Today’s Los Angeles Times has an interesting story on the influence of Richard Wagner on film scores. The Lord of the Rings score gets mentioned, with a quotation from Doug Adams.

On November 14 the LA Times posted an interview with Ian McKellen. It’s mostly to promote the AMC mini-series The Prisoner, but there are some passing remarks on playing Gandalf. That’s in LOTR; no mention of The Hobbit. There’s also news that there will be a brief revival of the Waiting for Godot stage production in which Ian co-starred early this year with Patrick Stewart. It’s a fantastic evening of theatre, and I recommend it highly.

I also realize now why Ian isn’t posting as often as he used to on his website. He’s on Facebook (a page also run by his webmaster, Keith Stern), adding material quite frequently. Check it out here and sign up as a fan if you’re so inclined.

Back on October 20, TheOneRing.net alerted us to a 3 News (New Zealand) report that Ian McKellen is taking a break from work. Ian is quoted thus:

I’m in the middle of a holiday. I’m not working at the moment and it means I can do lovely things. It’s a change for me because, for the first 50 years of my life, I just worked and worked and worked and I didn’t feel happy unless I knew what the next job was going to be. And then I hit 70 this year and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to have a little bit of downtime for myself.

Fair enough, thought I. After what must have been a tiring run of Waiting for Godot, first on the road and then in London, why not? Not taking on big new jobs, keeping time free for The Hobbit, no doubt. Yes, he went to Washington to accept the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre from the Shakespeare Theatre Company and gave one performance of his ever-evolving one-man show, this time entitled “A Knight in Harmon Hall.” But that’s not exactly a big task for one to undertake in the midst of a “holiday.”

Now, however, Variety reports that Ian has taken on a slightly larger task. He has signed to star in a mockumentary TV series called “The Academy.” Here’s what it involves:

McKellen would play his fictional brother, Murray McKellen, who heads a run-down drama school, the Clapham Academy of Creative Arts, that is hoping to secure new funding through a docu on the school.

McKellen has been closely involved in the development of the series, which will be written and directed by Peter Hinton and produced by Humphrey Barclay. U.K. shingle 2act Prods. is co-producer with DLT. Other cast members set include Brit TV vets Jonathan Hyde, Sylvester McCoy and Frances Barber.

In late October, Don Taffner Jr., the head of production company DLT Entertainment was in Los Angeles to pre-sell the program for US television. There are to be six half-hour episodes, and pre-production has already begun, though funding will have to come from sales for both the US and the UK.

Doesn’t sound like much of a holiday to me, though I suppose acting in a short TV series is less work than treading the boards eight times a week.

There’s one reference to a certain pair of upcoming films:  “Taffner acknowledges that network deals have to come together quickly or McKellen will be unavailable to do the series, as he’ll be committed to lensing ‘The Hobbit’ starting in March.”

That’s interesting, given the recent hints that principal photography on The Hobbit might start in April rather than the originally announced March. Still, maybe the start date just isn’t firm yet. Most likely Ian is keeping his time free from March forward, ready to don the wizard’s beard and pointy hat whenever the production gets underway. After all, as far as we know, the production is still awaiting the greenlight from New Line/Warner Bros.

I’m slowly making my way through the stack of magazines that accumulated during the three weeks I was gone on my trip to Egypt. One surprising item that I discovered is an article in The Economist about the use of the Massive software developed for LOTR being used for practical, important real-world purposes. more »

Thanks to Paulo Pereira for alerting me to an interview with Viggo Mortensen conducted by Total Film Magazine. There’s an excerpt posted on its website. The announcement just says the full interview is in the “new issue,” which I suppose is either the February or March one.

The excerpt is entirely about The Hobbit and LOTR films. He expresses his willingness to play Aragorn in The Hobbit, if the character does figure in the script. It’s not unthinkable, since Aragorn is living at Rivendell at the time the events of The Hobbit occur. Of course, when Tolkien wrote the novel, Aragorn hadn’t been invented yet, so there’s no mention of him. According to Appendix B of LOTR, Aragorn would have been ten years old when Gandalf, Bilbo, and the dwarves dropped by for a two week visit. Of course, that counts the 17 years between Bilbo’s farewell birthday and Frodo’s departure from Hobbiton. The film version of LOTR doesn’t have that 17-year gap. It’s not clear how long it takes for Gandalf to get to Minas Tirith, read the scroll, and get back to tell Frodo about the Ring. At any rate, assuming it’s less than a year, by the film’s chronology, Aragorn would be about 27 at the time when The Hobbit’s action takes place. Of course, that also assumes that Bilbo will be protrayed as 50 years old in the film, as he is in the book.

