Tag Archives: Peter Jackson

LEGO The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Teaser Trailer

LEGO The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Teaser Trailer

Ever wondered what The Hobbit would look like as Lego? This fan-made video uses Lego to recreate the trailer for Peter Jackson’s, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, to…

Wanaka Aerobatics in a Vintage Tiger Moth

Wanaka Aerobatics in a Vintage Tiger Moth

Classic Flights takes San Gabriel Valley Tribune reporter Richard Irwin up in a vintage de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane for some shallow dives over Lake Wanaka. “The friendly pilots offer 20-minute scenic flights over beautiful…

Hobbit Global Fan Celebration Event Planned

Hobbit Global Fan Celebration Event Planned

Director Peter Jackson has announced plans to preview footage from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug at a “global fan celebration” on 4 November that will be simulcast in theatres and feature…

Reaction To Reaction of the Happy Hobbits

Reaction To Reaction of the Happy Hobbits

The Hobbit actors Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly and Lee Pace chuckle in delight to the reaction of two happy hobbits watching the new trailer for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit:…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 11

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 11

Take a look at Peter Jackson’s first video blog of 2013 for the early production of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. This time, the Hobbit crew get back…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 9

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 9

Take a look at Peter Jackson’s eighth behind the scenes video blog during the post-production, leading to the release of The Hobbit. This time, we see the crew working…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 8

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 8

Take a look at Peter Jackson’s eighth behind the scenes video blog during the final days of filming of The Hobbit. This time, we are at Comic-Con along with…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 7

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 7

Take a look at Peter Jackson’s seventh behind the scenes video blog during the filming of The Hobbit. This time, Peter Jackson takes us on a tour of Stone…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 6

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 6

Take a look at Peter Jackson’s sixth behind the scenes video blog during the filming of The Hobbit. In this particular video, Peter Jackson…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 5

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 5

Take a look at Peter Jackson’s fifth behind the scenes video blog of the filming of The Hobbit. This time, Peter Jackson talks to…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog, Part 4

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog, Part 4

Take a look at Peter Jackson’s fourth behind the scenes video blog in the early stages of the filming of The Hobbit. This time,…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 3

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 3

Take a look at Peter Jackson’s third behind the scenes video blog in the early stages of the filming of The Hobbit. This time,…

Fairy Tale Television Role for Actress

Fairy Tale Television Role for Actress

New Zealand actress Rose McIver, 24, who starred in Peter Jackson’s 2009 film The Lovely Bones, has landed the pivotal season three role of Tinker Bell on the ABC fairy tale drama, Once…

Peter Jackson a ‘Game Changer’ who ‘transformed’ Filmmaking

Peter Jackson a ‘Game Changer’ who ‘transformed’ Filmmaking

Kiwi director, Peter Jackson is a “game changer who transformed the practice of filmmaking”, according to contributors to the Harvard Business Review’s popular blog. Authors Vijay Govindarajan and Srikanth Srinivas say that Jackson and…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 2

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 2

Watch Peter Jackson’s second behind the scenes video blog in the early stages of the filming of The Hobbit. Peter discusses how he and…

Jackson Live-Blogs The Hobbit’s Final Day

Jackson Live-Blogs The Hobbit’s Final Day

After more than two years, Peter Jackson has finished filming the final installment of The Hobbit trilogy. With the final scenes shot on 26 July, the award-winning director wrote on his Facebook…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 1

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 1

Watch Peter Jackson’s first behind the scenes video blog in the early stages of the filming of The Hobbit. In this 2011 video Peter…

Parker Hulme Story Unfolds in Tabloid-like Detail

Parker Hulme Story Unfolds in Tabloid-like Detail

Former Hong Kong lawyer New Zealander Peter Graham’s “compelling read”, Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century, is awarded five out of five stars by reviewer Glen Young for northern Michigan publication, Petoskey…

Why Hollywood is Staying in New Zealand

Why Hollywood is Staying in New Zealand

“From James Cameron’s organic farm to Emmy contender Top of the Lake, the idyllic island nation continues to thrive 12 years after Frodo and Co. put it on the movie location map,” The Hollywood…

Hobbit Stars React to Fans Reactions

Hobbit Stars React to Fans Reactions

A video of Hobbit fans reacting to the release of a first glimpse into the next Hobbit instalment has received the same treatment, with Peter Jackson release a video with three of the film’s…

Trailer: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Trailer: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Watch the official trailer for Peter Jackson’s 2013 film, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.

