Earlier today, there was a report from his wife Miranda Kerr that he'd left for New Zealand last night, but I've just had it confirmed by one of my spies - Orlando Bloom has been sighted in Wellington.
Apparently the first place he visited was the Scorch-o-Rama cafe (formerly known as the Chocolate Fish Cafe) in Karaka Bay, on the Miramar Peninsula. Which just happens to be the same cafe Andy Serkis visited first when he returned as well.
If you've joined me on a fullday LOTR tour, that's where we generally have lunch. :)
So if you're reading this, Orlando - welcome back to Wellington! Couldn't have caught us on a nicer day!
To everyone else out there - keep the rumours coming! Photos would be great! :)
- Jack M.
Showing posts with label Cast sightings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cast sightings. Show all posts
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Scoop! Hugo Weaving spotted in Wellington!
Finally, then, the news that I'd been waiting on for so long. Now that Orlando Bloom is all but confirmed; John Rhys-Davies has approached the studio last week; Sir Ian Holm is due back; Elijah Wood has been signed up; Sir Christopher Lee has indicated that (health allowing) he'll reprise his role as Saruman; Sir Ian McKellen is back in cloak and pointy hat; and Andy Serkis has donned the lycra suit with all the dots on it one more time - there was really only one person missing from the reunion list. We were still waiting for one very important cast member, espcially since the current set being rebuilt in Stone Street Studio is Rivendell.
About an hour ago I received news from one of my more reputable spies, and he has reported seeing Hugo Weaving here in Wellington this afternoon, shopping at Common Sense Organics, the fruit and vege market in Wakefield Street. Of course he shops organics - he's the lord of the Elves, for goodness sake!
It's probably a bit too hasty to assume that he's here to be in The Hobbit, but I can't think of any other reason why he would come here right now, just when they're discussing Rivendell scripts. It's certainly not for the weather (it's howling a cold southerly gale out there at the moment).
Certainly good news, no matter what!
- Jack M.
About an hour ago I received news from one of my more reputable spies, and he has reported seeing Hugo Weaving here in Wellington this afternoon, shopping at Common Sense Organics, the fruit and vege market in Wakefield Street. Of course he shops organics - he's the lord of the Elves, for goodness sake!
 |
| Lord Elrond Half-Elven, fading into view? |
It's probably a bit too hasty to assume that he's here to be in The Hobbit, but I can't think of any other reason why he would come here right now, just when they're discussing Rivendell scripts. It's certainly not for the weather (it's howling a cold southerly gale out there at the moment).
Certainly good news, no matter what!
- Jack M.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Gandalf and Gollum arrive in Wellington
Warning: Heavy use of NamesDropping(tm) in this post! You have been warned!
In case you missed the news, Bilbo and the 13 Dwarves have arrived in Wellington last week, and are currently on some sort of Dwarven Boot Camp, whatever that may entail. Of course, a few other big names are expected to arrive in Wellington, so I've had my beady little eyes open and my not-at-all-pointy ears flat to the ground.
I've been doing alright - I was out with a LOTR tour group last Saturday and we ended up sitting at the table next to Andy Serkis! He graced us with a quick talk but it looked like his minder was rushing him along to the next meeting. I basically had a chance to welcome him back to Wellington and wish him well for what sounds like a long shoot for him - he usually ends up doing three times the amount of work just to get his physical and digital personas to match up on screen. He remembered me from the last time we met, which would have been close to five years ago, just after the King Kong release.
One of my sources told me later that he met up with Sir Ian McKellen at a local theatre on Saturday night, so Gandalf is back in town as well. I had assumed he was still on his Indian holiday but apparently that has finished now.
After Saturday lunch, and during our Weta Cave visit I ran into Sir Richard Taylor as well, who promptly told me off for calling him "Sir Richard", hehe ("just Richard, thank you!"). He mentioned a few other people who'd been at the workshop in the last week, including Seth Green. He didn't mention why Seth was here - I got the feeling it was just a friendly visit rather than anything official. Still, Seth is always very conscious of his (lack of) height - perhaps he's faced it and is applying for a Hobbit role? (email me, Seth, and I'll apologise for that one!)... :)
It was quite a full-on day - Rivendell was still being used for that video game being filmed by Lee Tamahori (called "Cardinal", apparently although that may just be the working title), although that didn't interrupt our LOTR tour. Apparently Shane Rangi was there as well although I didn't spot him. Having said that - there was a bunch of people in some great costumes, including one who looked like a humanoid lion/cat person - it might have been Shane in the suit! No photos sorry - their security looked stronger than me.
