“It is strange walking around here because … I’m used to looking at a set like this on film and now we’re walking back into it again. It’s almost like you’ve stepped inside a movie.” The words of Peter Jackson, as he gives a video tour of The Hobbit‘s sets in Wellington, New Zealand. It’s a sentiment that will be felt by the millions of fans who’ve waited to return to the fabled locales of Middle-earth. In a 10-minute video posted on his Facebook page, Jackson offers a glimpse of the movie’s first days of production. A worldly Ian McKellen hangs around Bag End, sporting specs and a stylish cap, Martin Freeman makes himself at home, and Andy Serkis delights in being the first actor put to work. Then Howard Shore’s score wells up, and it’s easy to fall back in love with this world. “I look forward to keeping you up to date as we go through the next … two or three years,” says Jackson, who seems refreshed and eager to lead his army of actors and artisans again. Enjoy.
Read more:
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‘The Hobbit’: The cast speaks
Day 1 on ‘The Hobbit’
This is SO awesome and Peter is amazing for taking the time to do it. I really hope he keeps these updates going throughout the whole shoot. I really couldn’t love this cast more than I already do. Totally giggled like a Twi-hard when I saw Richard Armitage being well…Richard Armitage. Also loved seeing Aidan Turner (anyone else notice he buzzed off his Mitchell hair?) and Martin Freeman too. Ian McKellen is always a laugh. Okay, end of rambling. Trust me, I could go on.
I agree Chelsea! This is so awesome. I would love to go on set and wander around.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay but the Internet virgins will eat this sh!t up
“Gay”? Wow, you sound like a catch. I’m surprised you’re such a hater given that there will be lots of your kind in this movie. Fat, ugly trolls.
It’s trolls like MM that make me skip reading comments because folks like him (or her) do just because they’re mean and can get away with it behind anonymous web names. Really, you just can’t keep your hateful comments to yourself?
Aaaand this will be the last vlog I watch. Not because I hate the movie – I just don’t want the surprises spoiled. I hope the eventual multidisc extended BlueRay has all the vlogs on it so I can get caught up later!
WOW!! One of my worries about The Hobbit was the difficulty in re-creating the look of LOTR. I needn’t have worried! Everything looks just right! Having Peter Jackson himself at the helm was, I think, necessary. I was actually glad when Del Toro bowed out.
I was actually really glad when Del Toro bowed out as well. No one can do The Hobbit justice but PJ!
There taking the hobbits to ISENGARD!
I’m so excited about this! But I’m not sure how they’re working Frodo, Galadriel, and Legolas into the whole things . . . is this gonna be set up as if Bilbo is telling his story at the council? Or maybe the others are reading it from the book he wrote? I’m just confused.
I’m thinking maybe an epilogue that (further) links the two Hobbit films to Fellowship?
Frodo will appear at the beginning and end with old Bilbo, reading the tale of his journey. Basically, they are acknowledging that the LOTR movies and story were told before this one, so it’s a nice way to tie the films together.
Legolas is the son of the Elf King of Mirkwood, so it’s no stretch to put Legolas in the Mirkwood section. And Galadriel will be at the White Council that Gandalf attends. And Saruman will hopefully be there as well…
Anne, that was geektastic! Thank you. I didn’t know how they were going to be fitting them in either.
That was AWESOME! And there could no better man at the helm than Peter Jackson. He’s looking so trim and healthy nowadays. I say this because us fans have an invested interest in his health. That said, The Hobbit was my first serious read back in the late 70s. I opened up, no kicked open, the floodgates to my imagination.
Also, I remember living back in the day of TV Guide and 100 channels. I remember watching first broadcast of The Hobbit on NBC in 1977. There I was bug-eyed in front of the old television set surrounded by hundreds of hand drawn maps of Middle-Earth and character sketches, spellbound. I remember the animated Lord of the Rings in 1978. I remember waiting around for year for the second half of the movie to be aired. It never was. It was never made.
I read Tolkien’s LOTR 7 times before Peter Jackson’s interpretation was released like a decade ago. I was in Changwon, South Korea at the time. A full house, no one stirred for three hours . . . incredible.
Strangely enough, in retrospect, watching The Fellowship of the Ring on the other side of the world, a world away from my old television set, made it more surreal, more fantastical. My only regret is not quitting my teaching gig and heading down to New Zealand in the early 00s. I was all set to go . . . alas,
This looks fantastic. I can’t see anyone else other than Peter Jackson helming this project. It will take seeing Martin Freeman in full costume for me to not automatically think Tim Canterbury when I see him. Also, I can’t believe it has been so long since the filming of the LOTR trilogy. Makes me start to feel old.
This makes me want to have a LOTR marathon. lol. *rushes off to watch it*
We did that for New Year’s Day! Had cider, stout, “lembas” (scones), Funyuns (golden rings!), etc. Super fun, really long day.
Awesome. I only own the Extended versions of the movies so it takes me twice as long to have a marathon. I always forget how long those movies are, because they’re so good.
Who got goosebumps at the end “In a hole, in the ground, there lived a Hobbit…”
I cannot wait for these films!!!
Just that line officially sealed the deal for me. I can now see Martin Freeman as a hobbit.
I wonder if we all watched the video at exactly the same moment if there would be some worldwide psychic or physical manifestation of nostalgia…I was almost overwhelmed! Having seen all of the DVD extras on the LOTR films, in a way it took me back to a decade ago. And yet there are new people and things to learn about and enjoy…I’m so excited!
So very glad Jackson is at the helm. Of all the huge movie franchises, LOTR is the gold standard in terms of quality, and with the Hobbit it’s only going to get better.
oooh you’re in 3D! Lol
Loved that line. That and “shy asses”. I’m also thrilled he’s at the helm of Hobbit. I have every confidence in him that this movie will be as great as LOTR.
I think that was “shy artists” it just sounded like “asses” because of his accent. That’s what I thought it was at first also, but then I realized it was artists.
Even if you’re right (you probably are), I like thinking he called them asses! lol