get their trailers attached to Man of Steel screenings. Warner Bros., though, has the inside track with two of their  upcoming movies 300: Rise Of An Empire and Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, already attached.

But you don’t have to wait, you can see the new trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, right now, below.

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Peter Jackson has revealed the first poster for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. And if you look closely, you can see a tiniest little hint of the dragon, Smaug. Check it out below:

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Things have seemed quiet on the The Hobbit front since the release of the first film, An Unexpected Journey, but we’re a scant six months away from the release of the second chapter, The Desolation of Smaug, so we should be getting something soon, right?

And we answer ourselves, yes, the first trailer of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will premiere with Man of Steel next weekend. Emileeid.com adds that this will not be some teaser either, but a full two-and-a-half minute trailer, which should give us a rather significant first look at the film. Not planning on seeing Man of Steel next weekend? First of all, shame on you! Secondly, you’ll be able to watch the trailer online as of June 12th at 10 am PDT. Obviously, we’ll post it for you here in when its released.

The plot for the next film in the The Hobbit series, the second of two trilogies by Peter Jackson about the adventures in Middle Earth, follows hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and a company of dwarfs as they make their way to the dwarfs’ stronghold in the Lonely Mountains to defeat the dragon Smaug who took their home and stole their gold.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in theaters everywhere on December 13th, 2013.

Source: Screen Rant

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We’ve seen glimpses of Tauriel, the elven warrior and brand new character Evangeline Lilly will play in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again, but today Entertainment Weekly‘s got our first official look. Yup, that’s a lady elf all right.

Director Peter Jackson and co-writers, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, felt the need to introduce a new character not seen in any of Tolkien’s works to not only expand upon the elves of Mirkwood Forest but to increase the female roles of the story. The Hobbit, the book, contains no women, whatsoever. Speaking to EW, Lilly explains her character,

Tauriel is the head of the Elven Guard. She’s a Sylvan Elf, which means she’s of a much lower order than the elves we all became acquainted with in The Lord of the Rings. She doesn’t hold the same kind of status that Arwen or Galadriel or Elrond or Legolas do — she’s much more lowly. She sort of goes against the social order of the elves a little bit.

She goes on to say, “She will definitely have a love story.” *eye roll* Of course, can’t include a lady and not have her fall in love. Lilly adds, “I can’t give away too much about it. It’s not a huge focus but it is there and it is important and it does drive Tauriel and her story and her actions.” I’m hoping said romance won’t be with fellow elf, Legolas (Orlando Bloom). Besides, he’s got Gimli.

Tauriel’s relationship with Legolas is significant. They’ve known each other since they were children, and Legolas’ dad, [Elven king] Thranduil, has a soft spot for Tauriel and sees something very special in her. So if you grow up side by side, and your dad has a very special spot in his heart for this young woman who’s a fantastic warrior, I think it’s hard not to notice her. That’s probably as much as I can say.

And Lilly’s got something to say those worried the inclusion of a character not of Tolkien’s will ruin the movies,

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are going to be people who will totally hate Tauriel, think that she shouldn’t be in the movie, that it’s a betrayal of Tolkien, and no matter what I do it won’t be right. There will be everything between that and people who adore her and think it’s such a fun thing to have added to the film. I kind of got prepped for that being on Lost, because we had avid fans who were really extreme in their feelings about the show and its characters. But I think if anyone knows how to respect Tolkien, it’s Peter, Fran and Phil. And Tauriel fits perfectly in that world.

I’m definitely excited to meet Tauriel. I want to learn more about the elves, and specifically want to see more of them in these movies. Arwen’s always been a luke-warm character for me, and while I still liked her, I’m looking forward to a elven lady who can kick some ass. And I feel confidant Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens have added her to the story with care, not haphazardly. What are your thoughts about Tauriel? Excited or miffed she’s been added?

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits theatres this December 13th.