Isengard was full of people attending the Jousting Tournament, and on Sunday we briefly ran into LOTR's Sword Smith Peter Lyon who told us that this year he didn't take part in the Jousting but ended up relaxing from the sidelines for a change.
To top it all off, Mount Victoria and its famous "Get Off The Road!" scene was virtually inaccessible due to an all-day mountain bike race happening, which happens occasionally. I think we had enough famous people to make up for the missing location!
All in all, quite a day! I'm expecting more days like that in the next few weeks, so now is a good time to book on a tour!
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Noldor Coffee Meetup brings eyewitness reports
I just came back from the first "official" Noldor event - an informal get-together of Hobbit fans, at local cafe Floriditas, where the slices of cake were even better than I remembered them, although they'd run out of chocolate cake by the time I got to them. I had to settle for the Apple Crumble, which was great as well.
There were twelve of us, and I reckon I may have to make this a semi-regular event.
Clockwise around the table, starting at the far left: Laura; Ryan & Jenifer with Hawk; Emily; Erica; Annaëlle & Corrado; Brendan, me, Grant & Monica.
Laura is a huge fan of LOTR who has come to Wellington to try and get some work on The Hobbit, and might just get the chance soon. Ryan is a scriptwriter who came with Jenifer on my tour some years ago, and have since moved from the USA to Wellington. Emily is a LOTR fan and a fan-fiction author who is quite an authority on all things Middle-earth, while Erica is famous for being a founding member of www.theonering.net. About a month ago, I met Annaëlle and Corrado wandering around Mount Victoria looking for LOTR scenes one day while I was touring with a group there - Annaëlle is Belgium while Corrado is from Italy, and they both came to NZ on a working holiday, and will be in Wellington for another month or so before they move on again, probably to the South Island for a bit. Brendan worked in the film industry in Australia and moved to New Zealand about a year ago, he's also hoping to get a Hobbit related job at some stage. I met Grant through this blog a few years ago - he's a big LOTR fan - but I hadn't met his partner Monica yet.
We talked about assorted Hobbit related subjects. Ryan and Jennifer mentioned they ran into John Howe on their way into the cafe today, so Mr Howe is back from his holiday, and apparently production is now in full swing at the studios. Obviously he couldn't divulge any details but by all accounts he and Alan Lee will be working in the South Island with the location scouts first of all, finding and designing new sets and locations for The Hobbit. Very exciting, but also totally vague - New Zealand's South Island is so big that it's generally referred to as The Mainland by its occupant!
Another interesting item though - apparently Martin Freeman (the new Bilbo) and Stephen Hunter (the dwarf Bombur) were spotted in Wellington on Friday night! No photos yet - if anyone spots them again, or any of the others, drop me a line!
While I'm treading the rumour mill, let me dispell a few as well. I've heard from sources at the studio that there aren't quite 6000 people working at on The Hobbit, so I'll file that rumour where it belongs - under "H" for "Hyperbole". However, I suspect there are at least 6000 people who WANT to work on The Hobbit. Count me in on that number.
Another bit of wrong information I posted - the film set at Waikanae I previously reported turns out not to be Hobbit related. I'm still not sure what it is though, but it's definitely not Middle-earth. And I heard another rumour that there was a supposed location by Queenstown where previously the fields outside Isengard's were filmed (when Gandalf rides up to the gate in FOTR) - it doesn't sound like that one was Tolkien related either. So, a rumour killed before I even posted it. Saves time, I suppose.
Next, Hobbiton being turned into a permanent location is still speculation, and no announcements are expected before filming finished (which hasn't even started yet, so don't hold your breath on that one). I've not been able to get any information on the "complete rooms within some of the hobbit holes" Bed&Breakfast idea, so that one's on hold as well. Expect no answer either way until after filming is complete.
