This page contains articles relating to the upcoming movies The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again. The Hobbit is the prequel to The Lord of The Rings trilogy. The movie casts Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Please visit LMR's Martin Freeman Page - Home and LMR's The Hobbit Page - Home.
| * THE HOBBIT ARTICLES BY MONTH AND YEAR * |
LMR note to the interview below: I love Martin's comments in regards to him receiving more female attention as of late. I'm sure Martin will continue to capture the attention of females in the future!
He caught my attention right away when I saw him as Tim Canterbury on The Office in 2001. I thought he was talented, cute, and witty. His facial expressions were amazing. He was someone completely new.
Photos of Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," including offical and set photos. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures / Empire:
After the “Tintin” presentation, fans asked Jackson and Spielberg about their future projects. Jackson is currently on break from shooting “The Hobbit.” He noted that 60 days were done, but there were another 200 to go. Part of the reason for the break is so Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins, can shoot the next sequence for the TV series “Sherlock.”
A reduced size is below:
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins.
The Great Billy Connolly Joins 'The Hobbit' as Dain Ironfoot
It's not often that a casting announcement is made more than ten months after a project, even one as massive as The Hobbit, but here we are. The two-film adaptation of the beloved novel by J.R.R. Tolkein officially started shooting last March after innumerable delays, and now, with production still rolling along in New Zealand, the one and only Billy Connolly has officially joined the massive cast of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
Connolly, affectionately known as the Big Yin, is a Scottish comedian, musician, actor, and all-around swell personality. He's considerably less well-known Stateside, though his film credits include The Last Samurai, Mrs. Brown, Indecent Proposal, Timeline, and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He's probably most known here as The Duke in The Boondock Saints films, though. This summer, his voice will be featured in Pixar's Brave.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Connolly has been cast in the role of Dain Ironfoot, a dwarf warrior of great and big wasta, who is also the cousin of Thorin Oakenshield, the drwf played by Richard Armitage. While The Hobbit will contain characters not included in Tolkein's original novel, Ironfoot will be familiar to fans, appearing briefly in the book, and playing a crucial role in the Battle of Five Armies.
His bio is expanded upon in an Appendix of The Lord of the Rings, and it's possible we'll see some of that onscreen too, since material from the appendices is being added to expand the scope of The Hobbit.
"We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connelly, the Big Yin himself,"said director Peter Jackson. "With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can't wait to see him on the Battlefield!"
Connolly joins a cast that includes fellow wit Stephen Fry, who will only be appearing in There and Back Again. The cast is led by Martin Freeman, playing the young Billbo Baggins, with Ian Holm reprising his Lord of the Rings role as the elderly Bilbo. Also back from the much-loved trilogy are Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, and Bret McKenzie. Connolly's fellow newcomers to Middle Earth include Lee Pace, James Nesbitt, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Ken Stott, Conan Stevens, and Jed Brophy.
Jackson is shooting both films at 48 frames-per-second and 3D, a big first for a huge narrative feature(s). Be prepared for the event with some Rogue 3D Eyewear.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is set to hit theaters on December 14 of this year, with The Hobbit: There and Back Again following on December 13, 2013.
Billy Connolly joins Peter Jackson's The Hobbit
Billy Connolly is joining the cast of Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The announcement was made today by Jackson, who directed all three The Lord of the Rings films and is currently in production on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
Connolly will play Dain Ironfoot, a great dwarf warrior and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield.
“We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connelly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can't wait to see him on the battlefield,” Jackson says.
Sir Ian McKellen is already returning as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Martin Freeman has been cast in the central role of Bilbo Baggins.
Also reprising their roles from The Lord of the Rings trilogy are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; and Andy Serkis as Gollum.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released beginning December 14, 2012 and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is slated for release December 13, 2013.
The Hobbit casting call shut down after 3,000 extras turn up
Police are called to auditions for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings follow-up after overwhelming numbers spark safety fears
A casting call which aimed to find extras for The Hobbit, Peter Jackson's forthcoming two-part follow-up to The Lord of the Rings, was shut down over safety concerns after more than 3,000 hopefuls turned up.
