Looking for the first reviews of the Hobbit movie, well you will have to wait a bit longer. Or at least until the US premiere 14 December, reviewers have been asked to hold off by Peter Jackson.
The main review thus far that has slipped through the cracks is by Ethan Sacks, NY Daily.
Sacks describes the movie as:
"Lighter and funnier than its “Lord of the Rings” predecessors, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” remains faithful to the fantasy world last seen in the 2003 Academy Award-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”
He also describes the technological wizardry as follows:
"48 frames-per-second format, twice the industry standard. Critics who saw a trailer earlier this year were unimpressed, but after a minute or two of adjusting, the higher resolution is eye-popping, similar to discovering HD television for the first time."
Hobbit World Premiere draws 100000 Fans in NZ
Daily Mail Reports:
A walk to remember: The stars and crew walked down a 500 metre long carpet that took them about two hours as they chatted to fans and journalists along the way
Final tweaks: A workman makes last minute adjustments to a troll prior the world premiere
Going all out: The fans spared no expense to dress up for the event, with many of them wearing elaborate costumes
Making their way to Middle Earth: Two fans in costume make their way to the best vantage point ahead of the start of the premiere
Eager: Thousands of fans lined the sides of the streets in a bid to catch a glimpse of
Peter Jackson at Hobbit Premiere
The Daily Mail Reports:
Director Sir Peter Jackson, who was accompanied by his daughter Katie on the red carpet, said it was a logical decision to host the premiere in New Zealand, where filming took place.
Director Sir Peter Jackson, who was accompanied by his daughter Katie on the red carpet, said it was a logical decision to host the premiere in New Zealand, where filming took place.
'It's the home crowd isn’t it? You can't do better,' he told reporters at the premiere.
'I do know that if I didn't have a movie here for the premiere, I’d be in awful trouble. I’d be in the poo, as we say,' the director joked.
It's like you're in Middle Earth: A stage outside the theatre had been made to look like the set of the film
A warm welcome: Jackson thanked the large crowd that came out to support the film
He continued: 'This is an incredible experience because you spend so long shooting a movie where you're just focusing on the film and you want to keep everybody out.
And then suddenly one day the film's finished and the next morning you wake up and there's 100,000 people coming to celebrate. It sort of flips your head upside down.'
Jackson with Daughter
Bilbo Baggins/Martin Freeman at Hobbit World Premiere Channeling James Bond
Martin Freeman at Hobbit World Premiere
Elijah Woods at Hobbit Premiere
Elijah Woods, who was just 21 when the first movie Lord of The Rings came out took up the role again which made him a star, Frodo Baggins.
The star proclaimed "This is echoing in the past for me"
The star proclaimed "This is echoing in the past for me"
Cate Blanchett @ Hobbit World Premiere
Daily Mail Reports
It's been about 10 years since the last installment of Lord of the Rings, with Return of the King screening in 2003.
Approximately 100000 fanboys and girls showed up for the premiere in NZ on Wednesday 28th of November. The glamorous Cate Blanchett was in attendance along with her 8 year old son.
Middle Earth madness! Cate Blanchett shines as she attends the highly anticipated premiere of The Hobbit and is welcomed by thousands of screaming fans
The Hobbit comes to Wellington: Over 100,000 fans showed up dressed as elves, dwarfs and hobbits to celebrate the new film
Dressed in an unusual colour block floor-length gown, Cate looked every inch the movie star as she attended the highly anticipated premiere.
With a red sheer top over her white and black dress, the 43-year-old actress demanded all the attention from the crowd as she joined her mainly male cast on the red carpet, but stayed as cool as cucumber as the reported 100,000 people welcomed her.
But her dapper date for the evening - cute son Roman dressed in a grey blazer - may have been a little overwhelmed by all the screaming fans, as the youngster clung to his glamorous mother while she posed for photographers.
Walking the walk: Cate looked confident and poised as she made her way down the red carpet
Her biggest fan: Stunning Cate was joined by her son Roman, 8, who seemed a little overwhelmed by all the attention his famous mother was getting from the thousands of fans
Co-star love: The blonde actress was thrilled to be reunited with Elijah Wood at the premiere
The rest of the A-list cast were all in attendance, with Elijah Wood, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage and Hugo Weaving leading the pack.
