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[The Hobbit] Rough cut is in the wild!
Atomika
Live fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered User regular
Live fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered User regular
[UPDATE 1/24/2015]
Below is a list of the various fan edits coming out now. Mine won't be available until later in the year after the BotFA:EE comes out, but in the meantime have fun with these and let's discuss what works and what doesn't.
- https://ahobbitsholiday.wordpress.com/
- https://tolkieneditor.wordpress.com/ (the "Tolkien" edit)
- http://definitivehobbitcut.tumblr.com/
Well I'm a'starting one, anyhow.
The last two weeks have seen some huge advances toward getting this lumbering beast on the screen, and everyone (tentatively) looks set to go for a February 2011 production start. While it looks like this film(s?) is already being a little haunted, things are definitely moving ahead.
What troubles, you ask? Well, chronologically:
- New Line got their pants sued off for basically cheating everyone involved in the LOTR trilogy out of money, from Jackson and the cast all the way down to catering and grips. Bob Shaye, head of New Line, was apparently a legendary douchebag and even went so far as saying that Jackson would never work for New Line again and he would block The Hobbit at all costs. However, the board at New Line realized that The Hobbit was potentially worth a billion dollars in revenue, and Bob Shaye wasn't worth a cheap suit from T.J. Maxx. Shaye got the boot; Jackson was asked to come back and start pre-production.
- The Tolkien estate, as always, threatened to sue. Who knows why; it's just what they do. They sue everyone, all the time. Eventually, the suit was dropped.
- Jackson says that while he, Boyens, and Walsh would all work on The Hobbit, he had other irons in the fire. He brings on creature-feature wunderkind Guillermo del Toro to direct. The world is both equally sad and happy in its reaction to the news.
- MGM, partial owner of the rights to The Hobbit, goes belly-up. Bankruptcy proceedings begin in a process that would last almost a year. The whole time, the fate of The Hobbit is up in the air. No greenlight has been given yet.
- Stages that were built during pre-production languish in the months to come, falling into disrepair. Guillermo del Toro says he has too many Frankenstein meets Cthulhu movies to make, and bails on the production after six months of idleness. Things look grim. The movie has no studio, no start date, and no director.
- A fire burns down a pre-production studio in New Zealand.
- After months of speculation, some good news at last. Spyglass agrees to buy out MGM, and the movie is go! Jackson agrees to direct the film, and things are looking up.
- With word of imminent production, a New Zealand film industry guild boycotts the production, seeking higher wages and benefits. Warners counters with, "Hey, Ireland looks like a nice place, too." The union counter-counters with, "Oh, hey, just kidding." Warner triple-counters with, "Too bad. We're probably still moving."
And that brings us up to date.
But hey! Good news! Today we have the first official casting announcements from Jackson and company!
Bilbo - Martin Freeman (The Office, Hitchhikers Guide)
Gandalf - Ian McKellan
Dwarves - Relative unknowns, mostly from British TV shows
That's it for now. Keep watching this space.
Below is a list of the various fan edits coming out now. Mine won't be available until later in the year after the BotFA:EE comes out, but in the meantime have fun with these and let's discuss what works and what doesn't.
- https://ahobbitsholiday.wordpress.com/
- https://tolkieneditor.wordpress.com/ (the "Tolkien" edit)
- http://definitivehobbitcut.tumblr.com/
Well I'm a'starting one, anyhow.
The last two weeks have seen some huge advances toward getting this lumbering beast on the screen, and everyone (tentatively) looks set to go for a February 2011 production start. While it looks like this film(s?) is already being a little haunted, things are definitely moving ahead.
What troubles, you ask? Well, chronologically:
- New Line got their pants sued off for basically cheating everyone involved in the LOTR trilogy out of money, from Jackson and the cast all the way down to catering and grips. Bob Shaye, head of New Line, was apparently a legendary douchebag and even went so far as saying that Jackson would never work for New Line again and he would block The Hobbit at all costs. However, the board at New Line realized that The Hobbit was potentially worth a billion dollars in revenue, and Bob Shaye wasn't worth a cheap suit from T.J. Maxx. Shaye got the boot; Jackson was asked to come back and start pre-production.
- The Tolkien estate, as always, threatened to sue. Who knows why; it's just what they do. They sue everyone, all the time. Eventually, the suit was dropped.
- Jackson says that while he, Boyens, and Walsh would all work on The Hobbit, he had other irons in the fire. He brings on creature-feature wunderkind Guillermo del Toro to direct. The world is both equally sad and happy in its reaction to the news.
- MGM, partial owner of the rights to The Hobbit, goes belly-up. Bankruptcy proceedings begin in a process that would last almost a year. The whole time, the fate of The Hobbit is up in the air. No greenlight has been given yet.
- Stages that were built during pre-production languish in the months to come, falling into disrepair. Guillermo del Toro says he has too many Frankenstein meets Cthulhu movies to make, and bails on the production after six months of idleness. Things look grim. The movie has no studio, no start date, and no director.
- A fire burns down a pre-production studio in New Zealand.
- After months of speculation, some good news at last. Spyglass agrees to buy out MGM, and the movie is go! Jackson agrees to direct the film, and things are looking up.
