An Unexpected Party
Published on: 16th May, 2008
An Unexpected PartyRelated News
You are invited to an unexpected party next Saturday hosted by Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro who will be your hosts for the evening. Well I suppose that depends on where you live and its for an hour rather than a full evening but you get the picture.
They will be answering 20 of the most asked questions that are submited between now and then plus they will be taking a few questions live via the web chat.
Here’s an excert from the official invitation:
“We ask all fans with an interest in The Hobbit or The Lord Of The Rings to send one question to this website. Ask us anything! Guillermo and I will select and answer the 20 most common questions, so we can both attempt to address the key issues as best we can.”
I like the bit about “fans with an interest!”
The unexpected party is to be hosted at the Weta Holics website where the invitation is now posted. You will need to register to ask your question, attend the party or both. Full details can be found on their site here.
Put your number 1 question in the comments below and we’ll see if the most popular here makes it into the 20 questions at the unexpected party. Do you want to know how Del Toro sees Smaug being developed or do you just want to know who will be doing the voice? Who tops the list for the lead role of Bilbo Baggins or what’s the agenda for the Hobbit part 2?
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Latest Hobbit Forum Chat
- Reply on "Hobbit movie postponed" by kira123 on July 3, 2009 at 4:32 am in Breaking News
- Reply on "The Dwarves" by kira123 on July 3, 2009 at 4:29 am in The Hobbit Movies
- Reply on "What's your favorite part in the Book?" by kira123 on July 2, 2009 at 10:48 pm in The Hobbit Movies
- Reply on "Voice of Smaug" by Gandalfs Beard on July 2, 2009 at 4:45 pm in The Hobbit Movies
- Reply on "Voice of Smaug" by bonesharley on July 2, 2009 at 3:01 pm in The Hobbit Movies
I was dissapointed that LOTR was not able to include Tom Bombadil, The Barrow Downs, and the Old Forest.
Will Bjorne be included in the movie ?
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Is a plan in the works for the making of “The Silmarillion” and the creation of Middle Earth
from the beginning to tie it all together. This would be a dream come true for all Tolkien fans to have the entire history brought to life on the screen.
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Will the second movie use Aragorn as the narrative thread? His travels with and without Gandalf, etc. Or will the focus be on the White Council and Dol Guldur? Or both?
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I’ve got two questions; the first one is, will The Hobbit movie has his release in 2010 or 2011? The second question is will viggo mortensen return in one of the two films? Greetz, from The Netherlands
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I’m hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the other characters from the LOTR films in the Hobbit. Easiest places would probably be Rivendell or Perhaps the battle at the Lonely Mountain. Any chance that Aragorn, Legolas, etc may be in the backgrounds or scenes as unidentified parts of that story? One way of the other, I Can’t wait!!! Wished I could have made something for one of the characters to have used in LOTR…
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Thank you very much for the opportunity to be able to make some questions to you!!
So… my question is: Why do you think it is important to tell this beautiful story?
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Hi! Thank you for doing this movie! I am a really big fan! I love it and I know is awesome, but besides that, Why do you want to make this movie?
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My question for Jackson and Del Toro would be, do they plan to add characters that were not in the book into the movie. For example, would they plan on adding Legolas, Aragorn, and Elrond considering their age? And if so, how would you incorporate them without changing the book version that much.
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Ok this question kind of came up as a random musing at 2 am after a fail attempt to clean my room and viewing the LOTR trilogy. Anyway I had done some research on Glorfindel who is my favorite elf from the books, though he was present in the first or second movie but had a cameo in the third. I found out that a man named Jarl Benzon did stand in work of Legolas which to my eyes went entirely unnoticed. Now your probably reading this and wondering “where the heck is she going with this?” well I had read something on another site saying that Ryan Gosling was a candidate for the part of Thranduil in the Hobbit. Now this part where these to points collide, since Jarl Benzon did stand in for Legolas wouldn’t it be easier to use him for Thranduil instead of bring in an outside person? Now I don’t know how much either of these two fine men know about the Hobbit but to me it just seem more appropriate somehow.
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I’m a little worried about the dwarves. Gimili did not look great, and 12 dwarves better look more like dwarves should look. Some of the dwarves although present the entire story are hardly ever mentioned or speak. Will there be 12 dwarves in the movie with undeveloped characters or will they cut down the number of dwarves so they can develop them more. This is a tricky problem that I don’t think anyone has brought up.
