Tag: Lord of the Rings
Hobbit Deal With McKellen
Sir Ian McKellen made it official Tuesday that he’ll playing Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s two-part movie adaptation of The Hobbit, which starts shooting February 14 in New Zealand.
Andy Serkis has also signed up to play Gollum and talks are ongoing with stars including Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom to appear. It has previously been announced that The Office and Sherlock actor Martin Freeman will play Bilbo in the motion picture. It features a spoofy holiday promotion of a Hobbit-hole, the text “A Middle Earth Tourist Board Promotion” and three of the more well-known regions of The Shire – Hobbiton, Bywater and Buckland.
On Wednesday, the actor tell fans why the deal took so long
The deciding negotiation was not about money but about dates. Gandalf is needed on set over the next 18 months but with sizable breaks when I can work on other projects. My worry that I could not easily escape from Middle Earth was lifted.”
James McAvoy not to be in “The Hobbit”
Scottish actor James McAvoy has denied rumors that he will play Bilbo Baggins in the movie adaptation of JRR Tolkien‘s “The Hobbit“.Speaking at a press conference for new film Wanted, he said:
“It’s not true. It’s all internet rumouring and nothing else I’m afraid. Sorry.”
Guillermo del Toro was confirmed in April as director of “The Hobbit” and a second film, which takes place in the 60 years between “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings“.
Peter Jackson, who directed the hugely successful Rings trilogy, will be the executive producer of the two films. Sir Ian Holm played Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings.
Lord of the Rings: Almost everyone Suing New Line Now…
The Academy Award-winning producer behind the “Lord of the Rings” franchise has sued the films’ distributor, New Line Cinema, to force it to disclose its accounting for the multibillion-dollar epic.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Los Angeles by octogenarian producer Saul Zaentz, was at least the second involving profits from the trilogy against New Line, which is accused in both suits of hiding profits.
A lawsuit brought by director Peter Jackson over profits from the first film caused a rupture that has New Line considering a new director for the fourth film, “The Hobbit.”
Zaentz acquired the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” novels in 1976 and licensed them to Miramax Film Corp, which later assigned the license to New Line.
Zaentz contends the license specified that he would receive a share of the adjusted gross receipts from the films, which grossed more than $3 billion at worldwide box offices, as well as the right to audit New Line’s books.
The lawsuit said New Line breached its contract by refusing to cooperate with an audit by Zaentz’s company, and asks a judge to force New Line to cooperate with the audit and to pay damages.
A spokeswoman for New Line, a unit of Time Warner Inc, had no comment.