- With word of imminent production, a New Zealand film industry guild boycotts the production, seeking higher wages and benefits. Warners counters with, "Hey, Ireland looks like a nice place, too." The union counter-counters with, "Oh, hey, just kidding." Warner triple-counters with, "Too bad. We're probably still moving."
And that brings us up to date.
But hey! Good news! Today we have the first official casting announcements from Jackson and company!
Bilbo - Martin Freeman (The Office, Hitchhikers Guide)
Gandalf - Ian McKellan
Dwarves - Relative unknowns, mostly from British TV shows
That's it for now. Keep watching this space.
Atomika on
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It is sad that we can't go back in time and get a young Ian Holm for Bilbo, but such is temporal existence.
edit: Just googled Martin Freeman, as I couldn't put a face to the name--they did a good job picking someone who looks like a young Ian Holm! Hopefully he'll fit the bill.
And obviously hooray that McKellan is back on board, though I recall Gandalf playing a smaller role in The Hobbit though I haven't read it in a while.
The speculation of Bill Nighy as Smaug makes me giggle like a 24-year old man who cares too much about the Hobbit.
Not official yet, but Jackson and Serkis have both unofficially said it's a done deal.
Expect more casting to come in the next few days. We've still got several dwarves and some key humans to cast. Rumor has it that both David Tennant (of Doctor Who fame) and Michael Fassbender (of being awesome in everything he's ever done fame) are locks to play roles TBD.
The only one that no one is talking about is Hugo Weaving returning for Elrond, and I'll be quite disappointed if his part is written out or recast due to a lack of involvement. Fingers crossed.
You are not alone. Not even a little.
EDIT: I could definitely see Fassbender as either Bard or Beorn. I agree, he's really really good and has the look of a Middle-Earth man. Maybe we'll get Tennat as King Thranduil. It'd be a nice counter as a wood elf to Weaving's high elf Elrond.
Hopeless Gamer
Arghlebargle.
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However The Hobbit is everything right with a story.
Are they still committed to breaking it into two movies?
I think their casting for Bilbo is spot on.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Could not agree more. I owned both LotR and the deluxe edition of The Hobbit as a kid and I tried reading the former once, stopped halfway through. But I absolutely adored the hobbit. It's funny, I'm rewatching the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I just reread the Hobbit. When I have some more time I'm going to tackle the actual series once and for all.
But I love that McKellan is back.
not that I didn't before but that's incredibly exciting! woooooooooooooooooo
The current season has been a bit disappointing, but the last couple were really, really good.
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I'd like to see a gollum more akin to the one in the old 70s animation.
I really, REALLY hope so.
Yes, I believe the plan is to release them closer to The Hobbit's theatrical release date. So, 2012, if we're lucky.
The other movies weren't as great as people make them out to be.
but they're listening to every word I say
I was under the impression that the wood elf king wasn't actually a wood elf, but a high elf. Also thought he was Legolas's father, so I could be mixing him up with an entirely different character. Not that I wouldn't mind seeing Tennant somewhere, mind you...
That is a frog, sir.
I keep seeing this, and at the risk of derailing the thread I would ask: "How so?"
It seems like popular backlash, more than anything else.
Frogs, as we all know, go *ribbit*, not *gollum*.
but I think serkis could do fiiiiine
It is probably just a matter of hype. There was so much hype that it made expectations overshoot reality. I mean, they are fine. They are just not great.
but they're listening to every word I say
Dunno if you've watched it or not, but in the extended edition of Return of the King they had more development of Smeagol's transformation into Gollum--would any of those renditions be more to liking?
Well Gollum's hundreds of years old, and the time period between The Hobbit and LotR is, relativley speaking, rather short (55 years?), so I'd assume that Gollum in the Hobbit would look the same as Gollum in LotR.
60 years. And I agree. Honestly if they got Andy to reprise Gollum and they used the same motion capture technology I would prefer it if he were almost the same in appearance as he was in LotR. Maybe some minor differences.
He should look quite a bit healthier at least. For most of his lifetime, Gollum/Smeagol had The Ring in his possession, which pretty much causes you to stop aging (at least past your prime). Then he had 55? years of ring withdrawal as well as being pretty old. It's been a few years since I last read The Hobbit so I don't recall Smeagol's description very well, but I do recall how everyone in LOTR comments how Bilbo hardly looks a day over (insert prime hobbit age here) even as he approaches 111 when he is still in possession of the ring. Then when Frodo and company visit him in Rivendell just a few years later he has largely deteriorated to what someone would expect for his age.
This is what I'm hoping for. It would just be jarring if Gollum looked far different from LotR. CGI technology has improved since RotK so I suppose he'll look better, in any case.
As for other actors in this movie, what other work has Bill Nighy done? His name sounds familiar, but that's about it.
He can raise a fearsome grump. So, along with being English, this relegates him to Grumpy English roles in Hollywood (the other types of course being Posh British, Cockney British, and Evil British). He was squidface in the Pirates of the Carribean movies, a grumpy rock star in Love Actually, and the Chief Inspector in Hot Fuzz/Shaun's dad in Shaun of the Dead.
We was also, you know, tortured, for months if not years.
I would see the movie many times just for this.
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Ah. That's why he sounded familiar.
Yeah he's perfect for Smaug.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoUN2AGxrnA&
Here's a pretty good summary of the entire situation.
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