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Read the next comment! Christopher Lee (saruman) might not be in the second hobbit movie in which he is the leader of the white council!!!
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Sorry to rain on the parade, but why is there a need for a second ‘The Hobbit’ movie. Why can’t they just make ‘The Hobbit’ and be done with it? This tag on movie sound like a lot of nonsense merely designed to rip off fans and movie goers alike. Why should I be interested it what is for all intents and purpuses only Jackson and Del Toro’s vision of events that do not contained in any true narrative… Talk about spinning out the cash cow! Next They’ll both presenting ‘The Downfall Of Numemor’ or ‘The Silmarillion’ written according PJ and wife the very untalented and equally bad intrepetor of Tolkiens works - Fran Walsh!
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would it be possible to include tom bombadil into the forthcoming movies - because he is a fascinating personality - the only living human being who sees frodo in normal condition when he puts the ring - this would be a fascinating scene and a moment of truth - in a retroperspective! thank you for considering!
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An important aspect on the finding of the one ring-while it may have “been a good thing” that Bilbo was meant to find it, it must be considered that the ring was responding to the presense of Gandalf and his ring (one of the Three) in the tunnels, as well as Thorin, who was an heir to one of the Seven.
Also, in the incident with the 3 trolls, it is likely that Gandalf was meeting with Aragorn and the sons of Elrond, hunting in the North Country for enemies, while the dwarves were captured by the 3 trolls.
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How close is the Hobbit movie?
What will be the story of the second movie?
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Are the goblins in this movie going to be as horrendous as the orcs are in the lord of the rings?
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Will the goblins in the movie be as horrendous as the orcs in the other lord of the rings movies?
[because when i read the book, i imagined them as the same personality as orcs, but a little less ugly]
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[sorry i'm posting so much]
*disregard third post*
why is there going to be two hobbit movies?
i know its a long book and everything…
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why isnt peter jackson directing Hobbit, he has all the equipment to bring it to life and a place in new zealand to put it together?
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I’d like to emphasise importance of aspect concerning Peter Jackson’s role as a director. He is the most appropriate person to direct “Hobbit”. Why? Because he has great experiance from “The Lord Of The Rings”, he has also big passion of what he does (he likes and enjoys fantasy in contrary to Guillermo del Toro) and finally he knows Tolkien’s books. I’d like also to ask if there are supposed to be any changes of actors that played in “The Lord Of The Rings”. If yes, who will take the roles?
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I agree with the comment above, Peter Jackson has already proved that he can make Tolkien’s books come to life in such a fantastic way. Not that i have anything against Guillermo del Toro but i personally didn’t see anything special with such previously created films he was on board with like ‘Hellboy’, though hopefully he will make me eat my words like alphabetti spaghetti and create another masterpiece like the lotr trilogy.
Personally i cannot wait to see the dwarfs! Gimli was one of my favourite characters in the film and i personally wanted to hear more about him and his kind. But now to see the dwarfs in the lonely mountain and to see them battle! what a treat this will be!
In reply to a post further up where it was commented that the dwarfs didnt look good enough and enough like dwarfs, my opinion could not disagree more with this, i visioned a dwarf in the very way that Jackson had brought to life in the film..bloody good job
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I am very excited to hear about the work being done to bring The Hobbit to the big screen with such serious treatment and I enjoyed reading the transcript from the online Q&A last spring. As I’ve been thinking about their answers several things have run through my mind.
1. They comment on being mindful that Smaug should be “THE DRAGON” in the sense that he should be the real deal and not a reflection. Indeed that it should be clear that all dragons created since are a reflection of him, not the other way around. I respect that a great deal, but am hoping that they take that view across the board of all the creatures and concepts Tolkien brought to life in The Hobbit.
For while Tolkien was pulling together a variety of actual myths and legends, he is still rightly credited with being the “father” of the modern fantasy genre. I dare say there isn’t any fantasy work written since that doesn’t nod back to what he first made “main stream.” Even those writers who have not read Tolkien’s works have been influenced by him, probably without their knowledge because portions of the genre just “are.” That is a credit to Tolkien.
