‘Hobbit’ director Peter Jackson talks about casting a ‘heartthrob’ dwarf (Exclusive)

Image Credit: Mike Marsland/WireImage.comIt’s been a long time coming, but there was finally cause for rejoicing in Middle-earth last week when director Peter Jackson announced he’d cast several key roles in his adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel, The Hobbit. The casting of Martin Freeman of the UK Office fame as Bilbo Baggins was widely expected, but some Tolkien fans were surprised and slightly befuddled to see English actor Richard Armitage, best known for the BBC series MI-5, cast as Thorin Oakenshield, the gruff leader of a company of dwarves. What was Jackson doing hiring a hunky actor to play a character most often depicted in illustrations — and in the 1977 animated Hobbit movie — as a squat, crabby, Wilford Brimley-ish old dwarf with a long white beard? In an interview (after the jump), Jackson tells EW the choice is actually right in line with the casting of Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn and Orlando Bloom as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

“Thorin Oakenshield is a tough, heroic character, and he certainly should give Leggie and Aragorn a run for their money in the heartthrob stakes — despite being four feet tall,” says Jackson, who also announced seven lesser-known English, Irish, and Kiwi actors in the roles of other dwarves. “In Middle-earth, dwarves are a noble race and have a culture and physical appearance which sets them apart from humans. It’s fun to develop these different cultures for the movie, and we are doing much more with dwarves this time around than we did with Gimli in Lord of the Rings. Our company of thirteen dwarves in The Hobbit lets us explore many different personalities — and costume and make-up designs will support the type of character each actor plays. Richard is a powerful actor with a wide range, and we’re very excited to be handing Thorn over to him. In this partnership, we need Richard to give us his depth, range, and emotion as an actor — and we’ll make him look like a dwarf!”

For more of Jackson’s comments on the casting of The Hobbit, check out the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday.

Read more:
Peter Jackson vents his frustration over the bitter ‘Hobbit’ labor dispute: ‘I’m out of my depth’
‘The Hobbit’: Martin Freeman to play Bilbo Baggins; other roles also cast

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Peter Jackson vents his frustration over the bitter ‘Hobbit’ labor dispute: ‘I’m out of my depth.’

Peter Jackson has staged some epic, humdinger battles on-screen, but the battle royale taking place off-screen over The Hobbit — with actors’ unions feuding with the production and Warner Bros. threatening to relocate filming out of New Zealand — clearly has left him deeply exasperated. In an interview with a New Zealand television reporter (see part of the interview embedded below), the director vents his frustration at the ongoing labor dispute, which is just the latest in a series of difficult hurdles he has had to overcome to bring The Hobbit to the screen.

Appearing with co-writer Philippa Boyens on a soundstage built for The Hobbit, he frets that the unions’ boycott — which he says had “no validity” — has done great harm to the reputation of the New Zealand film industry, so much so that he doesn’t know how he can persuade Warner Bros. that it should spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make the two Hobbit films there. “I don’t know what to say,” he says. “This is where I’m out of my depth … I can talk my way around the movie. But to tell the studio why investing $500 million in our country is a good idea when they’ve just seen the disgusting, frivolous action that’s happened … I literally don’t know what to say to them.” Taking aim at Helen Kelly, the president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, who has been critical of his handling of the dispute, Jackson’s anger boils over: “How dare you. You are choosing an Australian union over the workers of our country. Stuff her. I don’t care what the hell she says.”

At the same time, Jackson insists he is neither anti-union (“I’m a paid-up member of four different unions”) nor anti-actor (“They can be a little self-centered, some of them,” he says, “but we have had a huge show of support, too.”) With the brinksmanship on both sides reaching a climax, Jackson says he doesn’t know at this point whether the film will stay in New Zealand or not. “Is the movie going to come or go? We don’t know,” he says. “The damage has been done.”

It’s been a long, tough slog just to get this movie to the starting line. Obviously, yesterday’s casting news lifted the spirits of Hobbit-watchers, but given how crucial the strange and beautiful New Zealandness of New Zealand is to Jackson’s vision of Middle-earth, does this ongoing wrangling worry you? Watch the video below (there’s also additional footage from the Jackson interview here) and share your thoughts.

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‘The Hobbit’: Martin Freeman to play Bilbo Baggins; other roles also cast
Will ‘The Hobbit’ finally turn Martin Freeman into a stateside star?
‘The Hobbit’ could still exit NZ, reads New Line statement
‘The Hobbit’ will shoot in New Zealand after all. Well, maybe. Hopefully. We’ll see.
Peter Jackson officially to direct ‘The Hobbit’
‘Hobbit’ casting: Martin Freeman could still play Bilbo Baggins

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Hobbit movies get green light, location still in question - AFP

Hobbit movies get green light, location still in question(AFP) – 10 hours ago

WELLINGTON — The long-awaited movies based on JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit" were given the green light Saturday but no location was named amid an ongoing union threat to boycott the production in New Zealand.

The announcement by New Line Cinema and its parent company Warner Brothers confirmed Peter Jackson, who masterminded the multi-award-winning "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, as the director and said filming will begin next February.

A spokesman for New Line Cinema said no decision has been made yet on the location for the 500 million US dollar prequels to the "Lord of the Rings" but Warner Brothers president Alan Horn was emphatic Jackson would be at the helm.

Confirmation the two movies would go ahead came two days after New Zealand unions and filmmakers held "productive" talks on the row threatening "The Hobbit" but would not say if a boycott of the films had been lifted.

