I guess it's early days for the blog but it was a bad oversight on my part. TORn got there first with the juicy rumour that Viggo Mortensen was spotted in New Zealand - I can confirm that, as at least one of my spies spoke to him directly.
Apparently he was here working on The Hobbit, and preparing for a small cameo in the second movie when he needs to reprise his role as a dunedain ranger, guarding the Shire against passing baddies.
Two things strike me about that - (1) Viggo is already back and actively working on it, which means they must be getting close to finishing the scripts, and (2) they're working on both movies at the same time, just like they did in LOTR. Fantastic news in any case.
What we can also take away from that is the fact that they're happily re-inserting characters that didn't get a (specific) mention in the Tolkien's "The Hobbit" book, which means that the chances of (for instance) Gimli and Legolas re-appearing are also now significantly higher.
I'm speculating we won't see Sam, Pippin or Merry in The Hobbit, but Frodo might make an appearance late in movie 2 - the others get introduced specifically in FOTR, but Frodo seems to be quite familiar already at the start of that movie.
The other scene that we need to see Aragorn perform is the first meeting with Arwen, which according to Viggo himself in an interview last year ((references?)) has already been filmed.
Interesting stuff.
I can't help you with specific references, but scenes with Arwen and Aragorn romping in Lothlorien were filmed during the LOTR shoot. You've probably caught a VERY fast glimpse of them in some clips and just haven't realised it. There are captures around on the net. Aragorn was clean shaven, as I recall. This was not the first meeting of Aragorn and Arwen. He had met her before in Rivendell and fallen in love with her, but she blew him off. Years later he runs into her in Lothlorien while she's visiting her grandparents. Galadriel dresses him up like an elven prince and Arwen loses her heart to him.
ReplyDeletePJ actually joked about this scene in some interview or commentary after the EE were released. He said they'd tried to use it, but still hadn't found the right place for it and perhaps it would show up in the 50th(?) anniversary edition, a joke referring to the repeated various releases of LOTR DVDs and CDs.
Viggo has also been in NZ to promote his film "Good" and while there, paid a visit to Uraeus, one of the horses he rode and bought during the LOTR shoot. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/movies/news/article.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=10573901
Hope this helps!
Since it has become known that both movies will be about "The Hobbit" (i.e., no "bridge" film) how can Viggo be playing Aragorn? Aragorn was only 11 years old at the time of "The Hobbit"?
ReplyDelete@MithrilVFB
ReplyDeleteWow, good info! Thanks for that, that will go into my store of on-tour knowledge, for sure!
And I think you're right with your NZ Herald reference, that's probably where I first heard of that scene having been filmed already.
@polls_apart:
ReplyDeleteYou're quite right about the age difference, of course. I'm really not sure what Peter/Fran/Phillipa/Guillermo are planning, since I haven't seen the new script (for obvious reasons!) but my spy assured me that's what he talked to Viggo about.
According to the recent Empire interview with PJ and GDT, the filming for the Hobbit movies won't begun until next year. Here's a direct quote:
ReplyDelete"Jackson: Now that the treatments have been confirmed, what that does give us is a pretty accurate cast list. We now know what characters are in which film, and armed with that, we can start some casting. We're going to do location recces because again, the treatments give us info we need for what sort of locations we're looking for. We're going to have that underway shortly. We're basically on target to start shooting March next year."
Keeping that in mind... while I won't say it's not possible that Viggo is shooting a cameo for the Hobbit, is it likely that it would be happening when the principal photography hasn't even started?
@nerwende
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point, of course.
But there could be a dozen reasons why he'd show up for The Hobbit before principle filming has begun, not least of which would be meeting GDT, and to announce his willingness to take the part again.
Unfortunately the quick meeting my contact had with him wasn't an interview but just a few comments in passing. :(
These rumours always leave more questions than answers. That's what makes them exciting!
@polls_apart It seems pretty clear that as in the LotR films, there will be some time compression -- meaning the gap between The Hobbit and LotR will be shorter. (They did get Aragorn's age right in the Extended Edition of Two Towers.) If we finally get to see the Aragorn/Arwen scene, it works for me.
ReplyDeleteBeen an LOTR Fan forever and that's why I went to NZ about 5 yeas ago, and then the year after that, and the year after that, and then twice in one year - once was for a week-end....
ReplyDeleteUsed Flat Earth everytime... adored the tours! Best ever... however, you had a great tour guide that we used everytime - called himself Gollum (actually Garth) - just wondering if he's still with Flat Earth (if he is - tell him Sharon from Ohio says hi!)
Thanks for this blog... so much excitement to come! See you at the opening!
@Anonymous / Sharon from Ohio
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a few trips back and forth! Why not just do what I did and move in permanently! :)
Unfortunately, Garth isn't with Flat Earth anymore, he's gone back to being a kindergarten teacher. I haven't seen him for the longest time! I will make a point of catching up with him, now that you've reminded me...!
Yeah, he did look like Gollum, more than a little... the nickname always suited him...!
Take care, and looking forward to seeing you soon, then!
- Jack M.
I hate to burst a bubble here, but Viggo Mortensen has been in South America for the past three weeks at least, doing research for a book he's publsihing.
ReplyDeleteIf you go to his website for Perceval Press, you can even see most of his postings over the last month have been Spanish articles from Argentina and Paraguay.
Something with your spy smells fishy, and I don't think it's Gollum.
Viggo was in Paraguay May 27, 2009. There are several news stories and even a YouTube of this visit. Just google it and see for yourself. On May 27, he told reporters that he would be in Paraguay for a week. He was in Argentina the previous week.
ReplyDeleteI don't know who your spy talked to on May 29th, but it was not Viggo Mortensen.
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteIf you read my post again, you'll see that i never said he was here on the date of my blog, just in the recent past.
I picked up a local rag of a newspaper, the Capital Times, which I will scan in, and will post in a separate blog entry.
Nothing like photographic proof with Viggo and a local newspaper in his hands, with a date on the cover, readable in the photo.
@anonymous : Let me know if you require more.
PS - if anyone's offended by me calling the Capital Times a rag, wait till you read the interview. It's possibly the worst interview I've ever read by anyone, ever.
I just found this:
ReplyDelete"Kelly Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 10:33 AM EST
I read somewhere that the script for the Hobbit would include additional scenes only briefly alluded to in the book - mostly involving Gandalf and the White Council battling Sauron (Necromancer). These scenes use the appendices in LOTR as source material. Hence allowing enough content for two films, and potential to feature characters (and actors)from LOTR that do not appear in the book The Hobbit. This includes Galadriel (Blanchet?), Saruman (Lee?) and even Aragorn."
It is one of the bloggers comments in resonse to this article:
http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/06/hugo-weaving-elrond-the-hobbit.html
Could it be that Aragorn WILL appear in The Hobbit?