Finally, I was correct about Ian McKellen not holding out for more money. It sounds like it was more of a timing issue. So my last rumours post was at most 25% accurate. And that, boys and girls, is why I'm not a journalist. (With a side note to any actual journalists reading this - if you want more info on anything I post here - please contact me first before you run with a story. Chances are I've heard more information than I've had a chance to post, and they are usually corrections or withdrawals. My contact details are in my Google profile).
On a final note - I mentioned that I have some Hobbiton photos that I might post. I've been persuaded not to post them by various people, for very good reasons, not the least being that if we see too much of Middle-earth before the movie begins, it will take some of the shine of the movie itself - something I certainly don't want to be a part of. However, I did want to post one photo taken at Hobbiton - I feel confident that it won't spoil the movie for anyone, and I don't think the lawyers will call me about it. So, here goes:
Yes, even the toilet roll holders are in the shape of Hobbit Holes. Awesome! :)
- Jack
There were twelve of us, and I reckon I may have to make this a semi-regular event.
Laura is a huge fan of LOTR who has come to Wellington to try and get some work on The Hobbit, and might just get the chance soon. Ryan is a scriptwriter who came with Jenifer on my tour some years ago, and have since moved from the USA to Wellington. Emily is a LOTR fan and a fan-fiction author who is quite an authority on all things Middle-earth, while Erica is famous for being a founding member of www.theonering.net. About a month ago, I met Annaëlle and Corrado wandering around Mount Victoria looking for LOTR scenes one day while I was touring with a group there - Annaëlle is Belgium while Corrado is from Italy, and they both came to NZ on a working holiday, and will be in Wellington for another month or so before they move on again, probably to the South Island for a bit. Brendan worked in the film industry in Australia and moved to New Zealand about a year ago, he's also hoping to get a Hobbit related job at some stage. I met Grant through this blog a few years ago - he's a big LOTR fan - but I hadn't met his partner Monica yet.
We talked about assorted Hobbit related subjects. Ryan and Jennifer mentioned they ran into John Howe on their way into the cafe today, so Mr Howe is back from his holiday, and apparently production is now in full swing at the studios. Obviously he couldn't divulge any details but by all accounts he and Alan Lee will be working in the South Island with the location scouts first of all, finding and designing new sets and locations for The Hobbit. Very exciting, but also totally vague - New Zealand's South Island is so big that it's generally referred to as The Mainland by its occupant!
Another interesting item though - apparently Martin Freeman (the new Bilbo) and Stephen Hunter (the dwarf Bombur) were spotted in Wellington on Friday night! No photos yet - if anyone spots them again, or any of the others, drop me a line!
While I'm treading the rumour mill, let me dispell a few as well. I've heard from sources at the studio that there aren't quite 6000 people working at on The Hobbit, so I'll file that rumour where it belongs - under "H" for "Hyperbole". However, I suspect there are at least 6000 people who WANT to work on The Hobbit. Count me in on that number.
Another bit of wrong information I posted - the film set at Waikanae I previously reported turns out not to be Hobbit related. I'm still not sure what it is though, but it's definitely not Middle-earth. And I heard another rumour that there was a supposed location by Queenstown where previously the fields outside Isengard's were filmed (when Gandalf rides up to the gate in FOTR) - it doesn't sound like that one was Tolkien related either. So, a rumour killed before I even posted it. Saves time, I suppose.
Next, Hobbiton being turned into a permanent location is still speculation, and no announcements are expected before filming finished (which hasn't even started yet, so don't hold your breath on that one). I've not been able to get any information on the "complete rooms within some of the hobbit holes" Bed&Breakfast idea, so that one's on hold as well. Expect no answer either way until after filming is complete.
Finally, I was correct about Ian McKellen not holding out for more money. It sounds like it was more of a timing issue. So my last rumours post was at most 25% accurate. And that, boys and girls, is why I'm not a journalist. (With a side note to any actual journalists reading this - if you want more info on anything I post here - please contact me first before you run with a story. Chances are I've heard more information than I've had a chance to post, and they are usually corrections or withdrawals. My contact details are in my Google profile).
