Latest news on Hobbiton rebuild!

[Technomage]

Here's a couple of articles on how the rebuilding of Hobbiton is progressing. Both have a picture of the 'action'.

Excerpt:

Hobbiton is well on its way to its former Lord of the Rings glory.

Massive transformations have taken place since reconstruction began last year for filming of The Hobbit, to be released in two parts.

Reconstruction of most of the 38 original hobbit holes is now well under way.

Details about when filming will begin are under wraps and visiting tourists are required to sign a contract stating they will not sell their photos.

FULL STORY: Click here

Earlier article on the rebuild:

FULL STORY: Click here

 

[Tulin]

We visited NZ last March and went with the absolutely BRILLIANT "Red Carpet Tours" company. They have the contract to visit many shooting sites for the trilogy and along the trip we met up with several people involved in production.

The photo in my avatar was taken early March '09 and at that point they had not yet started any development. I can only imagine what it must look like now! The land owners told us back then they were hoping to keep the site in proper pristine condition once filming concluded on the new films. When the last lot of filming finished, almost ten years ago(WOW!!!), they basically came in with heavy machinery and ripped everything up. We stood at the site of Sam and Rosie's hobbit hole and all that was left was pretty much a small mound. It was quite sad.

Anyway, if anyone has even the slightest inclination to visit NZ and see the sites, I'd THOROUGHLY recommend Vic and Raewyn's company. It is absolutely BRILLIANT and there are more than a few surprises along the way........

http://www.redcarpet-tours.com/

 

[FreezeC77]

dag I always thought they had kept the hobbit-town as it was in the movie for a tourist destination.

 

[Tulin]

LOL - "Hobbit-town".

I wouldn't go to Matamata and use that term. They openly ridicule people who ask for directions to "Hobbit-town".

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

So, no more news on the casting front? I'm curious to know who'll play Bilbo.

 

[FreezeC77]

LOL - "Hobbit-town".

I wouldn't go to Matamata and use that term. They openly ridicule people who ask for directions to "Hobbit-town".

honestly they should be thankful Peter Jackson got to make the movies and get their country and communities millions of dollars from the filming there and subsequent tourism over the years since the movies finished filming.

You don't think the businesses down in Seaside Heights, NJ are trying to capitalize off the Jersey Shore show and saying "Hey, this is where these idiots hung out"

 

[Allyn Gibson]

So, no more news on the casting front? I'm curious to know who'll play Bilbo.

The production has faced two problems -- MGM's financial uncertainty makes it difficult to budget the film, and the incomplete second script also makes it difficult for MGM to budget the film. Technically, The Hobbit has not been greenlit. Yes, there's a lot of preproduction work being done, but lining up actors hasn't been done. Now that the second script has been turned in, things may start rolling. Or not -- MGM put the next Bond film on an indefinite delay.

 

[TremblingBluStar]

So, no more news on the casting front? I'm curious to know who'll play Bilbo.

Tom Cruise.

 

[FordSVT]

So, no more news on the casting front? I'm curious to know who'll play Bilbo.

The production has faced two problems -- MGM's financial uncertainty makes it difficult to budget the film, and the incomplete second script also makes it difficult for MGM to budget the film. Technically, The Hobbit has not been greenlit. Yes, there's a lot of preproduction work being done, but lining up actors hasn't been done. Now that the second script has been turned in, things may start rolling. Or not -- MGM put the next Bond film on an indefinite delay.

I don't think Bond 23 exists as anything more than some rough scripts at the moment, afaik no other pre-production work had been done. The Hobbit movies are farther along in pre-production (on top of having that whole Wingnut/Weta crew at the drop of a hat and probably already brainstorming), and while the next Bond movie will assuredly make a lot of money, I can't believe it has a chance of making anything close to what too new LOTR movies would bring in. I'm pretty sure it won't get put on hold, they'll probably be the two biggest movies MGM releases in the next ten years. Then again maybe MGM crumbles and the LOTR rights go to market and everything gets pushed back years, but I doubt it.

 

[Tulin]

LOL - "Hobbit-town".

I wouldn't go to Matamata and use that term. They openly ridicule people who ask for directions to "Hobbit-town".

honestly they should be thankful Peter Jackson got to make the movies and get their country and communities millions of dollars from the filming there and subsequent tourism over the years since the movies finished filming.

You don't think the businesses down in Seaside Heights, NJ are trying to capitalize off the Jersey Shore show and saying "Hey, this is where these idiots hung out"

Actually, I think you missed my point.

You'd be made fun of for asking directions to "Hobbit-town" because that is NOT the name of the place.

It's "Hobbiton".

Reminds me of those people who walk into Disneyland and ask for directions to the Magic Mountain.