We’re running a competition for the most creative Hobbit Movie themed Facebook Timeline profile cover (A cover is the larger photo at the top of your timeline, right above your profile picture.).

The winner will be announced on March 14th and will win a Gollum Gold One Ring Necklace kindly provided by Badali Jewelry! Your entry will also be published on the-hobbit-movie.com to be seen by hundreds of thousands of Tolkien fans and all entries will be listed in the competition album on our Facebook Fan Page!

To enter the competition, please provide the following:

1. Photo must be 850px wide by 315px high
2. Photo must be a JPG or PNG file (.jpg or .png)
3. Photo should have “the-hobbit-movie.com” logo (you can use ours or design your own) on it somewhere
4. You must provide your name and any other information you’d like us to post with your entry.

Please submit all entires via email to webmaster@the-hobbit-movie.com

Good luck!

Hobbit Movie Facebook Cover Competition is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

Can you imagine building Minas Tirith, Helm’s Deep, or even Hobbiton? Well, now there is no need to keep that imagination concealed. Starting this June, LEGO® will be launching their construction sets based on THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ trilogy. THE HOBBIT™ construction sets will be expected to be in stores closer to The Hobbit movies’ debut.

According to Karen McTier, executive vice president, domestic licensing and worldwide marketing, of Warner Bros. Consumer Products, “Only LEGO, with their expertise in the construction category, is capable of doing justice to the incredibly imaginative environments depicted in the world of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and the two films based on THE HOBBIT.”

Jill Wilfert, vice president of licensing and entertainment for The LEGO Group, said, “Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products has delivered numerous worldwide successes in the construction toy aisle….introducing us to loyal audiences who love great stories, strong characters, and the toys that they inspire.” She also states that “it’s particularly exciting to now be able to create sets based on the fantasy worlds and characters from THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT, not only because we know they will foster collectability and creative play, but also because these are two properties that our fans have been asking us to create for years.”

Middle-Earth in a box.  What could be better? Start planning for the brick-by-brick rendition of Tolkien’s world. Your imagination has only just begun!

Source: collider

Lego and Middle-Earth Collide! is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

The Hobbit team have been praised for their positive impacts upon New Zealand communities during production of the movie. The high numbers of guest beds taken up by sleepy crew has helped to boost the Nelson Tasman area, which sits on the Western tip of New Zealand’s South island, in a time of record flooding and landslips.

Nelson Tasman Tourism Chief Executive Lynda Keene expressed her gratitude to the crew and said: “This is a good result in a month where we had the highest rainfall in the region in 50 years and floods impacted on the region’s trading over what would normally be a busy two-week period (Dec 14 to Dec 28). The filming of The Hobbit in December has probably helped the result and is indicative of the importance film tourism can have to a region.”

Source: stuff.co.nz

Hobbit Helps to Fight Floods is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

Scottish comedian Billy Connolly will play a pugnacious dwarf in Peter Jackson’s upcoming The Hobbit movies, the New Zealand director said.

Mr Jackson said the recruitment of Mr Connolly, known as the “Big Yin”, completed casting for his latest Tolkien epic, a two-film adaptation of The Hobbit currently being shot in Mr Jackson’s homeland.

“We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself,” Mr Jackson said in a statement. “With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can’t wait to see him on the battlefield.”

Source: timesofmalta.com

Billy Connolly cast in upcoming Hobbit movies is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

The Hobbit is to be filmed in Nelson at the end of this year! And 400-500 crew and cast will be staying in the region. Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand.

The Hobbit publicist Melissa Booth said she was unable to confirm locations.

“We’re just looking forward and trying to get the film made. I think everyone is happy to be back at work.”

Pohara motelier Steve du Feu said the filming of The Hobbit was “good news” for businesses in Golden Bay. His motel, The Sandcastle, is one of a number in Golden Bay that have been booked out by 3 Foot 7 for 10 days in mid-November and a week in early December.

“The increased activity in the bay associated with this will be an awesome boost after what has been a pretty quiet winter. The crew will be made to feel very welcome,” he said.

Bob Haswell of Clifftops Retreat in Ruby Bay said he had friends working on the film in Wellington and “it looks like some of them might be coming to Nelson”.

Mr Haswell is connected to Tasman Helicopters, which was involved during the filming of parts of The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the Nelson region, but he said the company had not been approached about helping with The Hobbit.

Nelson Mayor Aldo Miccio said the likelihood that The Hobbit crew might be coming to Nelson was news to him, but he was not surprised. “It’s in line with what we have been hearing – that Nelson is going to be a destination for filming.”

He said the crew of Kiwi Flyer had told him that word was spreading that Nelson was “the place to come”.