On a final note - I mentioned that I have some Hobbiton photos that I might post. I've been persuaded not to post them by various people, for very good reasons, not the least being that if we see too much of Middle-earth before the movie begins, it will take some of the shine of the movie itself - something I certainly don't want to be a part of. However, I did want to post one photo taken at Hobbiton - I feel confident that it won't spoil the movie for anyone, and I don't think the lawyers will call me about it. So, here goes:
Yes, even the toilet roll holders are in the shape of Hobbit Holes. Awesome! :)
- Jack
Monday, 25 October 2010
Pro-Hobbit rally in Wellington
I just got back from the pro-Hobbit rally here in Wellington at Civic Square, which was attended by thousands of people. There was a nice positive feeling from the crowd, which was a great change from all the negativity from the last few weeks surrounding the Actors Equity boycott of the Hobbit movie.
There were many famous faces in the crowd - some took a turn at the microphone while others were there simply to support Sir Peter Jackson.
A good turnout from the crowd, too. I estimated around 3000-4000 people or so but I was in the middle of them so didn't get an accurate picture. Let's see what the newspapers and TV reports say about it tonight.
Here's a few photos I took (if you follow me on Twitter you may have already seen some of these - if you don't yet, you probably should consider it).
12:26pm - The first Hobbits have arrived
12:33pm - The crowd is building up. In the foreground are my friend Grant McKenna and my wife Aiko.
12:51pm - Festivities have started - the Maori song Pokarekare Ana is sung, and the first speech is from the newly elected mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade-Brown.
12:54pm - Sir Richard Taylor, head wizard at Weta Workshop, gives a rousing speech, and reads a prepared letter from Sir Peter Jackson.
12:56pm - a partial shot of the crowd
1:02pm - Liz Mullane speaks next. She's the casting director from LOTR, and also for The Hobbit.
1:06pm - A good friend of mine and fellow LOTR tourguide, Ted Guise from Wellington Movie Tours, talked about tourism, and The Hobbit's impact on it.
Unfortunately I missed photographing some of the speakers at this point - one of them was Chris Guide, Ted's brother. Also a number of others - crew members, designers, a producer, technicians, etc. (my apologies to those I missed!).I was a bit too busy spotting faces in the crowd. Although Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh weren't there, I did spot Katie Jackson with some friends. I didn't photograph her - I gather she doesn't like the limelight as much as she used to when she played "cute hobbit child" in Fellowship of the Ring. :)
1:20pm - Next up, a speech from Gino Acevedo, SFX wizard extraordinaire (and incidentally Liz Mullane's partner - they met on the set of LOTR, apparently)
1:22pm - Wait, is that Barry Osborne in the crowd (producer of LOTR, and Matrix as well)?
After Gino's speech, Sir Richard Taylor got up once more to address the crowd. Sir Richard is always a welcome sight - people here adore him. He's one of the most gentle people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, with the most contagious sense of enthusiasm. The crowd loved him today.
1:29pm - A few balloons of hope are released - maybe Hollywood will see them...
1:43pm - Peter Lyon (sword smith) and Alan Lee (artist/designer) continue to mingle while the crowd disperses.
After the speeches, the microphone was switched off, and people started to drift away, although slowly. There were a lot of groups of people who hadn't caught up with each other for a while, seemingly. Lots of anticipation from different groups eager to get started. TV crews will no doubt have lengthy reports tonight, but it was the individual stories they won't catch. Everywhere I looked I saw hopeful people wanting to get started on this film.
This gathering was truly a show of unity aimed at the Hollywood executives, who are expected in the next few days. Let's hope it was enough.
- Jack
There were many famous faces in the crowd - some took a turn at the microphone while others were there simply to support Sir Peter Jackson.
A good turnout from the crowd, too. I estimated around 3000-4000 people or so but I was in the middle of them so didn't get an accurate picture. Let's see what the newspapers and TV reports say about it tonight.
Here's a few photos I took (if you follow me on Twitter you may have already seen some of these - if you don't yet, you probably should consider it).
12:26pm - The first Hobbits have arrived
1:06pm - A good friend of mine and fellow LOTR tourguide, Ted Guise from Wellington Movie Tours, talked about tourism, and The Hobbit's impact on it.
Unfortunately I missed photographing some of the speakers at this point - one of them was Chris Guide, Ted's brother. Also a number of others - crew members, designers, a producer, technicians, etc. (my apologies to those I missed!).I was a bit too busy spotting faces in the crowd. Although Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh weren't there, I did spot Katie Jackson with some friends. I didn't photograph her - I gather she doesn't like the limelight as much as she used to when she played "cute hobbit child" in Fellowship of the Ring. :)
1:22pm - Wait, is that Barry Osborne in the crowd (producer of LOTR, and Matrix as well)?