International actors' unions slapped the ban on the production after Jackson refused to negotiate with NZ Actors Equity over minimum standards on the set, prompting the director to threaten to move the shoot from New Zealand.

The country's stunning natural scenery was a key element in the look of the spectacular Lord of the Rings films.

"There is no human being on the planet as qualified as Peter Jackson to direct these films," Horn said in a statement.

"Peter is incredibly talented and has the creative vision and experience to bring this beloved property to life in a way that no other filmmaker could."

The statement said Jackson "will utilise groundbreaking visual effects" for the "Hobbit" movies which will be filmed in 3-D.

Jackson said that exploring Tolkien's Middle-earth would go "way beyond a normal film-making experience. It's an all-immersive journey into a very special place of imagination, beauty and drama."

With funding secured, the only apparent hurdle in the way of filming is the ongoing row between unions and producers over a collective contract for "Hobbit" actors.

Jackson has accused the unions of "bully boy" tactics, sparking allegations from actors that workers on his sets are being short-changed.

However, following the talks in New Zealand on Thursday a joint statement said all parties agreed "it was a useful and productive discussion".

The Hollywood studios backing Jackson have previously indicated if New Zealand is ruled out they are scouting alternative locations in Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia and eastern Europe.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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‘The Hobbit’ could be the most expensive movie ever made. Bilbo, is that chinchilla on your feet?

Image Credit: Mike Flokis/Getty ImagesThe Hobbit has yet to receive the official green light, but the much-anticipated two-movie prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy is already on track to break a record. With a rumored price tag of $500 million, the movies would surpass the current record holders — The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels – for the most expensive movie production by about $50 million. At World’s End, which cost about $300 million, and was produced jointly with Dead Man’s Chest, for a combined total of around $450 million.

Swelling legal costs are, in part, responsible. (Read about the entire ‘Hobbit’ debacle here.) But even if the reported $100 million legal bill is indeed true, that’s still a major chunk of change for Jackson to work with, especially considering the other three films were made for $285 million combined.

Does Jackson plan on attaching the fur from rare animals to Bilbo’s feet in lieu of his brown fuzz? If they decide to go 3-D, will the effects be so awesome that the finished product makes Avatar look like flip-book animation? Or will legal troubles eat up so much of the gargantuan budget that we’ll be watching The Hobbit from the perspective of a stationary home video camera à la Paranormal Activity?

Who knows. The movie’s producers have certainly set aside a lot of money to make this happen, but what do you want to see? Do you want to see a high-budget, effect-driven epic adventure? Or would you rather see a movie that visually appears like a lead-in to the trilogy (even though they were made out of order)? Ponder below.

Related:
Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’: Is it closer to a green light?
Peter Jackson meets with New Zealand officials; ‘The Hobbit’ gains momentum
‘The Hobbit’ faces possible actors strike

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Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’: Is it closer to a green light?

The drama surrounding Peter Jackson’s production of The Hobbit continues: The L.A. Times reported Saturday that the film is close to a green light while the N.Y. Times confirmed the news and added that the two epic films will be shot in 3-D. So where does the drama come in? Producer/co-writer Philippa Boyens spoke out out on New Zealand’s public radio about whether or not the film will be shot in her home country due to a brewing labor dispute. One thing is true: As of Monday morning, nothing has changed. Peter Jackson is still not officially the director of the film, which will be split into two parts. MGM, a co-financier and 50/50 rights holder on the project, still does not have a final restructuring plan in place, and, as such, production on the studio’s most prized asset cannot move forward. And Warner Bros., the other co-financier, is still deciding where the movie will be shot. This heap of uncertainty has made The Hobbit one of the most challenging films to ever get into production, even more so than Jackson’s acclaimed Lord of the Rings trilogy, which shot back-to-back after considerable studio wrangling.

One major issue that still needs to be resolved is whether or not The Hobbit will be filmed in New Zealand, Jackson’s native land and the locale for the original Lord of the Rings movies. Due to a proposed boycott by the Australian labor union that oversees New Zealand actors, Warner Bros. feels obligated to consider other filming locations where a work stoppage wouldn’t be of issue. Boyens told Radio New Zealand National that Warner accountants are looking into five or six different locales to film The Hobbit, including Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Eastern Europe, and, ironically enough, Australia. While the New Zealand Actors’ Equity had believed the studio would stick with New Zealand because Hobbiton has already been built in Jackson’s home country, that is not the case. Sources near The Hobbit confirm Boyens’ statement that filming in Hobbiton requires only a seven- to eight-day shoot. In fact, a likely scenario could involve staying in New Zealand for those eight days and moving the rest of the production elsewhere, a situation that would deal a severe financial blow to the country’s film infrastructure, which Jackson himself has buoyed immensely with the LOTR franchise and his WETA special effects studio.

Still, sources are confident that filming could get underway by January as intended. Warner and its New Line division have been busying themselves recently with, among everything else, clearing up rights issues that remained with the J.R.R. Tolkien estate. And MGM seems to be wrapping up its financial woes, with Spyglass’ Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber set to manage the studio following its financial restructuring. Assuming those issues are settled by January, Jackson is expected to sign on officially at that time. (The director is unwilling to officially attach himself if the first movie can’t be released by December 2012.)

All in all, despite the reams of drama surrounding this project, Bilbo Baggins returning to Middle Earth is a likely reality. Let’s just hope Jackson can capture an equal amount of drama on camera that he and the Hobbit team have experienced off.

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