Although noticeable absent was Sir Ian McKellen, better know as Gandalf, who couldn't make the trip to New Zealand but thanked fans for their enthusiasm via a video message which was played to the crowd.
Evangeline Lily at Hobbit Premiere
Evangeline Lily is not in this installment, but will play the role of Tauriel in the next two installments of The Hobbit.
Hobbit Box Office Returns, 1 billion to make
The Age reports
THERE is a lot at stake when the first Hobbit movie premieres this week - for a director, a couple of Hollywood studios, even for a country. Director Peter Jackson has reunited the team behind the Lord of the Rings movies for the first instalment of a new trilogy that Hollywood insiders estimate will cost up to $1 billion to make and market. The long-awaited adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, about Bilbo Baggins' adventure with 13 dwarves to recover treasure guarded by a dragon named Smaug, makes it debut in Wellington on Wednesday.
And there is much riding on its being a success.
For a start, even with the massive goodwill generated by Jackson's return to Middle Earth, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a financial gamble for Hollywood studios Warner Bros and MGM. The trilogy will also have a multibillion-dollar impact in New Zealand, given how much The Lord of the Rings boosted tourism. From 1999 to 2004, spending by international visitors doubled to $6 billion a year. But probably the biggest risk is for Jackson's revered status with millions of Lord of the Rings fans.
As George Lucas discovered when he returned to the Star Wars saga with The Phantom Menace, devoted fans are quickly disenchanted when a movie does not match a director's own high standards.
New Zealand director Jackson overcame countless setbacks while filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The movies went on to gross almost $3 billion worldwide and won 17 Oscars.
It is almost unthinkable The Hobbit could be so successful on every level, but Jackson is actually being even more technically and creatively adventurous this time round. He has shot the movie in 3D at 48 frames-a-second rather than the usual 24 to give audiences a visually richer experience.
Jackson and Wood Visit Hobbit Fanboys and Girls
Stuff.co.nz reports
An unexpected journey across town lit up the night for hundreds of the world's keenest Tolkien fans.
Film-maker Sir Peter Jackson and actor Elijah Wood, who was Frodo in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, made a surprise appearance tonight at a Hobbit pre-premiere party in Wellington, organised by fansite TheOneRing.net.
Jackson told fans the finishing touches to The Hobbit were completed only yesterday, and the final edit was screened to a select group of cast and crew that night.
''Elijah saw it last night. Unfortunately that means we'll have to kill him,'' Jackson said.
Wood - with bodyguard in attendance - greeted all those fans dressed as Frodo, and both he and Jackson signed autographs and posed for photographs.
At least 500 people attended the party, with the vast majority in elaborate costume. About 100 of that number were on a dedicated Hobbit premiere tour.
Organiser and TheOneRing.net founder Erica Challis was thrilled the stars had decided to attend.
''We invited them, but we didn't know whether they'd come.''
Another surprise was in store today for many of the 2000 people invited to Wednesday's premiere, when it turned out that about 1250 of them will not be seeing it with the stars at the Embassy Theatre, which was decked out with Dolby's new Atmos sound system last month especially for the event.
Instead, they will watch it at the nearby Reading Cinema, which is closed for the day.
After the premiere, attendees are invited for post-premiere drinks at Foxglove's Queens Wharf Ballroom from 9.45pm.
Wristbands must be shown on entry.
The forecast remains good for the afternoon's walk down the red carpet. MetService is forecasting a dry day with patchy cloud, and northerly winds of 30 to 40 kmh. The expected high is 19 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, Wellington City Council is claiming its Hobbit-themed artisan market to be a ''huge success so far'' after an estimated 15,000 people visited Waitangi Park during the weekend. About 1500 people watched a screening of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring on Sunday night
An unexpected journey across town lit up the night for hundreds of the world's keenest Tolkien fans.
Film-maker Sir Peter Jackson and actor Elijah Wood, who was Frodo in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, made a surprise appearance tonight at a Hobbit pre-premiere party in Wellington, organised by fansite TheOneRing.net.
Jackson told fans the finishing touches to The Hobbit were completed only yesterday, and the final edit was screened to a select group of cast and crew that night.