Source: EW via Blastr

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The Hobbit is a book about a group of guys out on an adventure. It’s a classic, a story all children should read at some point as its full of wisdom and good lessons. Though, what it noticeable lacks are women. Women of any kind, be they human, hobbit, or elf. Thankfully, when Peter Jackson, Phillipa Boyens, and Fran Walsh went about adapting the children’s book into their two, now three, movie epic they chose to fix that. Galadriel was included in the first film and in the second and third we’ll meet, Tauriel, a Mirkwood elf who sounds like an all around badass.

In an interview with Total Film, Evangeline Lilly provided a little insight on the all-new, non-Tolkien Tauriel,

She’s a very, very young elf. She’s only 600 years old, unlike Legolas who’s like, 1,900 years old and Thranduil who’s about 3,000 years old. She doesn’t have quite the wisdom and pose that those two boys do; she’s a little more… gritty. A little more spontaneous, passionate perhaps.

To play this character I need to have a certain amount of grace. But I’m also supposed to be an absolutely ruthless, deadly killer.

Wow. What a young, inexperienced 600 years old she is! And from the little bit of on set footage we’ve seen, she is absolutely ruthless. Tauriel will first appear in The Desolation of Smaug, out this December 13th, and again in There and Back Again, releasing December 17th, 2014. I’m super excited to finally meet Tauriel as I’m dying for a lady in the story who can hold her own with boys and go on a little adventuring herself. Like Eowyn from the first trilogy, only this time, an elf. What do think of Tauriel? Is she a welcomed addition to Tolkien’s works?

Source: Geek Tyrant

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At this point, I’m awaiting New Zealand to rename themselves Jacksonland, or Tolkienland, for as much time as Peter Jackson has spent filming not only the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but The Hobbit trilogy. And he’s there yet again! And will be for about another 10 weeks as they finish the last bits of additional filming required to get what was going to be only two films, into three.

Jackson updated his Facebook page with the above photo, and the following statement

Back on set for our last Hobbit pick ups. Our last ever Tolkien pick ups, in fact. It’s going to be an intense few weeks, but we’re looking forward to shooting some powerful scenes with our great cast. Our next blog is coming soon!

Hmm, Ian McKellen doesn’t look all too happy, does he? Could he be regretting his decision to return as Gandalf? It was a decision he grappled with before relenting and choosing to come back, and judging from the difficulties he had when last there for The Hobbit, he may have only grudgingly returned this time.

What could be left to film? Apparently a lot of work is still needed for The Battle of Five Armies, and– wait, this hasn’t been filmed, yet!? Isn’t this a rather important climax for the trilogy? I don’t know, should we be worried about this? Can’t wait to see what Jackson has to say for himself in the next video production diary.

Source: Collider via The Mary Sue

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The recent announcement that there was another Dungeons & Dragons movie in the works at Warner Bros was met with the usual enthusiasm by fans for the RPG franchise, but it seems that the usual Hollywood complications may be interfering with just how soon we see a finished film.

Confused yet? Well so is Hasbro. The toy company is claiming that they own the rights to any Dungeons & Dragons film since they bought D&D developers Wizards Of The Coast several years back. Hasbro, it turn, has a development deal with Universal Pictures, with whom they produced last year’s Battleship, also based on Hasbro-owned property. “Hasbro owns the intellectual property rights to Dungeons & Dragons, period, because of Hasbro’s acquisition of Wizards Of The Coast in 1998,” said Wayne Charness, a spokesperson for Hasbro.

However, Warner Bros. asserts that Courtney Solomon, director of the 2000 bomb called Dungeons & Dragons still has the rights to develop a D&D film, which he’s now doing at Warners as a producer with David Lee Johnson (Wrath of the Titans) now penning the screenplay. Meanwhile, Universal has producer Chris Morgan (five out of the six Fast & Furious movies) guiding its own adaptation of D&D.

This has all the makings of another Spider-Man or Hobbit years long legal battle over who owns the rights to what. I guess the point is don’t hold your breath for a new D&D movie for sometime in the near future.

More news as it develops.

Source: Blastr

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