The Hobbit (the Jackson films)

[Earendil]

Ladies and Gentlemen, the NEW HOBBIT TRAILER! Awww... with that voice! 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Same video, I assume, but from >Sherlockology<:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbOEknbi4gQ&feature=player_embedded

 

 

[Janie]

I've just seen the trailer and... wow! 

[SH/LotR/Zelda Fan]

WOW I am literally (well maybe not quite) dying I mean his voice is so amazing I can't even think properly and do my homework now...

[Carol the Dabbler]

From Sherlockology, here are the latest poster and banner:

 

 

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I'm a little surprised they don't actually show Smaug.

[SH/LotR/Zelda Fan]

It's because they're torturing us fans . They're only going to show a lot of Smaug in the actual film, I think...

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I imagine you're right. Along with a lot of the Mirkwood Elves as well.

[Janie]

I'm glad they didn't show him. They showed his head and his voice and I think that's enough. There would be no surprise at cinema. And I want to be surprised 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Congratulations on your 10th post, Jana!  Now all of your new posts will immediately show up on the forum, without needing moderator approval.

 

I agree with you -- they need to save a few surprises for the theater!

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Entertainmentwise quotes Martin Freeman regarding Bilbo's development in Desolation:

 

He told Yahoo Movies: "Bilbo, certainly by the second film, should be different. Not a different person, but be showing different things about him than when he was in Bag End at the start of the film.

 

"It’s very clear who and what he is at the beginning of the first film. He’s us, really. [by the second film] he’s killed a few things and people and other species and been in near-death experiences a lot. He’s very different in that way that people who come back from combat are different."

 

[You can read the rest of the article here.]

 

And Hitfix quotes Freeman on "finding" the early Bilbo:

 

"I would say there was a period of negotiation where I was thinking, 'Why is [Peter Jackson] saying that?' And he was probably thinking, 'Why is he doing that?'"

 

What he was doing - at least in his very first scene - was to unwittingly channel Elijah Wood's performance as Frodo, a mismatch in tone that Jackson quickly set out to correct.

"When we started filming, my first stuff was with Gollum and Gollum's cave, and I think...I was subconsciously playing Frodo," he says. "Because he is the nearest thing to Bilbo in those films. He's the audience, effectively, and he carries the story and he carries the humanity or the hobbitity of it through the story. And Pete said a good thing, he's like, 'This is a different thing. It's something that your children are going to want to watch,' and it's a family story and it's more like-- Not that it's as crass as 'then I just changed all my acting,' but just internally I was able to get a clearer picture of tone...It's not [the] deep, dark, quasi-religious, heavy, symbolic thing that 'Lord of the Rings' is."

 

[The rest of that article is here.]

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

From Sherlockology:

 

 

 

Get a first look at Benedict Cumberbatch motion capturing his performance as the dragon Smaug for the upcoming second Hobbit film in this Flickr photoset!

 

Hmm, motion-capture they say.  Looks like Neutron Cream to me!

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

He is never going to live that down, is he?

[Janie]

He looks scary... 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, yeah -- I think he's gonna be one amazing dragon!

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And a whole section of the movie concentrating on Smaug? It should be awesome.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've found considerably more of the first Freeman interview that I quoted on the 20th (above).  Some interesting peeks into the filming of The Hobbit.

 

[Earendil]

From Sherlockology:

 

 

 

Get a first look at Benedict Cumberbatch motion capturing his performance as the dragon Smaug for the upcoming second Hobbit film in this Flickr photoset!

 

Hmm, motion-capture they say.  Looks like Neutron Cream to me!

 

And a very short video can be found here. Unfortunately I cannot fully understand what Benedict says. Would you please enlighten me? Thx!

[Caya]

Here you go:

 

 

(source)

[Carol the Dabbler]

From Sherlockology:

 

 

 

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman talk Smaug in the new issue of Empire

 

Out this Thursday October 31 in the UK, the new issue of Empire features a Hobbit special with a choice of four newsstand covers and a special subscriber cover. Inside, a sidebar feature highlights the creation of the iconic dragon Smaug in the second film in the trilogy. Played physically and vocally by Benedict Cumberbatch, the huge creature faces off with Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins in a scene that will likely prove to be very different from the pair’s interactions in Sherlock. Below are selected highlights from the magazine feature.

 

Benedict Cumberbatch: Playing Smaug was separate from any experience you can ever have as an actor – playing a fire-breathing reptile is quite out there! I just had to dive in at the deep end. I walked out and felt a bit of a prick. But no-one else seemed to notice so that was ok.

 

Martin Freeman: I was coming back from Christmas and Benedict was leaving. We had a quick cup of tea and he was off and I was on to do the Smaug scenes without him. But Peter (Jackson) played me his demo vocal, and I could hear it very clearly in my head. I was reacting to that and to f***loads of lighting changes. I didn’t work with Ben at all really. Which was kind of ironic considering Sherlock has been bookending this.

 

Peter Jackson: We questioned whether we would have the dragon talking. I couldn’t get Sean Connery from Dragonheart out of my head. We did an animation test with some scenes from film two where the dragon is speaking purely psychically. We are hearing it in Bilbo’s head. It felt odd. Once you saw the dragon talking with Benedict’s voice, it was just fantastic. I had no more Sean Connery issues at that point.

 

Philippa Boyens: He is not anything, except maybe a psychopath.

 

Fran Walsh: He is quite English!

 

Benedict Cumberbatch: It’s not the riddles scene. There are similarities, but it’s not the same. There are size issues. Smaug is bigger than the hobbit. Smaug doesn’t engage with the hobbit the same way Smeagol does. Smaug is on much more of an ego trip. He likes to feel dominant at all times.

 

Phillippa Boyens: The first time I heard Benedict say “I smell you, thief,” it sent shivers through me.

 

 

[Earendil]

New trailer (sneak peak)! 

 

http://youtu.be/lfflhfn1W-o

[T.o.b.y]

Hey, thanks! Oh my, Ian McKellen as Gandalf plus Martin Freeman in a big role plus a dragon plus that dragon given one of the most beautiful voices in the entertainment industry - now, there's something to look forward to :-)

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well, actually, it's Martin Freeman in a  very tiny role    but I'm incredibly excited all the same!  Just over a month now....

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

When I saw this picture posted on some random website, I thought they were joking -- but no, it's not a joke, and it's not bad fan art -- it's a new official portrait of (supposedly) Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, right there on the official Hobbit Facebook page (it was posted on November 3rd, so you have to scroll down a ways):

 

 

If you'd like to comment, just log into your Facebook account and go to this page -- if you can stand to look at it. 

 

[Janie]

At first I thought it was Frodo.   But you're right, Carol, it looks weird.