The Daily Mail’s ‘Awe Inspiring Journey’ to Hobbiton and Beyond

The Daily Mail’s ‘Awe Inspiring Journey’ to Hobbiton and Beyond

‘Thanks to the Lord of the Rings, and now The Hobbit, New Zealand one big photo opportunity for Tolkien fans’, says Helen Nicholson in The Daily Mail. Nicholson did a Hobbit Tour of…

Sneak Peek at Smaug

Sneak Peek at Smaug

New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson has given his fans a sneak online preview of the next Hobbit installment, The Desolation of Smaug. Enthusiastic and barefoot, Jackson gave a little masterclass in Middle-earth filmmaking and…

Oscar-nominee’s Homes for Hobbits

Oscar-nominee’s Homes for Hobbits

Production designer on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Hastings-born Dan Hennah, features in an Architectural Digest 2013 Oscar nominees slideshow of the year’s best in set design. “Hennah, who trained as an architect and…

Return To Middle Earth

Return To Middle Earth

“In New Zealand, there is a peculiar clarity to the sunlight,” Lonely Plant traveller Alex Von Tunzelmann writes for the BBC. “Highlights blaze; shadows are cast very, very dark. The effect makes the grass…

Surprise Involvement

Surprise Involvement

When the premiere of West of Memphis was first announced for the Sundance Film Festival this year, the participation of Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson was something of a surprise, not…

Lord of the Rings was Perfect

Lord of the Rings was Perfect

“The Lord of the Rings was the work of a filmmaker perfectly in tune with his source material. Its too-muchness — the encyclopedic detail, the pseudoscholarly exposition, the soaring allegory, the punishing length —…

Discerning Types

Discerning Types

Melanie Lynskey, 35, is one of ten Indie actors on the verge of mainstream, according to Loren DiBlasi writing for Highbrow Magazine. “In 1994, the New Zealand native won raves for her performance alongside…

Boyens’ Cinematic Adventure

Boyens’ Cinematic Adventure

Asked one day in 1997 if, as a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, she might have any interest in helping out friends and fellow New Zealanders Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh adapt The Lord of…

Jackson Our Resident Wonka

Jackson Our Resident Wonka

“With his first of three Hobbit films, An Unexpected Journey, Peter Jackson daringly attempts the same manoeuvre , aspiring to capture the essence of his…

Fans Flock to Spot the Stars

Fans Flock to Spot the Stars

One hundred thousand Hobbit fans descended on Wellington’s Courtenay Place to catch a glimpse of their favourite Tolkien character strutting the 500m-long red carpet ahead of the world premiere first installment of the trilogy,…

Film Moving Economy

Film Moving Economy

“For better or worse, Key’s government has taken extreme measures that have linked its fortunes to some of Hollywood’s biggest pictures, making this country of 4.4 million people, slightly more than the city…

Filmmakers Galore

Filmmakers Galore

When it comes to supporting fledgling filmmakers, part of New Zealand’s challenge is the sheer number of them. Inspired by Peter Jackson’s success, young people are swarming film schools here. Weta Digital itself is…

Jackson’s Empire Five

Jackson’s Empire Five

“There’s a new Jackson Five in town,” Empire magazine says. “The December issue of Empire five gorgeous 3D lenticular covers to celebrate The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” “Your choices are; Galadriel (Cate Blanchett),…

Master of All Surveyed

Master of All Surveyed

“Watching on a monitor, tucked out of sight , is Peter Jackson, the magician of Middle Earth,” Kim Masters writes for The Hollywood Reporter. “He had to overcome many…

Middle Earth Mania

Middle Earth Mania

The country’s national tourism slogan “100% Pure New Zealand” has become “100% Middle-earth”, and in the days leading up to the premiere of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Wellington will be…

Is This Place for Real?

Is This Place for Real?