So as they craft this film, we all understand they have their own vision of the story to present. And while details may change, the story itself – the heart of it – will no doubt remain true. We also understand that they can’t make all readers happy. What we envision for a character is unique to our own imaginations and experiences and we cannot expect them all to match. We also understand that logistically, changes need to be made when turning a novel into a screenplay. But that being said, I hope for two things – That they truly do remain true to the heart of the story, neither adding nor diminishing from Tolkien’s original primary themes. And second, that they are able to handle the enormous task of not just bringing to cinema life the first chapter of a Hobbit quest (or the first movie of a five movie arc), but the foundation of modern epic fantasy as we know it. That’s a massive responsibility in itself and indeed puts a whole new light on the undertaking. They aren’t just creating The Hobbit, They’re creating The Beginning.
2. I was a little concerned to see the intended PG-13 rating and especially the comment “an intense PG-13.” While The Hobbit is no fluff tale and deals with real and fundamental truths of life, the story itself was, after all, written for his children… I understand that good money needs to be made in order to craft a solid movie of this kind today, and that requires an audience larger than the regular “children and family” crowd. I also understand that there are some rather scary scenes in the story – grabbed by goblins, attacked by spiders, etc. But Tolkien did not include those events to be terrifying to his audience, and neither should they be today. Of course, they shouldn’t be “campy” or “weak” scenes either. So, I trust in their creative talents to balance the two – frightening and tense is one thing. Terrifying is something else again. Remember who this story was intended to reach.
My father was one of the original Tolkien fans who, back in the day, actually had to order his copy of The Hobbit all the way from England (he was a boy in Chicago at the time). I still have that copy today. And I have fond memories of many October/November nights of my childhood of him reading The Hobbit to me (with character voices no less) for a number of years. Even today, 30 years later as the seasons turn my fingers itch to get it down from the shelf and read it again. When I grew up and became a literature teacher, The Hobbit formed a core unit of my instruction, and like magic it drew in the girls and the boys, those that loved to read and those that didn’t; drawing a whole new group of young readers into Tolkien’s world. I haven’t seen any other book (even Harry Potter) accomplish that.
And while unlike del Toro, I have read TLOR books (multiple times), in the same way as him, they didn’t really resonate with me. I enjoyed the films, respected them, admired the work (particularly with the all important development of characters), but still, wasn’t a “die hard fan.” Like the director, however, my connection to The Hobbit is almost visceral. I experienced it as a young listener – similar to Tolkien’s own children. I experienced deeper as a reader – for over two decades. I experienced it further as a teacher – how to best draw out those themes and truths that Tolkien presented within the context of wonderful characters and settings. Someday I hope it will come full circle as I read the book to my own son who, at 4 is still a bit young for it!
So I suppose I am an “excited skeptic” about this upcoming movie. It has great potential to draw in new readers or to expose non-fantasy readers to the incredible story Tolkien wove. It could indeed become one of those “classic movies” that brought to life the creation of an entire literary genre. At the same time it has the potential to too fantastical, too dark, and too cliché.
At its core this is a simple story with a series of simple truths. I hope the team can keep that as their focus. After all, if Tolkien had wanted to write a deep dark epic he would have done so… wait a minute, he did! – The Lord of the Rings. And that’s already been made. May The Hobbit movie be an honest cinematic of Tolkien’s work and not simply a “prequel” to TLOR movies. May it bring magic and delight to children and young people just as the book has done for 70 years.
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I have identified a MAJOR problem/continuitu error that in my opinion, is unavoidable for the new Hobbit movie!!!
In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo is played by Elijah Wood - a 20 something year old actor. And he looks about this age. In the Hobbit, Bilbo is around the same age when he leaves for his journey, as Frodo is when he leaves for his in Lord of the Rings (yes I know, not exactly the same age.. but close enough in Hobbit years!!!). This means that whoever plays Bilbo in The Hobbit will have to appear to be roughly the same age as Elijah Wood (20 something). However, in the Lord of Rings, Gandalf exclaims to Bilbo (upon seeing him after many years), “you haven’t aged a day!” (due to the power of the ring discovered during The Hobbit) And of course at this point, Bilbo is being played by Mr Ian Holm - a somewhat elderly actor.
This means that if Ian Holm is cast as Bilbo, there will be a contiuity error in terms of how Hobbits age… I.e. why does Bilbo look 70 something whereas Frodo looked 30 something at around the same (Hobbit) age? If a younger actor is used to avoid this problem… then Gandalf’s comment to Bilbo during the Lord of the Rings (mentioned above) will not make sense… causing another continuity error.