Organisers of the open auditions in Lower Hutt near Wellington, New Zealand, had been expecting 1,200 people at most but were overwhelmed by numbers and police were eventually called, causing the event to be shut down early after only 800 were seen. Senior sergeant Steve Braybrook told NZ Newswire: "There was enough concern that the police attend." He said production company 3foot7 had made the decision to close down the auditions when it became clear that queuing and parking near the event was beginning to spill over on to a nearby highway, causing concern for the safety of the gathering crowd.
There's a lot of parking there and there's actually quite a lot of room, but as the day went on basically the line got so long," organiser Chris Ryan told the New Zealand Herald. "It was just starting to cause a few problems on the motorway, people slowing down and looking at the crowds, really, I think more than anything else."
The Hobbit casting call described a search for men under 164cm and women under 155cm, big men with "character faces" over 175cm, men with large biceps, women with "character faces" and women with long hair to appear in the movies. Organisers will now continue their hunt online.
Meanwhile, Jackson's take on JRR Tolkien's fantasy stories moved one step closer to immortality yesterday following publication of publicity shots for a new range of Lord of the Rings Lego, including a particularly startling Gollum model. The toys are due to arrive in stores from June and will also include Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf the Grey. A Hobbit line is set to launch closer to the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in December. The second part, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, will be released in December 2013.
Hobbit Casting Closed Early In NZ Due To Overwhelming Interest
A casting call for extras in Sir Peter Jackson’s movie The Hobbit had to close its doors early on Saturday after being overwhelmed with hopefuls.
‘‘There was enough concern that police attended,’’ Senior Sergeant Steve Braybrook said.
More people turned up than expected at Belmont Hall in Lower Hutt and the organiser decided to ‘‘call it quits’’, he said.
The location of the hall near State Highway 2 had contributed to the situation.
The way people were queuing was exposing them to risk and there were reports of people parking on side roads and crossing the motorway to get to the venue, Sen Sgt Braybrook said.
Radio New Zealand reported about 3000 people turned up, when production company 3foot7 was expecting 1200.
About 800 people got through the door, 3News reported.
The production company was looking for men under 163cm and women under 155cm, big men with ‘‘character faces’’ over 175cm, men with large biceps, women with character faces and long hair.
Those playing elves were required to be slim and between 165cm and 203cm.
Hopefuls needed to be over 16.
People came from around New Zealand and from overseas.
‘‘They measure you and take a photo,’’ one hopeful who got through the door said.
AAP
Speaking of small and little, I’d be remiss not to bring up The Hobbit. You’re playing a new character named Tauriel, who’s a Mirkwood elf, and that would lead me to believe that she is a warrior of some kind. Did you have to learn archery and swordplay?
Yes, she is a warrior. She’s actually the head of the Elven guard. She’s the big shot in the army. So she knows how to wield any weapon, but the primary weapons that she uses are a bow and arrow and two daggers. And she’s lethal and deadly. You definitely wouldn’t want to be caught in a dark alley next to Tauriel.
So then Tauriel must be involved with the dwarves being captured…
I think basically what you’re asking is if she’s in the film very much. She’s not in the first film very much. She comes into the first film near the end, and has a very small part to play. Her role in the second film is much more involved. Although, I have to say, when I first read the scripts and took the job, she had a lot less going on in the second film. I think the role is becoming a bit more demanding than I had expected it to be. There’s a lot more for me to do now, which is a lot of fun, but it’s a little more pressure.
Does she play a large part in the Battle of Five Armies?
Oh, I don’t know. We haven’t shot that yet. I still have to go back for five more months of filming.
How many months have you been there already?
On and off for the past six months. It’s a two-year shoot in total for both films, and my contract had me blocked off for about a year. I come in and out of New Zealand throughout that year.