''Elijah saw it last night. Unfortunately that means we'll have to kill him,'' Jackson said.
Wood - with bodyguard in attendance - greeted all those fans dressed as Frodo, and both he and Jackson signed autographs and posed for photographs.
At least 500 people attended the party, with the vast majority in elaborate costume. About 100 of that number were on a dedicated Hobbit premiere tour.
Organiser and TheOneRing.net founder Erica Challis was thrilled the stars had decided to attend.
''We invited them, but we didn't know whether they'd come.''
Another surprise was in store today for many of the 2000 people invited to Wednesday's premiere, when it turned out that about 1250 of them will not be seeing it with the stars at the Embassy Theatre, which was decked out with Dolby's new Atmos sound system last month especially for the event.
Instead, they will watch it at the nearby Reading Cinema, which is closed for the day.
After the premiere, attendees are invited for post-premiere drinks at Foxglove's Queens Wharf Ballroom from 9.45pm.
Wristbands must be shown on entry.
The forecast remains good for the afternoon's walk down the red carpet. MetService is forecasting a dry day with patchy cloud, and northerly winds of 30 to 40 kmh. The expected high is 19 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, Wellington City Council is claiming its Hobbit-themed artisan market to be a ''huge success so far'' after an estimated 15,000 people visited Waitangi Park during the weekend. About 1500 people watched a screening of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring on Sunday night
Hobbit Tax: New Zealanders Help Fund Hobbit Movie to tune of $67.1 million
Herald Sun Reports
"NEW Zealand taxpayers lent a $67.1 million helping hand via tax rebates for the making of Peter Jackson's movie The Hobbit in the first two years of actual production, according to its financial statements"
"NEW Zealand taxpayers lent a $67.1 million helping hand via tax rebates for the making of Peter Jackson's movie The Hobbit in the first two years of actual production, according to its financial statements"
The movie, produced by Warner Bros Entertainment subsidiary 3 Foot 7, reaped $46.9 million from New Zealand's large budget screen production grant in the 12 months ended March 31, according to statements lodged with the Companies Office.
That added to the $20.2 million tax rebate it received in 2011, the first year it got the subsidy.
Shooting on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey wrapped in early July, meaning the company should be able to claim a further rebate in the 2013 period.
The subsidy over the two years amounts to about 14.6 per cent of the $459.6 million production cost incurred over the 2011 and 2012 financial years, just below the 15 per cent of locally incurred costs that can be claimed back in tax under the scheme, known as qualifying New Zealand production expenditure.
New Zealand is coming under pressure to raise the subsidy as the weak US dollar eats into Hollywood studios' margins.
Movie an Epic Three Part Trilogy...Remember to use the Restroom beforehand
The Hobbit movie will be divided into an epic three parts...for those who love their movies long and detailed and prefer no toilet breaks this is a godsend.
Director Peter Jackson, took home over $6 billion in revenue which included movie tickets and DVD sales from the last three films collectively.
In numbers that is 6,000,000,000.
And earned 17 Oscars...not too shabby.
From the official Hobbit blog:
The final film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, now titled “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” will be released worldwide on July 18, 2014.
The title of the second installment in the franchise will be “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” and the film will be released on December 13, 2013. The first film in the trilogy, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” opens this holiday season, on December 14, 2012. Shot in 3D 48 frames-per-second, the trilogy of films will be released in High Frame Rate (HFR) 3D, other 3D formats, IMAX and 2D.
From Academy Award®-winning director Peter Jackson, the trilogy of films is set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”
Under Jackson’s direction, all three movies are being shot in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Additional filming, as with principal photography, is taking place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.
It's a bird, it's a plane, No its...actually it is a plane - a Hobbit Plane
Daily Mail reports:
Air New Zealand has billed it self the 'airline of middle earth' and painted the faces of hobbits/dwarves on the side of a Boeing 777. Not looking so small now, eh?
Read more
Air New Zealand has billed it self the 'airline of middle earth' and painted the faces of hobbits/dwarves on the side of a Boeing 777. Not looking so small now, eh?
 |
| The Plane The Plane |
 |
| Close up of the seven dwarves on the side of a plane |
Read more
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)