TolkienNut16 has posted an auditorium version of the video introduction given by Peter ahead of last night’s screenings of the extended version of The Two Towers. Most of the production background he described will be familiar to fans who have seen the supplements and listened to the commentary tracks of the extended-version DVDs.

Peter did say one thing that seemed new to me, though perhaps he has said it somewhere before and I just missed it. He says that Fran Walsh suggested and wrote the famous “Go away and never come back!” argument between Smeagol and Gollum. She also directed it, since it was a very late addition to the film. Fran has always been quite modest about this and said she simply directed the scene the way Peter wanted her to. But it does sound as though that scene was pretty much hers from inspiration to execution, and here Peter graciously gives her credit. Of course, it has become one of the most famous scenes in the film.

I have an analysis of it in an essay, “Gollum Talks to Himself,” in a forthcoming anthology of essays about the film, Picturing Tolkien, to be released by McFarland on July 31 and edited by Jan Bogstad and Phil Kaveny. (It’s available for pre-order on Amazon, and given how these things go, it may well come out before July 31.) I hope to post an interview with Jan and Phil about the book in July.

A telethon for charity, “Rise up Christchurch,” is happening in New Zealand. Ian McKellen is/was scheduled to appear at Te Papa museum during this. He’ll present a copy of Tolkien’s The Hobbit, autographed by cast members, to be auctioned off. As most readers will recall, Christchurch was struck by a devastating and deadly earthquake earlier this year.

It’s not the first time that Peter Jackson’s Tolkien adaptations have pitched in after a catastrophic event. The Fellowship of the Ring was due to start its American run in December, 2001. After the attack on the World Trade Center in September, fundraising screenings of the film were held.

[Thanks to Paulo Pereira for the link!]

[Added May 23: There’s now a ten-minute TV clip with Ian McKellen and a group of the dwarf-actors doing a gag bit “revealing” their costumes and makeup for the film. The only news here seems to be that Cate Blanchett is at work in Wellington, so the White Council scenes must be underway.]

[Added May 26: If you’re interested in bidding on the autographed copy of The Hobbit, go here.]

Maybe there’s not much news leaking out about the Hobbit filming, but the news from Wellington is picking up. Stuff.co.nz reports on the re-opening of the renovated Roxy Theatre, a 1930s movie house in Wellington that was given its makeover thanks to a group including Jamie Selkirk and Tania Rodger.

Three Dwarves–Steven Hunter, Adam Brown, and Graham McTavish–and a Hobbit, Martin Freeman, flank PJ (Photo by Keven Stent)

Among the 300 invited guests were Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, the mayor of Wellington, and two cabinet ministers. Ian McKellen cut the ceremonial ribbon and pointed out that he was the only guest present actually born in the same decade when the theatre was originally built. (Ian is vintage 1939.) A mysterious guest costumed in a vintage Rocketeer outfit  turned out to be none other than Peter Jackson. (I would guess that the costume is from his own extensive collection.)

You probably have read this news on TheOneRing.net itself. Still, since Xoanon was kind enough to send me the official press release, I’ll pass it along:

We have been spreading unofficial rumors that TheOneRing.net would be presenting a panel at Comic-Con but the official website confirmed it today: At 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 22, in room 7AB founder Calisuri, the incomparable Quickbeam and fan advocate MrCere will present the latest unofficial new about ‘The Hobbit’ movies and everything else there is time for. Guests possible but not promised. If you haven’t heard, returned tickets are now available to the general public from the previously sold out Comic-Con. TORn will also be sharing space with Weta at the Dark Horse booth (#2615) and selling really cool shirts! We hope to see you there.

I was lucky enough to participate in the equivalent panel with these same worthy gentlemen two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the experience–that and meeting John Howe and signing copies of The Frodo Franchise. I’d love to be there again, whether on the panel or in the audience. ‘Tis not to be this year, though I hope next year there will be official Hobbit hype beginning at Comic-Con, and maybe then I’ll get myself out to San Diego to observe and report.

If you have or can manage to get hold of a ticket, do get in line early for the TORN event. It fills up quickly!

If we needed any more evidence that the Lord of the Rings film trilogy built an enduring cutting-edge set of filmmaking faciities in Wellington, we’ve got it. On March 24 the Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum in Hong Kong will present a day-long program, “Innovate Locally, Collaborate Globally: The Success of Wellington, New Zealand.”