So, a young Aragorn could make at least a brief appearance. And with the new de-aging make-up and digital techniques that were used so effectively for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Viggo could be made to plausibly look 27.

Viggo doesn’t sound entirely enthusiastic about the idea, though: “I’m interested in principle, but I’d want to see it done in the right spirit of Tolkien.” Comparing the Hobbit project with LOTR, he adds, “I don’t know if it’ll be as big a circus in terms of several people writing changes at the last minute.”

Viggo also expresses his opinion about changes between The Fellowship of the Ring, which he sees as the most character-oriented of the trilogy’s three parts, and the other two, which he sees as more dominated by special effects. “You can’t argue with the films’ success, but had it been me, I would have focused less on the effects and more on the characterisations.”

He definitely approves of Guillermo as the choice to direct The Hobbit instead of Peter: “He’s strongminded, intelligent and probably just as stubborn.” Judging from GDT’s remarks in the interview I linked to the other day, Viggo may well be right!

When the Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday, I suspect many of us felt a little nostalgic twinge for those palmy days five (!) years ago when The Return of the King was heading for its grand sweep of the awards.

Not everyone reads all the nominees in the categories beyond best picture, actors, director, animated feature, and maybe screenplay. But as a film historian, I scour the whole list. And apart from wanting to keep up, David and I also know a few people in the industry. Our friend James Shamus produced Milk, for example, and we were glad to see that he’ll have to put on his tux again.

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Yesterday a Variety story on the Sundance Film Festival included a paragraph on Mark Ordesky, who produced The Lord of the Rings film trilogy for New Line Cinema. The story describes him as “Mark Ordesky, the former New Line Cinema/Fine Line Features exec who now has a production company, Amber Entertainment.” This is the first I’ve heard of Ordesky’s departure from New Line, and there’s no indication when it happened.

Ordesky was a crucial figure in the dealings between Peter Jackson’s team and the executives at New Line. He helped Peter maintain a considerable degree of control over the trilogy and get the film made the way he wanted it. I had hoped that Ordesky would play the same role on The Hobbit and “Film 2.” I don’t know what this new company of his entails, so possibly he might still produce a free-lance basis. If not, it will be interesting to see whom New Line taps to act as producer.

[Added January 23: I see that this post has occasioned a discussion on the forums at TheOneRing.net. The comments there show that there is still a lot of affection felt for Mark, as well as gratitude for his part in bringing the LOTR trilogy to fruition. As for Amber Entertainment, I googled it and found a website under construction. Another company of the same name in Texas is not related, I assume.]

Off topic again, but I’ve mentioned here that the Royal Shakespeare Company’s King Lear, with Ian McKellen in the title role, was announced to be on PBS in the United States. At the time no date had been given. Now McKellen.com has revealed that the showing will be on March 29. For those who missed the theatrical tour and can’t play the Region 2 DVD, here’s your chance finally to see a magnificent performance. Mark your calendars!

TheOneRing.net alerts us to a new interview with Ian McKellen, online in the Independent on Sunday. Gandalf gets mentioned only in passing. It’s mainly about Shakespeare, in advance of the December 26 showing of King Lear on Channel 4 in the U.K.

It’s a very nice interview, with Ian saying some things about his Shakespearean roles on film that I hadn’t noticed in other interviews. But if I may bring in a personal note relating to The Frodo Franchise, the kitchen table described by the interviewer is the very place where we sat when I interviewed Ian in early 2005 for my book. Ian sat opposite the window, not in front of it, and it was snowing, not sunny, so we were not flooded with light. He drank coffee, not peppermint tea. The deck is on that level (one flight up), and I caught a glimpse of the bronze Weta Gandalf statue installed there. A lovely memory, one of the many highlights during the research on the book.

Yesterday Ian McKellen posted a new set of Q&As in his “Bits and Bobs” e-post. There are some Lord of the Rings-related queries and responses concerning the technique for hitting Denethor and what Gandalf smoked in his pipe. He also deals politely with a rude diatribe by a homophobic chap named Josef, who threatens not to attend The Hobbit. If so, good riddance. As to the rumor that there might be a third pre-LOTR Tolkien film, Ian denies all knowledge of such a thing but adds, “Wherever Gandalf leads, I shan’t be far behind.” (Though I have seen rumors about a third film, I have yet to encounter any solid evidence for it.)