How do Tel Toro and Jackson intend to counteract this (quite signifcant) problem.The fans will certainly notice it!!!!!
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Dear RingAstari i believe you’re taking things too stricty. Gandalf is not using the phrase literally. Bilbo is 111 years old in the LOTR and - for even a hobbit - that’s too long. He must have been looking like in the end of the film if it wasn’t for the ring, but despite that he looks like he is in his mid sixties in human years (and remember, only a year have passed). So Gandalf is using that phrase to his amazement like we use it when we see a familiar person after many years and we’re expecting to look older. Besides the book itself mentions that the ring slows the ageing process not STOPING IT. So the actor who plays Bilbo should be at the same age as Elijah Wood yes, but he should also look like Sir Holm at the proluge of the film where is that scene that finds the ring.
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Also Gandalfs comment ‘You haven’t aged a day’ would naturally mean since the last time he saw Bilbo. This was more recent than the end of ‘The Hobbit’ as evidenced by various factors, not least the fact that Frodo is already friendly with Gandalf meaning that he had visited the shire at least once within the last 30 years. Please correct me if I am wrong on any of these points.
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His name is Beorn, Don. I hope he’s in the movie too. I’m still mad at Rankin Bass for not putting him in their version of the Hobbit
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Is Howard Shore going to compose the music again? He did an outstanding job with the Lord of the Rings.
Is the movie going to be filmed in only New Zealand?
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Arwen08,
I should imagine both Hobbit movies will be shot in New Zealand which has proved an excellent venue for Tolkien related cinematics! However, it does always strike an nerve with me that they don’t attempt to use some of the English Countryside for Tolkien efforts on the big screen. Forever was the old forests and valleys of England in Tolkien’s mind when constructing his stories (as mentioned in his numerous notes). I am certain he would like some element of the movies to involve the landscape that inspired his designs. Having been lucky enough to have experienced such beauty, it only leaves me with the feeling that PJ and now Del Toro have been somewhat short sighted to shoot 100% of the movies in New Zealand despite its obvious beauty.
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Bilbo was about fifty years old when he left the Shire to journey to the Lonely Mountain and recover the drawves’ treasure. So there are about sixty years or so between the end of the hobiit and the beginning of LOTR. The ring slows aging and gives “unnaturally long life”. So if Bilbo appears to age only about 10 or 15 years between The Hobbit Movie and LOTR, when he should have aged by 60 years, that would be alright.
To cast some one who looks like 20 yrs would be misleading. The actor should probably look forty-ish…….
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I think that they should make it. They really should have started the movies off with making the Hobbit live action to begin with. That way you could have had the same people playing the parts in all the movies. Yea, I know I’m just a no body that’’s talkikng out of my “BUTT”, The thing is, if you had taken a pole on what people would have wanted to see in the first place. Just the three Lord of the Rings in live action o all of them in live action, The Hobbit, plus the Three Lord of the Rings, you would have found out that people would have preffered to see all of them done that way. Not to say that now you are goingf to spend how much money to re build how many sets again that you had made for the first three you did. You would have saved time money and resources. I hope that I haven’t bored you to tears and thanks for listening. Todd Harwood
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To IstariAllStar,
Tolkien wasn’t only inspired by England. He was inspired by Europe and South Africa as well. And modern England looks way too much like a metropolitan place without one piece of naturality. In Tolkien’s time it would have looked different. New Zealand, on the other hand, is a widely spread and very beautiful place that does more justice to Middle-earth than English countryside does. And I like lively places. I am sure Tolkien would have agreed NZ to be a wonderful place to set the Hobbit.
Questions:
1) Is there any actors that will definetly be starring in the Hobbit (besides McKellen and Serkis), and if so who?
2) What exactly, in brief, is the second movie going to be based around? A brief summary would be appreciated.
3) Are there any possibilities of bringing any of the old cast back and star them in the Hobbit and it’s sequel through loopholes in Tolkien’s story?
4) When, precisely is the filming for the two movies going to be put into process?
5) Is the Hobbit going to follow the strict structure of the child story and limit it to that, or will we be expecting any changes to broaden the audiences slightly?
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How does a total non actor get some kind of part or help out in making the Hobbit? It would be a wonderful opportunity to be involved in some way.
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