“The hill is perfect – steep, shaggy and as green as a radioactive shamrock, like the matching hills around it,” The New York Times describes. “The sheep seem pretty idyllic themselves: polite little nibblers who only…

Jackson a Digital Mandarin

Jackson a Digital Mandarin

Director Peter Jackson, 50, features at No. 22 on Vanity Fair’s 2012 ‘The Powers that Be’ List, which names the “top 25 mandarins” in the digital world. “A decade removed from his $3 billion Lord…

Trailer: The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey

Trailer: The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey

The trailer for Peter Jackson’s 2012 film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Work in Progress

Work in Progress

West of Memphis was produced by the Oscar-winning team of Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, who enlisted filmmaker Amy Berg, herself an Oscar nominee for the documentary Deliver Us From Evil, to make their own film…

New Zealand a Place of Healing

New Zealand a Place of Healing

West of Memphis, produced by Peter Jackson and directed by American filmmaker Amy Berg, has had its premiere in Wellington as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival. The…

Raising the Frame Rate

Raising the Frame Rate

“Peter Jackson raised the bar for fantasy popularity 11 years ago with the first of three Lord of the Rings films,” Brian Truitt reports for USA Today. “With his latest J.R.R Tolkien adaptation, he…

Now to the Cutting Room

Now to the Cutting Room

Two of Hollywood’s most anticipated — and most expensive — forthcoming movies have wrapped production in New Zealand. Shot together, a pair of films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy book The Hobbit have…

Wellington Hosts Hobbit

Wellington Hosts Hobbit

The world premiere of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will take place at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre on 28 November two weeks ahead of the film’s release on 14 December. Based…

Short Sequence, Sharp Response

Short Sequence, Sharp Response

A 10-minute sequence from Peter Jackson’s forthcoming two-part Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit has been shown to conference goers at the annual CinemaCon in Las Vegas. The conference featured a presentation from…

Attention-Seeking TV Role

Attention-Seeking TV Role

Fourteen-year-old Porirua actress Stefania Owen will play Dorrit, Carrie Bradshaw’s younger rebellious sister in The Carrie Diaries, the prequel of the iconic television series Sex and the City. Set in the 1980s, the show will follow…

More Tintin Adventures

More Tintin Adventures

Peter Jackson will direct the second film in the planned Tintin trilogy, following the success of the first film in the series, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Director Steven Spielberg said…

Miramar’s Awakening

Miramar’s Awakening

“Until Sir Peter Jackson and his producer Jamie Selkirk made films in Miramar in the 1990s, the Wellington suburb was sleepy,” David Burton writes for Monocle. “‘There was tumbleweed, rolling down the street,’ jokes…

It’s Gone To His Head

It’s Gone To His Head

Bret McKenzie celebrated his Oscar nomination for best song with some Vegemite and toast. McKenzie, who wrote the meta-power ballad ‘Man or Muppet’ for The Muppets, is up against ‘Real in Rio’ from Rio: The Movie,…

Documenting Innocence

Documenting Innocence

Director Peter Jackson believes former Death Row inmate Damien Echols would be dead now if not for 1996 documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, that cast doubt on the man’s guilt…

Oddball Wins Over Director

Oddball Wins Over Director

The Peter Jackson-produced and Steven Spielberg-directed 3-D performance-capture film The Adventures of Tintin opens in the United States this week just ahead of the film’s New Zealand release. The Adventures of Tintin arrives in the US as…

Ridiculously Handsome Nomads

Ridiculously Handsome Nomads

The biggest thing to happen to New Zealand since Peter Jackson’s makeover is Auckland band The Naked and Famous according to Aidin Vaziri writing for the San Francisco Chronicle. “ a…

Grass-Roots Campaigning

Grass-Roots Campaigning

Bret McKenzie is in Utah, where he’s “picked up some sort of Mormon cold” while filming a scene with a foal for Austenland: he delivers a foal. “We shot it in England this summer, and…

Muppets Made Malevolent

Muppets Made Malevolent

Peter Jackson’s Meet the Feebles is “a hilariously offensive film,” the Muppet’s exact reverse,” writes New York Times’ blogger Lia Miller. “As I began researching this article,” Miller writes, “I was reminded of the most fantastically warped Muppet-style…

Jackson’s Effect

Jackson’s Effect

New Zealand filmmaking is at an all-time high thanks to Lord of the Rings’ director Peter Jackson who, 12 years ago, boosted the country’s Hollywood stock The Hollywood Reporter’s Pip Bulbeck writes. Jackson — who also appeared on…

True Technie Tonic

True Technie Tonic

“Geeks will love the stereoscopic cameras and 3D methods” on Peter Jackson’s fourth video blog and “most people wouldn’t care if it was shot on a hand-held,” according to Guardian film blogger Ben Child….