“I think we’re going to see a lot more of this in the future.”

Source: stuff.co.nz

A Nelson-shaped part of Middle Earth is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt, known for his leading “tough-guy” roles, spoke recently about playing the reclusive and heroic Beorn.

In The Hobbit, Beorn is an immense brawny shapeshifter, who is vegetarian and lives in a wooden house between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood on his own after the Orcs killed the rest of his race. Beorn can transform at will into a bear. Mikael describes a scene, which could well be the part of the story where Beorn interrogates a wolf and a goblin to verify Gandalf’s story.

In an interview (translated from Swedish), Mikael spoke about what it was like to play Beorn.

“When, during the first days, I was hoisted up to the ceiling in the west King Kong studio in Wellington, I knew what to do. Even though it was embarrassing and a hassle to start with a severe torture scene, I knew I could even suggest things.”

Peter Jackson was impressed with your audition.

“I did not made it complicated. Just as one can imagine “how exactly would I react if I lose a child ?”…

[He bends down and knocks in the wooden floor.]

” … no more than I can imagine “what am I like as a Shapeshifter”?, living with horses and animals in the forest. One must look into oneself and try. I act pretty much in the same way in “The Hobbit” as I would in a love drama.”

There has been much anticipation of “The Hobbit”.

“I bought a mountain bike in New Zealand and was often up biking in the mountains while I was waiting.”

It is the in the Hamilton-movies that you trained your body?

“Yes, but it comes in damn handy in New Zealand. It is for Hamilton that I was with the Navy Seals and the Swedish equivalent. I’ve been at this gym.” [He points to the shirt with "Nacka martial arts center."]

“I drive all the time. Including this morning. Two miles uphill and then weights. It has become like a poison to me. Six days a week.”

You practice your English?

“Yes, I do that with Peter Jackson’s film. In Hamilton I talk in both Russian and English. I try to be a good student. I have had some resistance. It was useless to go for English lessons at home when you did not have concrete offers abroad.”

Source: Nojes Bladent

Beorn talks about being a bear is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

Lost star Evangeline Lilly is the latest celebrity to join the cast of The Hobbit. The 31-year-old actress, who played Kate Austen in Lost, was in New Zealand to play Woodland Elf, Tauriel, as Peter Jackson announced on his Facebook page. He said, “Her name means ‘daughter of Mirkwood’ and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing!”. Sadly there will be no romantic connection to Legolas. Read his full letter below:

Yikes! I can finally get back to some postings! We’ve finished our first block of shooting and moved straight into location scouting. More on that soon… But today, I’m thrilled to announce two new cast members who will be joining us for our second block of shooting.

Evangeline Lilly will be playing a new character‚the Woodland Elf, Tauriel. Her name means ‘daughter of Mirkwood’ and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.) What is not a secret is how talented and compelling an actress Evangeline is; we are thrilled and excited she will be the one to bring our first true Sylvan Elf to life.

I’m also highly excited that Barry Humphries will be portraying the Goblin King, in much the way Andy Serkis created Gollum. Barry is perhaps best known for his business and social connections as the long-time manager of Dame Edna Everage. He has also been an ardent supporter of the rather misunderstood and unfairly maligned Australian politician, Sir Les Patterson. However, in his spare time, Barry is also a fine actor, and we’re looking forward to seeing him invest the Goblin King with the delicate sensitivity and emotional depth this character deserves.

Evangeline and Barry, along with Welsh actor Luke Evans as Bard and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug, just about rounds out the major casting. I cannot wait to get stuck into these new scenes!

More soon, including a flurry of answers to your questions. Sorry for the delay!

Cheers, Peter J.

 Source: Peter Jackson's Facebook Page

Star of Lost joins The Hobbit Cast is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

It has just been announced that the gaming arm of Warner Bros. known as WB Interactive Entertainment has signed up to a long term partnership with The Saul Zaentz company allowing them to develop and publish future games based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit.

The first game is already in development and will be called The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest, an action adventure played in the 3rd person and targeted at all ages. Future games based on The Lord of the Rings will be targeting the adult gamer with The Hobbit games presumably aimed at the younger market,

The President of WB Interactive Entertainment said:

“The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest is the first of many different types of games we will be developing with the film and literary rights. It is also the first game allowing kids and their families to interact in their favorite locations and stories from The Lord of the Rings with accessible gameplay.”

Aragorn’s Quest begins with Hobbiton preparing to welcome the King of Aragorn with a great party to thank both him and Sam Gamgee for their part in the war of The ring.

The children of Hobbiton want to learn more about this king and his quests so Samwise who by now is mayor of Hobbiton sits them down and tells them all about him, from his days as a ranger known as Strider to his valiant battles in the war of the ring.