After Gino's speech, Sir Richard Taylor got up once more to address the crowd. Sir Richard is always a welcome sight - people here adore him. He's one of the most gentle people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, with the most contagious sense of enthusiasm. The crowd loved him today.
After the speeches, the microphone was switched off, and people started to drift away, although slowly. There were a lot of groups of people who hadn't caught up with each other for a while, seemingly. Lots of anticipation from different groups eager to get started. TV crews will no doubt have lengthy reports tonight, but it was the individual stories they won't catch. Everywhere I looked I saw hopeful people wanting to get started on this film.
This gathering was truly a show of unity aimed at the Hollywood executives, who are expected in the next few days. Let's hope it was enough.
- Jack
Friday, 5 March 2010
Shane Rangi in Rivendell - with a sword! (photos!)
Earlier this week, I was at the Kaitoke Regional Park - better known here as Rivendell - and as we were walking across the bridge, I couldn't help noticing a group of people standing about 30 meters away. One had a good sized video camera (larger, for instance, than most tourists cameras), one had an official looking clipboard in his hand. The one that stood out the most though, was the big muscular looking gent with no hair and carrying a sword, who I immediately identified as LOTR's very own Shane Rangi!
Shane has appeared many times in our favourite trilogy, often as a stunt double, although most famously in The Fellowship Of The Ring as the Witch-King of Angmar. Apparently he has a T-Shirt he wears to conventions that boldly proclaims "I Stabbed Frodo!", something only he (and Shelob, I guess) could get away with. Shane also played the Harad Leader on top of the Mumak who was dispatched by Eomer's spear. In fact, the first time I met him, I was waiting for someone at Weta Digital to come to lunch with me, and I approached Shane (he also doubled as Weta Digital's receptionist at times), saying "I'm sure I recognise you from somewhere", to which he replied "picture me with a spear sticking out of my stomach"... Nice. :)
Soon, Shane crossed the River, with the others looking on from the near side. We left them to it.
Anyway, as I took my guests for a stroll through Rivendell, Shane's group was walking back to the carpark again. I know better than to ask a group of film-industry people what they're working on - their affairs are subtle, and they are quick to anger, and all that. Closed questions are even worse - they will say both "no" and "yes". (ed: enough with the Tolkien misquoting already!)
I was told that they were scouting for a new production, and one of the group knew the question on my mind - it must have been pretty obvious - and offered "sorry, we're definitely not working on a JRR Tolkien project", something Shane has since confirmed as well. So, it's apparently not The Hobbit then - so what else could it be? What sword carrying production is soon to be filmed in the Rivendell area? Are we getting another Narnia movie here? Shane has just returned from the new Narnia production in Australia, Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. Is the next one to be filmed here? Or will it be a locally made TV series, like Legend Of The Seeker perhaps?
Here's another photo of the rest of the group - if anyone can identify any of them, maybe that could give more clues to the purpose of the scouting trip!
Shane has appeared many times in our favourite trilogy, often as a stunt double, although most famously in The Fellowship Of The Ring as the Witch-King of Angmar. Apparently he has a T-Shirt he wears to conventions that boldly proclaims "I Stabbed Frodo!", something only he (and Shelob, I guess) could get away with. Shane also played the Harad Leader on top of the Mumak who was dispatched by Eomer's spear. In fact, the first time I met him, I was waiting for someone at Weta Digital to come to lunch with me, and I approached Shane (he also doubled as Weta Digital's receptionist at times), saying "I'm sure I recognise you from somewhere", to which he replied "picture me with a spear sticking out of my stomach"... Nice. :)
Soon, Shane crossed the River, with the others looking on from the near side. We left them to it.
Anyway, as I took my guests for a stroll through Rivendell, Shane's group was walking back to the carpark again. I know better than to ask a group of film-industry people what they're working on - their affairs are subtle, and they are quick to anger, and all that. Closed questions are even worse - they will say both "no" and "yes". (ed: enough with the Tolkien misquoting already!)
