Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings screenwriter Philippa Boyens is back for another romp in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth playground with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and she recently sat down with Movieline to talk about the fantasy novel's adaptation to the screen. more »
Empire caught up with Flight of the Conchords comedian Bret McKenzie, who'd recently reprised his Lord of the Rings character in The Hobbit as a musical elf, now named Lindir. "This time, if I make the edit, I'll speak in Elvish. But I don't sing. They haven't asked me to do the theme song yet! Maybe this time it's me and Annie Lennox." More importantly, he revealed that Gandalf himself is a Conchords enthusiast. "Ian McKellen, it turns out, is a big fan of Flight Of The Conchords. He and I had a good time on set, coming up with ideas for Hobbit: The Musical. We're still developing it..." Wizards -- they're just like us! [Empire]
Empire Magazine gathered ex-Hobbit pals Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry (otherwise known as Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan) for a reunion photo shoot to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring, in the December issue. It'll include Viggo Mortensen's behind the scenes photos, concept art, and stories from the set, and to whet your appetite Empire's released a brief "trailer" from its recent Hobbit cast reunion.
As a fledgling artist in his teens, Drew Struzan took to illustrating movie posters to make a living; decades later, his work in the world of visual film art has become not only iconic, but a part of the way we celebrate many modern cinema classics of the past few decades. This month's release Drew Struzan: Oeuvre collects more than 250 pieces of Struzan's art from films including Star Wars: Episode V -- The Empire Strikes Back, Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings, and Movieline has a special exclusive preview of rare pieces from the forthcoming book.
Fantastic Fest's annual Fantastic Debates pit filmmakers, critics, and celebrities against each other in a two-part battle that begins with a podium debate and ends with the ultimate showdown in the boxing ring. This year's Debates, held Saturday night in Austin, Texas, will get even more fantastic than usual as Elijah Wood and Lord of the Rings pal Dominic Monaghan duke it out with some Hobbit vs. Hobbit fisticuffs. Watch their challenge videos after the jump!
With The Hobbit -- excuse me, The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey -- a year and a half away from hitting screens, what's a LOTRer to do with all that free time? If you're a West Coast Middle-earther, circle your calendar for October 2011 when the live Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring concert tour hits, performing Howard Shore's award-winning score in tandem with a digital screening of the film.
Mark your calendars, Ringers! AMC Theaters will screen the director's cuts of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King over three successive weeks starting June 14, timed to coincide with the long-awaited release of the extended edition trilogy on Blu-ray. That only gives you seven weeks to get your Gandalf hats and Hobbit feet dry cleaned, so hop to it! [TheOneRing.net]
Writing from the set of The Hobbit, Peter Jackson took to Facebook Monday to blog his thoughts on filming at 48 frames per second -- the increased frame rate championed by folks like James Cameron, who will use it to blow minds in Avatar 2 and 3. Jackson is currently filming The Hobbit in 3-D at 48 fps instead of the industry standard 24 fps, and as a result, the Lord of the Rings follow-up will be the first wide release to pave the way into a brave new digital world of filmmaking -- whether or not theaters around the world are ready for it.
FILM NEWS 
