Tag: J.R.R. Tolkien

It’s been a bumpy year so far for Lego but the leaders at the Billund, Denmark, company can take solace in the fact that their summer plans have the ring of an epic success. Warner Bros. Consumer Products and The Lego Group already have a partnership that clicks (“Harry Potter” and “Batman” Legos seem to be doing pretty well) and this June they will begin rolling out Lego sets based on Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the upcoming two-film series “The Hobbit.” Here’s a first look at some Middle-earth minifigs. By all appearances, this is a line that will have Lego-lovers talking Tolkien. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey“ arrives Dec. 14, 2012. (Lego) — Geoff Boucher RECENT AND RELATED ‘The Hobbit’: An unexpected journey off-screen Serkis: Gollum is ‘printed on my DNA’ ‘Hobbit’ trailer brings back magic Jackson: Fans ‘fed up ...

Orlando Bloom is ready to slide back in the saddle as the elf-prince Legolas from the “The Lord of the Rings” movies for Peter Jackson’s upcoming two-part adaptation of “The Hobbit.” It’s a move that may irk some die-hard fans of the J.R.R. Tolkien novels —  Legolas does not appear in the bookshelf version of “The Hobbit,” a tale set 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings” unfolds. “Ten years ago, Orlando Bloom created an iconic character with his portrayal of Legolas,” Jackson said in an announcement on his Facebook page. “I’m excited to announce today that we’ll be revisiting Middle Earth with him once more. I’m thrilled to be working with Orlando again. Funny thing is, I look older — and he doesn’t! I guess that’s why he makes such a wonderful elf.” Bloom, who next appears as the ...

The sun was down but the hotel bar was bright when Sean Bean arrived and took a table in the only shadowy corner of the patio — or maybe the corner was no different than the rest and it was the actor who brought bit of hushed winter along with him just like the Irish beer in his hand.  The 51-year-old Brit has sad eyes but an easy smile and after making small talk the topic turned to his latest project, the ambitious HBO fantasy series “Game of Thrones.” He is clearly enthused about the show, which premieres next Sunday, but at one point he sounded like a world-weary knight summoned for yet another quest. “I like playing guys with swords and the horses and stuff like that,” Bean said. “It’s good. But it’d be nice to do something else, maybe ...

GUEST ESSAY Tony DiTerlizzi goes on a quest for “The Hobbit” that could have been — the abandoned 1960s Maurice Sendak adaptation. As I eagerly await Peter Jackson’s return to Tolkien with his adaptation of “The Hobbit,” I can’t help but wonder what the film would have become had Guillermo del Toro remained in the director’s chair. Though the story of Bilbo Baggins takes place in a more halcyon Middle-earth than the later “The Lord of the Rings” books, there are pockets of darkness that foretell what is to come. I’ve observed a gravitational pull toward the dark in film adaptations of books primarily published for children, especially in Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and in the latest installment of Harry Potter. Traditional fairy tales abound with dark themes and places for the hero to adventure, and rightly so — ...

After much struggle and strife, Peter Jackson is back in the place he belongs — Middle-earth. The Oscar-winning director and his crew have just begun principal photography on the “The Hobbit,” the two-film, $500-million fantasy adventure that appeared in serious jeopardy over the last year in the face of a studio fiscal crises, the defection of Guillermo del Toro, an especially nasty union dispute and Jackson’s own stressful (and stress-induced?) hospital stay. With all of that, the first day of shooting at Stone Street Studios in Wellington, New Zealand, must have felt like a finish line for the 49-year-old Jackson,who looks fairly serene in photos posted on his new Facebook page. The Wall Street Journal quoted a chipper-sounding spokeswoman who says “the mood is really great” on the set and you can bet the good cheer will spread throughout Hollywood – “The Hobbit” promises a companion ...

I wish that, just for a moment, Ian McKellen actually possessed some of those nature-bending powers that he wielded in the “Lord of the Rings” and “X-Men” films because it would have been a delight to see him turn the set of “The View” into a charred crater. The esteemed 70-year-old thespian was a guest on the ABC daytime show last week and the footage is excruciating to watch. I have to say I didn’t know much about this show beyond its reputation for shrill banality but, after watching this, I’m discouraged by the fact that this a nationally aired show. (Thanks by the way to Jay West for sending me the link.) McKellen was on to promote “The Prisoner,” the new six-episode AMC series that begins Nov. 15, but he was met with a quartet of hosts who had their own flaky ...

FOUR FRANCHISES AT A CROSSROADS   Talk about heroic: Four film franchises, one decade, more than $10 billion worth of theater tickets sold. And more than that, in their very best moments, each of these franchises shown above delivered sparkling adventure and escapism for moviegoers. Now, though, with the decade winding down and all four franchises sitting a nice tidy trilogy, the question must be asked: Isn’t three the magic number? Do we really need a fourth movie from any of these aging popcorn enterprises? Clearly, all of them will be written up in the Hollywood history books but right now the indelicate must be asked: “How can we miss you if you won’t leave?” Last week we gave you an in-depth report on this quartet of mega-franchises and their quests for a fourth visit to theaters. We told you how “The Hobbit“ must escape the the towering shadow of “The Lord of the ...

They are four of the biggest franchises in Hollywood history and each is at a major crossroads. This week the Hero Complex will look at “The Lord of the Rings,” “Spider-Man,” “X-Men” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” and size up their future as they attempt to move past their original trilogies and into a new decade. Tuesday ”Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit“: How can Guillermo del Toro possibly match up to Peter Jackson’s magical conquests ($2.92 billion in global box office and 17 Oscars including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay)? At least he has Jackson on his side … Wednesday “Spider-Man“: Director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are back for more and that’s no surprise considering “Spider-Man 3“ had the highest-grossing opening weekend of the wall-crawling films — and went on to make $891 million worldwide. Still, the last film got ...

One of the gentle souls in the movie business is Guillermo del Toro, and I always look forward to my interviews with him. This is a longer version of my latest story on Del Toro, which is scheduled to run Thursday on the cover of the Los Angeles Times Calender section.  Fantasy and horror fans, prepare yourself for the Decade of Del Toro. On the far side of the globe, in New Zealand, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is now in his seventh month of labor on “The Hobbit,” a $300-million epic that will be told over two films in 2011 and 2012. But you can also find the Guadalajara native on the shelf of your local bookstore with his just-released debut novel, “The Strain,” the opening installment of a vampire trilogy he already has mapped out. That’s only the beginning. The 44-year-old Del ...

It’s a big day for fans of "The Lord of the Rings." On this day in 1955, the third book, "The Return of the King," was published, bringing to a close the masterwork by J.R.R. Tolkien (whom you see here in a photograph by Billett Potter). Today also happens to be the 50th birthday of Viggo Mortensen, who was a last-minute replacement for actor Stuart Townsend in the role of Aragon. The role has been a massive career boost for Mortensen but it almost didn’t happen: The New York state native has said he wouldn’t have taken the role if his son hadn’t been such a fan of the books. Now, on with today’s handpicked fanboy headlines … No deal could be hammered out: "Quantum of Solace" star Daniel Craig confirms that he was indeed offered the role of the ...