I was told that they were scouting for a new production, and one of the group knew the question on my mind - it must have been pretty obvious - and offered "sorry, we're definitely not working on a JRR Tolkien project", something Shane has since confirmed as well. So, it's apparently not The Hobbit then - so what else could it be? What sword carrying production is soon to be filmed in the Rivendell area? Are we getting another Narnia movie here? Shane has just returned from the new Narnia production in Australia, Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. Is the next one to be filmed here? Or will it be a locally made TV series, like Legend Of The Seeker perhaps?
Here's another photo of the rest of the group - if anyone can identify any of them, maybe that could give more clues to the purpose of the scouting trip!
Who are all these guys?? (click on the picture for a bigger version)
Let me know what you think!
- Jack M.
PS - a BIG thanks to Andrew B. for the great photos!
Friday, 26 February 2010
Drought or flood - or, "many meetings"...
In the previous entry I was complaining about how nothing seems to be happening, then suddenly I am flooded with news, or potential news. Unfortunately, I'm so busy with tours that I haven't had a chance to do any digging but I thought I'd just report what I've heard from my spies and from what I've seen myself.
First, the biggest news item - Elijah Wood was spotted in the capital. Though heavily disguised with hats, sunglasses, and jackets, one of my most reliable spies spotted him. My spy unfortunately didn't get a chance to say "hi" to him, so I can't tell you why he was here. Could be he was on holiday, could be it wasn't him (I have no photographic proof) - but Elijah being in Wellington suggests to me that there are exciting things afoot - especially when I add his sighting to the others this week. There's no reason to assume he'd be in The Hobbit, but maybe there's another good reason why he'd be here, so close to the green light of the production?
For some reason or another I have been running in to some very cool people this week. Some of them weren't too surprising, others might have been coincidental as well. There's murmerings of lots of secret meetings taking place in the last two weeks, with big black cars parked outside, all over Miramar.
Apart from the unsubstantiated rumours from other sources, I can personally confirm that Shane Rangi is back in town, back from Australia where he's just finished filming a project. Unusually, he assured me he actually (gasp!) LIVED through an entire movie! Not like him at all, he usually dies at least once, and often more than once per movie.
I also ran into Gino Acevido. He's always pleasant and polite, and is a master at making people feel comfortable. He always appears to be very chatty, but afterwards I always realise he's not given anything away that he shouldn't have. Now, seeing him outside Weta Cave isn't that unexpected since he works in the same building a lot of the time, but I haven't met up with him for a while now. Could be just a coincidence.
I could at this point names-drop and mention that I've recently been speaking/emailing/facebooking/twittering with Richard Taylor, John Howe, Costa Botes, Ian Brodie (and sighted Jamie Selkirk), but it was all on unrelated matters, and unfortunately none of them mentioned anything related to The Hobbit.
John Howe did suggest that he may be releasing another artbook soon, and when that comes out he'll probably be autographing it down at the Weta Cave again (something the good folk at the Cave have also let slip) but I've heard nothing specific yet. John Howe has produced a number of very good books featuring his artwork in the past, and this one should be another excellent read.
While at the Weta Cave, I did notice that some of the illustrated LOTR and Hobbit books as well as a few Children of Hurin copies all had Alan Lee's autographs in them, so (a) he must be in town right now, and (b) if you want a rare Alan Lee autograph in a Tolkien book, now is the time to head to the Weta Cave.
Also, while on autographed books - the Cave still has Ian Brodie's LOTR Location Guidebook, and Paul Tobin seems to have been in recently, as the copies of his Crafting Of Narnia all had his signature on the front page. Furthermore, Scott Spencer's books on digital ZBrush techniques all had Scott's autographs in them as well! There can't be a lot of books there without autographs, surely! ((ed: Sorry Scott, I don't have an IMDB link for you - mail me?))
I've been assured that there are a ton of new items coming from the good folks at Weta, including a number of LOTR related ones. One we're all waiting on of course is the new Hobbiton miniature collectible. I've got in on good authority that they are starting to look "very nice" (I was allowed to quote that much, and no more). But they haven't been revealed yet. I'm sure they'll be on the Weta site before they're on mine!
The final bit of news from Weta - the guns of District 9 were released, and almost sold out already. I did manage to get myself photographed with the last few samples though... enjoy!