Two of the people I interviewed for The Frodo Franchise will be the keynote speakers: Matt Aitken, of Weta Digital, and Barrie Osborne, producer of LOTR. Matt’s topic is “How and Why Creativity is the True Critical Success Factor.” Barrie speaks on “Making Movies for Global Entertainment Markets.” A third interviewee, Mayor Kerrie Prendergast, will introduce the program.

The event focuses mainly on Hong Kong’s potential for imitating the success of Wellington and for collaborating with New Zealand in future filmmaking ventures.

In July I had the pleasure of meeting Sohaib Awan at Comic-Con. He’s the host of “Fictional Frontiers,” an interview show on radio station WNJC-1360 AM in Philadelphia. I’m sure many of you have listened to Sohaib’s interviews with some of the folks from TheOneRing.net over the past few months.

Now it’s my turn. I’ll be one of the interviewees this coming Sunday, December 14, talking about The Frodo Franchise and the LOTR film trilogy. You can hear it on the show’s website. Just click the “listen now” button at the upper right. The program starts at 11:00 EST and runs for an hour. I hope you enjoy it!

If you miss the interview, Sohaib assures me that it should be posted as a podcast within a few days after it airs. I’ll post a link to that when it happens.

Variety yesterday quoted Peter Jackson concerning an event about to start in New Zealand. The Association of Film Commissioners International will be holding its Cineposium International conference in Wellington from November 19 to 23.

Here’s Peter on the event:

Peter Jackson, whose “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy lensed on location in New Zealand, said the Cineposium helps filmmakers who work on a variety of locations and rely on the local film office to aid production teams on the ground.

“It’s great that the AFCI Cineposium brings film commissioners together to learn and exchange information and best practice,” Jackson said.

Twenty commissioners will come together from around the world. I note that Kate Bedya, New Line Cinema’s senior VP of production, will be one of a panel of three on a closing-day session on “how studios and film commissions can work together creatively and as partners to make productions more efficient and successful around the world.”

Peter gets in a plug for New Zealand as a filmmaking location: “The region is a terrific environment for filmmaking and filmmakers. The residents and local government are incredibly enthusiastic, helpful and friendly.” Given what we saw happening with LOTR, that’s obviously true.

My first Comic-Con experience has been pretty exciting so far. I can’t say that generalization applied to standing in the Press and Professional line to get my badge—though it can’t actually have been more than about 25 minutes and was handled pretty efficiently. The line of people waiting to get their purchased four-day passes seemed to stretch to the horizon. Once I had my badge, I headed inside for the Wednesday night preview of the contents of the enormous exhibition hall. more »

Today TheOneRing.net announced that its team will be interviewing Richard Taylor and John Howe at Comic-Con. That event will happen at the Weta Workshop booth (#2615) at 4:00 on Thursday, July 24.

The interview is in connection with a forthcoming documentary on Renaissance martial arts, Reclaiming the Blade, produced by Galatia Films. Richard and John will be in the film, as will Viggo Mortensen, Karl Urban, and Bob Anderson (who taught the main actors swordfighting for the trilogy). John Rhys-Davies will narrate. These Comic-Con interviews will discuss Richard and John’s other project as well.

Immediately after the interview Richard and John will autograph mini-posters for the film. The interview itself will be recorded on video, which will then be posted both on TORN and on the Reclaiming the Blade website.

Snooping around the latter, I discovered that Galatia has posted some short videos on YouTube. One, from April 23, has excerpts from an interview with Richard at Weta Workshop. Another, posted March 26, features Mortensen and Anderson. Check out the index page, with links, here.

I am getting seriously excited about going to Comic-Con next week. As I’ve said, it’s my first time. I’ll be participating in TheOneRing.net’s Hobbit project panel at 10:00 am on Friday, July 25. We’ll be in Room 32AB. This is TORN’s first participation at Comic-Con since five years ago. Back in 2003, The Return of the King hadn’t come out yet. Indeed, at the time of the Con, stars like Ian McKellen were back in New Zealand for pick-ups, and the third film was still in frantic, behind-schedule production. I was patiently waiting for pickups to be over so I could go down to Wellington in the hope that some of the filmmakers would have time to talk with me for my book. more »