How has the experience of shooting in New Zealand compared to the multiple years you spent in Hawaii on Lost?
In some ways, it feels really familiar. I’m from Canada, and New Zealand feels like you took all the best bits of Canada and squished them onto a tiny island like Hawaii. I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the South Island. I seem to be landing really great locations on a lot of my work. I hope that continues, knock on wood.
Smaug In 'The Hobbit' Will Be 'Extraordinary'
'It's still a very secret character that is very closely safeguarded, and it's still in the design process,' Andy Serkis says at Golden Globes.
By Kevin P. Sullivan, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
Motion-capture wizard Andy Serkis took some time off from filming "The Hobbit" to hit the red carpet at the 2012 Golden Globes, but it seems like he left all of his precious Middle-earth secrets back in New Zealand.
When Serkis took some time to chat with MTV News' Josh Horowitz, he refused to give any clue what the legendary dragon Smaug might look like on the big screen. "I can't give any secrets away, none of those trade secrets," Serkis said. "I can't say that because actually it's still under wraps."
In "The Hobbit," Serkis reprises the role that made him a capture-performance all-star: Gollum. Additionally, he will step behind the camera as the director of the films' second unit.
An iconic character in J.R.R. Tolkien's mythological world, Smaug is the impetus for all of the action in Peter Jackson's upcoming "Lord of the Rings" prequel, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." Such a revered character is bound to come with a high level of security.
Serkis suggested that there might be more to his own secrecy than just avoiding spoilers. According to the actor, Weta Workshop is still working on the creature's look. "It's still a very secret character that is very closely safeguarded, and it's still in the design process," he said.
The little we do know about Smaug is more than enough to get us excited. Benedict Cumberbatch will voice Smaug in "The Hobbit" before going where no man has gone before as the villain in J.J. Abrams' next "Star Trek."
Serkis said that with Cumberbatch as Smaug, audiences certainly have something to look forward to. "With an actor like Benedict Cumberbatch playing him, it will be extraordinary," he said.
The Hobbit’: An unexpected journey on- and off-screen
No major release of 2012 arrives at theaters with more baggage or battle scars than “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” a title that became a sort of epic inside joke for the cast and his crew, many of whom worked on “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy that made movie history a decade ago.
“I think fate has actually been kind to us,” director Peter Jackson said last summer, although he didn’t sound convinced by his own words. “Yes, I think fate was kind but I don’t know that we knew that along the way.”
That’s how most quests go, of course, but the journey to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth saga into a lavish two-part movie adventure was especially stormy right from the beginning. Roadblocks included an ugly legal battle with the author’s heirs, a two-year delay that came with financial meltdown of MGM, the jolting defection of director Guillermo del Toro, a nasty union dispute and a hospital stay to treat a stomach ulcer for Jackson, who shifted from co-writer and executive producer to director after del Toro’s departure in May of 2010.
There’s also been the vague but very real anxiety that comes with competing with history - can this encore effort actually escape the considerable shadow of the “Rings” trilogy, which racked up $2.9 billion in worldwide box office and saw its finale installment in 2004 become the first fantasy film to win the Oscar for best picture?
This time around, Martin Freeman (best known for costarring in BBC’s “The Office” and his work in films such as “Love Actually” and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”) portrays Bilbo Baggins, a young Hobbit who joins a band of dwarfs on their journeys to Lonely Mountain where they hope to reclaim their treasure from Smaug, the fire-breathing dragon who has squatted for so long on his hoarded riches that his pale underbelly is encrusted with jewels and gold pieces.
Not only is Ian McKellen back in the peaked hat of Gandalf, but there are also plenty of other familiar faces from the “Rings” cast (although some make only fleeting appearances); among them are Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Christopher Lee and even Ian Holm, who portrayed the older version of Freeman’s character when last we visited the Shire, the land of the Hobbits.