The guns are quite heavy, and the detail on them is terrific! Little bits of alien gloop and elbow grease everywhere, scratches and dents everywhere. Very realistic. Let's hope they get the "Best picture" Oscar!
- Jack M.
First, the biggest news item - Elijah Wood was spotted in the capital. Though heavily disguised with hats, sunglasses, and jackets, one of my most reliable spies spotted him. My spy unfortunately didn't get a chance to say "hi" to him, so I can't tell you why he was here. Could be he was on holiday, could be it wasn't him (I have no photographic proof) - but Elijah being in Wellington suggests to me that there are exciting things afoot - especially when I add his sighting to the others this week. There's no reason to assume he'd be in The Hobbit, but maybe there's another good reason why he'd be here, so close to the green light of the production?
For some reason or another I have been running in to some very cool people this week. Some of them weren't too surprising, others might have been coincidental as well. There's murmerings of lots of secret meetings taking place in the last two weeks, with big black cars parked outside, all over Miramar.
Apart from the unsubstantiated rumours from other sources, I can personally confirm that Shane Rangi is back in town, back from Australia where he's just finished filming a project. Unusually, he assured me he actually (gasp!) LIVED through an entire movie! Not like him at all, he usually dies at least once, and often more than once per movie.
I also ran into Gino Acevido. He's always pleasant and polite, and is a master at making people feel comfortable. He always appears to be very chatty, but afterwards I always realise he's not given anything away that he shouldn't have. Now, seeing him outside Weta Cave isn't that unexpected since he works in the same building a lot of the time, but I haven't met up with him for a while now. Could be just a coincidence.
I could at this point names-drop and mention that I've recently been speaking/emailing/facebooking/twittering with Richard Taylor, John Howe, Costa Botes, Ian Brodie (and sighted Jamie Selkirk), but it was all on unrelated matters, and unfortunately none of them mentioned anything related to The Hobbit.
John Howe did suggest that he may be releasing another artbook soon, and when that comes out he'll probably be autographing it down at the Weta Cave again (something the good folk at the Cave have also let slip) but I've heard nothing specific yet. John Howe has produced a number of very good books featuring his artwork in the past, and this one should be another excellent read.
While at the Weta Cave, I did notice that some of the illustrated LOTR and Hobbit books as well as a few Children of Hurin copies all had Alan Lee's autographs in them, so (a) he must be in town right now, and (b) if you want a rare Alan Lee autograph in a Tolkien book, now is the time to head to the Weta Cave.
Also, while on autographed books - the Cave still has Ian Brodie's LOTR Location Guidebook, and Paul Tobin seems to have been in recently, as the copies of his Crafting Of Narnia all had his signature on the front page. Furthermore, Scott Spencer's books on digital ZBrush techniques all had Scott's autographs in them as well! There can't be a lot of books there without autographs, surely! ((ed: Sorry Scott, I don't have an IMDB link for you - mail me?))
I've been assured that there are a ton of new items coming from the good folks at Weta, including a number of LOTR related ones. One we're all waiting on of course is the new Hobbiton miniature collectible. I've got in on good authority that they are starting to look "very nice" (I was allowed to quote that much, and no more). But they haven't been revealed yet. I'm sure they'll be on the Weta site before they're on mine!
The final bit of news from Weta - the guns of District 9 were released, and almost sold out already. I did manage to get myself photographed with the last few samples though... enjoy!
The guns are quite heavy, and the detail on them is terrific! Little bits of alien gloop and elbow grease everywhere, scratches and dents everywhere. Very realistic. Let's hope they get the "Best picture" Oscar!
- Jack M.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Celebrity watch - Stephen Fry spotted in Wellington?
I've just heard from a friend that Stephen Fry may be in town at the moment. Stephen Fry has been rumoured to be up for a role (as a dwarf?) in The Hobbit, so it might make sense. I mean, he's 6'4.5", so he'd make a perfect dwarf, right? (Keeping in mind, Gimli was played by the giant John Rhys-Davies, who's 6'1")
However, there might be another possibility - I heard a different rumour from another contact yesterday that Peter Jackson's film Dambusters might have started filming in the Hutt Valley at a location previously set up for the now failed movie "Kingdom Come". Stephen Fry is supposed to be writing the script for Dambusters, so maybe he's just here for that.
