The Frodo Franchise by Kristin Thompson
 
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March 16 : 2010

Gandalf or Godot in June?

The Dominion Post, Wellington’s local newspaper, has posted a short item on its website. It announces that:

Though the cast for Rings prequel The Hobbit has yet to be officially announced, Sir Ian has said that he will reprise the role of Gandalf the wizard and expects shooting to begin in June this year.

While in Wellington, Sir Ian will also perform in Samuel Beckett’s classic play Waiting for Godot at the St James Theatre from June 30.

I think some people are interpreting this to mean that Ian has just announced that The Hobbit will start shooting in June. My impression is that that information has been posted in his filmography on his website for some time now. (Did anybody notice when that date was added?) The entry also says the first script is finished and the second progressing, that Guillermo del Toro is in New Zealand, and so on, all information we have known for some months now. The release date is given as 201?, which suggests no breaking news.

The main point of the article is that Ian will be playing in Waiting for Godot in Wellington for four performances only, June 30 to July 2 at the St. James Theatre. That sounds as though it’s timed to allow Ian to be in New Zealand during June–but in fact he’s going to be performing the same play in Sydney’s Opera House from June 15 to 27.

Of course, there could be some filming involving Gandalf earlier in the month, or after the Wellington run, in July. But whether Ian’s scheduled presence in the Antipodes this summer is timed to coincide with the commencement of Hobbit shooting or is just a coincidence remains to be seen.

Having seen Godot during its first London run last June, I heartily recommend it to fans in Australia and New Zealand!

[March 17: Actually, Waiting for Godot is touring Australia beginning with Melbourne, May 6-23, then Perth, May 28 to June 3, on to Adelaide, June 9-11, and ending in Sydney, June 15-27. So no shooting involving Gandalf will go on during that period, it seems fair to assume. Not to say that there couldn't be filming with other characters, but we just don't have any information.]

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    The Frodo Franchise
    by Kristin Thompson

    US flagbuy at best price

    Canadian flagbuy at best price

    UK flagbuy at best price

    Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
    hardcover 978-0-520-24774-1
    421 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 12 color illustrations; 36 b/w illustrations; 1 map; 1 table

    “Once in a lifetime.”
    The phrase comes up over and over from the people who worked on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. The film’s 17 Oscars, record-setting earnings, huge fan base, and hundreds of ancillary products attest to its importance and to the fact that Rings is far more than a film. Its makers seized a crucial moment in Hollywood—the special effects digital revolution plus the rise of “infotainment” and the Internet—to satisfy the trilogy’s fans while fostering a huge new international audience. The resulting franchise of franchises has earned billions of dollars to date with no end in sight.

    Kristin Thompson interviewed 76 people to examine the movie’s scripting and design and the new technologies deployed to produce the films, video games, and DVDs. She demonstrates the impact Rings had on the companies that made it, on the fantasy genre, on New Zealand, and on independent cinema. In fast-paced, compulsively readable prose, she affirms Jackson’s Rings as one the most important films ever made.

    The Frodo Franchise

    cover of Penguin Books’ (NZ) edition of The Frodo Franchise, published September 2007. The tiny subtitle reads: “How ‘The Lord of the Rings’ became a Hollywood blockbuster and put New Zealand on the map.”