As Samwise tells these stories players assume the role of Aragorn and have to complete these quests before moving to the next story. The Wii platform will allow 2 player gameplay which will bring Gandalf into the action to help Aragorn on his way.

Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest will be out on various platforms this Fall.

Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

The Hobbit was today (20th April) released by publishers HarperCollins as an ebook and is now available for the Amazon Kindle.

As well as The Hobbit  joining the digital world, HarperCollins have also released The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Children of Hurin in the same format and plan to release all of Tolkien’s back catelogue.

The books contain the maps and runes which accompanied the original print versions.

David Roth-Ey, digital director at HarperCollins explained “This is something that the fans so clearly wanted. Releasing Tolkien in e-books is something that has long been a goal of ours and we wanted to create high quality legal versions of these books. It was a long  process with the maps and runes, it’s slightly more complicated than digitising your average thriller.”

On the 5th May they will be releasing digital versions of  The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. These releases are timed to generate interest in the never before published The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun which will be published in hard back on the same day. Click here for details.

Other Tolkien books to be released digitally later in the year include The History of Middle Earth, Tales from the Perilous Realm and Letters from Father Christmas.

Managing Director at UK based HarperCollins Amanda Ridout said: “HarperCollins is immensely privileged to be the publisher of J R R Tolkien—one of the most admired and loved authors of the 20th century. This marks a new and exciting chapter when we can bring his great works in a new format to additional readers of all ages around the world.”

HarperCollins paid an undisclosed amount for the world wide digital rights to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and other works by Tolkien and the releases today are world wide.

They are available in the epub format within the UK by clicking here.

In America they are available in the Kindle format from Amazon by clicking here

The Hobbit Goes Digital is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

Its just been announced that the 3 Lord of the Rings movies will be released in high definition Blu-Ray some time this Summer and Amazon are already taking pre-orders for the entire trilogy and guaranteeing the low price of $69.99 for anyone ordering before the official release dae is announced.

Pre-order your copy here.

Middle Earth fans have been waiting for this release since Blu-Ray first hit the scene and you can expect copies to be hard to find without a pre-order once it’s released, probably during the coming holiday season.

They will be the theatrical release rather than the much better (and longer) extended versions. Not unexpected though as Warner Bros. let it be known some time ago that the extended Blu-Ray Lord of the Rings will be released to coincide with the cinema release of The Hobbit.

Technical spec’s have not been announced as of yet but for those that understand such things I am told we can expect at a minimum – 1080p VC-1 video accompanied by a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack.

358 minutes and rated PG-13, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King are all included in the Blu-Ray box set and while this will be the 4th copy of each that I will have purchased I doubt I will hang back and wait for the extended versions.

Pre-order your copy of Lord of the Rings on Blu-Ray here.

Lord of the Rings on Blu-Ray is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

The Totalfilm.com 2009 movie blog awards were recently announced and voting is already under way.

There are 6 categories: Majors, Fan, Horror, Cult, Hollywood and World/Indie.

The Hobbit movie blog has been short listed for the fan category.

Although the competition looks stiff I have a phobia of finishing last (doctors certificate available on request) so your vote will be very much appreciated.

Being away from home and missing the start of voting and not announcing it until now has not helped the cause. At the moment the Hobbit Movie is over a thousand votes behind but with over a week to go it’s certainly not a lost cause.

Please Click Here to cast your vote. The page will open in a new window and you don’t need to register or anything like that. Simply scroll down the page that opens, select ‘The Hobbit Movie’ and hit vote.

As well as helping support this blog you will also be helping to get the word out about The Hobbit movies.

Thanks in advance,

Adrian

The Hobbit Movie Blog Short-listed at TotalFilm is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

There is now a Hobbit movie forum attached to this blog which is available to anyone wanting to chat, comment about or discuss the movies and Middle Earth in general.

User names are strictly on a first come first serve basis so grab your favorite characters name and start posting your questions and answers here.

Please note you will need to register and also please remember The Hobbit is a childrens book and young eyes may well be in the forum.

The Hobbit Movie Forum is a post from: The Hobbit Movie

The-Hobbit-Movie.com has been given a new layout and design so if you are a returning visitor, no you didn’t type in the wrong address!

I’m hoping this layout will make it easer for people to find the story they are after but I’m still tweaking it over the weekend so if things go a little wobbly as you navigate around, please do not adjust your set.

The tabs in this section (just above) let you flick through each category to see what, if anything is happening in the various catergories. If you scroll down a little, you will see where the 2 main categories over the next year or so will be. These will cover casting and news and gossip surrounding the making of The Hobbit movies.

The Hobbit Movie Gets A New Site Layout is a post from: The Hobbit Movie