Or then again, maybe he's here for both!
- Jack M.
However, there might be another possibility - I heard a different rumour from another contact yesterday that Peter Jackson's film Dambusters might have started filming in the Hutt Valley at a location previously set up for the now failed movie "Kingdom Come". Stephen Fry is supposed to be writing the script for Dambusters, so maybe he's just here for that.
Or then again, maybe he's here for both!
- Jack M.
Monday, 26 October 2009
Viggo Mortensen back in Wellington again, again?
Heard this one from a close source - apparently Viggo Mortensen has been sighted in Wellington again. The local NZ's newspaper site haven't yet though.
My source indicated that he had actually been back in the country for a few days. I can't (yet) confirm that, but it certainly is excellent news!
More details as they come to hand!
----
Update - it's been pointed out to me that the article I originally linked to was actually from 2008, which was TOTALLY my oversight. I stand by my source though - I heard the sighting report first, and then found what I thought was a recent article on stuff.co.nz. My apologies for the confusion, and thanks to "anonymous" for letting me know!
- Jack M.
My source indicated that he had actually been back in the country for a few days. I can't (yet) confirm that, but it certainly is excellent news!
More details as they come to hand!
----
Update - it's been pointed out to me that the article I originally linked to was actually from 2008, which was TOTALLY my oversight. I stand by my source though - I heard the sighting report first, and then found what I thought was a recent article on stuff.co.nz. My apologies for the confusion, and thanks to "anonymous" for letting me know!
- Jack M.
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Viggo visit last month, update
After my earlier entry regarding a sighting of Viggo, I came across some more info. Yesterday I picked up a copy of a free local newspaper, the Capital Times, which had a photo of Viggo on the cover, with the rather gaudy headline "Here Viggo Again" (puh-lease!).
The interview adds absolutely NOTHING to my store of knowledge, except that Viggo likes Old Gold chocolate, which was actually already mentioned in the Saturday May 30th Dominion Post's Indulgence supplement interview, a much better read. (NB - The Dominion Post headlines the article "Good Fella", which is pretty bad as well, but the subscript on the sidebar was "Hobbit Forming", which is just as sad. Do we really need ALL the headlines to be bad puns?). I won't scan it here unless there's call for it? Tell you what - if I get three signed requests, I'll consider it.
Although the interview was just abject rubbish, I thought I'd scan the photos here for the interest of some who doubted that Viggo was ever in New Zealand. The cliche way of doing it is to photograph yourself with a local newspaper in your hand, and make sure the date is showing. Lucky for me, that's pretty much what he did.
Here's a closeup of the date of the paper he's holding. Seems pretty conclusive to me, but just in case it's not clear enough on the scan, it says "Mar 11-18, 2009 - Vol 34, No 18".
Take the date of the paper this was published in, June 10th, 2009, and that means he was here after mid March, and before mid June. I trust my source when he tells me Viggo was later during that period but I don't have an exact date.
I feel all defensive now. :)
- Jack M.
The interview adds absolutely NOTHING to my store of knowledge, except that Viggo likes Old Gold chocolate, which was actually already mentioned in the Saturday May 30th Dominion Post's Indulgence supplement interview, a much better read. (NB - The Dominion Post headlines the article "Good Fella", which is pretty bad as well, but the subscript on the sidebar was "Hobbit Forming", which is just as sad. Do we really need ALL the headlines to be bad puns?). I won't scan it here unless there's call for it? Tell you what - if I get three signed requests, I'll consider it.
Although the interview was just abject rubbish, I thought I'd scan the photos here for the interest of some who doubted that Viggo was ever in New Zealand. The cliche way of doing it is to photograph yourself with a local newspaper in your hand, and make sure the date is showing. Lucky for me, that's pretty much what he did.
Here's a closeup of the date of the paper he's holding. Seems pretty conclusive to me, but just in case it's not clear enough on the scan, it says "Mar 11-18, 2009 - Vol 34, No 18".
Take the date of the paper this was published in, June 10th, 2009, and that means he was here after mid March, and before mid June. I trust my source when he tells me Viggo was later during that period but I don't have an exact date.
I feel all defensive now. :)
- Jack M.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Forgot to post a rumour, and have just been one-upped...
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.
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.
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