For the uninitiated, “The Hobbit” was published in 1937 and is considered by many Tolkien scholars to be a Misty Mountain warm-up act for the darker, richer 1950s “Rings” epic, which aimed for older readers and found them by the millions across the decades. The softer tones of “The Hobbit” were an early concern for Jackson and the returning members of the “Rings” creative team, among them Philippa Boyens, a screenwriter on all three “Rings” films (and an Oscar winner for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” which closed out the trilogy in 2004).
“The story is very much a children’s story so deciding how to tell this was one of the first things we had to do,” Boyens said in a phone interview right before Christmas. “Who is the audience? It is very distinctly different, tonally, to ‘Lord of the Rings’ until the very end and then you begin to see the world of Middle-earth opening up… but, having said that, we felt that it is the same audience [who will come to see the films] and then you start to worry because it is easy to repeat yourself. It is quite a similar journey, you’re going from the Shire to a large, dangerous mountain.”
By most reports, Warner Bros.’ two “Hobbit” films - the second of which, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” will be released in 2013 - have a combined budget in the $500-million range, so the stakes are high. The appetite of fans is certainly intense (the first trailer for the film, released Dec. 20, quickly became an Internet sensation) and when Jackson made a surprise appearance last summer at Comic-Con International in San Diego he was cheered like a returning war hero.
Backstage, he said that, after the first three Tolkien films, he never expected to be back for another tour of duty but that - like Bilbo Baggins - it’s the journey that chooses the traveler, not the other way around.
“This is the most enjoyable filmmaking experience of my career, by far, which is interesting since I came into it slightly reluctantly,” the director said in San Diego. “It’s all unexpected.”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” opens Dec. 14, 2012
'The Hobbit's Martin Freeman 'has troubled relationship with fame'
Martin Freeman has said that he is ready for the attention his role in The Hobbit will bring.
The Sherlock star revealed on The Graham Norton Show that he is prepared to wave goodbye to his anonymity after Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequels are released.
"I have had ten years to prepare since The Office but we were on holiday recently and I realized that maybe this time next year there won't be many places where I can go where The Hobbit won't have been seen," Freeman said of his role as Bilbo Baggins.
"It's a funny thing and I have a troubled relationship with that sort of stuff."
Freeman initially had to turn down Jackson's offer to play Bilbo due to his commitment to BBC's Sherlock. Jackson then changed the filming schedule for The Hobbit in order to cast the British actor.
Martin Freeman suggests Hobbit love scene
Martin Freeman believes his character in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has had sex.
The British actor has been shooting the movie in New Zealand recently. It’s a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Martin is portraying the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
Martin admits he has considered everything about the character to help him prepare for the role.
“I think he’s had sex. I’m not sure,” he told Total Film. “I’m trying to convince Peter to write that scene in...”
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy star is thrilled to be part of such a huge production.
For a short time Martin thought he would be unable to appear in the film as he was committed to the British TV series, Sherlock.
“I was sad but I thought, ‘I’ll just hate whoever plays Bilbo,’” he smiled.
Luckily for Martin, Peter Jackson and his team were so intent on casting him that the production went on hiatus to allow him to complete shooting.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is slated to hit screens late next year.
(C) Cover Media
From left-to-right: Bifur (William Kircher), Dwalin (Graham McTavish), Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Bofur (James Nesbitt) and Oin (John Callen)
Bilbo Baggins with his sword Sting
Photo: (Mark Pokorny/Warner Bros.)
Billy Connolly
Written by Jordan DeSaulnier
iamROGUE.com
February 9, 2012
3 News.co.nz
February 8, 2012
By Ben Child
Guardian.co.uk
January 31, 2012
January 28, 2012
Andy Serkis at the 2012 Golden Globes
Photo: Getty Images
MTV Movie News
January 16, 2012
By Geoff Boucher
Hero Complex - LA Times.com
January 14, 2012
Martin Freeman as a young Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." The Peter Jackson film opens in theaters Dec. 14, 2012.
(PHOTO: Screen Capture / New Line / Warner Bros.)
The Hobbit: Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
Digital Spy
January 6, 2012
December 30, 2011
