Richard Armitage: Jackson prepares to farewell Middle-earth

SBS
Source AAP
28 March, 2014



After 13 years, multiple Oscars and billions in box office, the Kiwi filmmaker will screen an early cut of The Hobbit: There And Back Again to Warner Bros executives next week in New Zealand.

The film, scheduled for release in December, is the sixth and final movie based on author JRR Tolkien's fantasy books.

"We are done with filming and they have a bit of motion capture left to do and I have a lot of post-production voice-synching," English actor Richard Armitage, one of the stars of The Hobbit trilogy, told NZ Newswire in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Warner Bros showed a sneak peek of The Hobbit: There And Back Again at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas.

Jackson's first foray into Tolkien's Middle-earth came with 2001's Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Armitage said it was an emotional time as the director's six-film marathon comes to an end.

"I think there is going to be a huge amount of sorrow and nostalgia going on in Peter Jackson's mind because he has lived in Middle-earth for what, 13 years," said Armitage, who plays the dwarf king, Thorin.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/03/28/jackson-prepares-farewell-middle-earth-0

Richard Armitage Dishes on Battle of Five Armies in 'Hobbit: There and Back Again' ACES SHOW BIZ

The Thorin Oakenshield depicter predicts the epic battle will be a manic fight in the air, while another cast member Andy Serkis claims, 'It's going to be intense beyond belief.'

"The Hobbit" has just released the first installment of the trilogy, but one of its actors, Richard Armitage, is already raving about the epic Battle of Five Armies in the third film, "The Hobbit: There and Back Again". While the intense sequence hasn't been shot just yet, he envisioned what it would be like.

"It's been put aside until next year, thankfully," Armitage jokingly said of the filming. "It's this big thing looming over us. I'm predicting about ten weeks for the shoot because it's an extensive battle and each character is going to have their 'hero' moment on the battlefield. It's a manic fight in the air - the eagles are fighting bats - and on the ground, and I can't wait to see what Pete does with that."

Actor and second-unit director Andy Serkis, who will handle the big fight sequence, hints that "it's going to be intense beyond belief. It's going to be extraordinary - that's all I can say." The epic battle sequence will see the Men, the Elves, the Dwarves and the Eagles, all fighting for the future of Middle-earth.

Read more: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00056650.html#ixzz2GAZI25HR

James McAvoy says he wants to play Gandalf in The Silmarillion

Exclusive: “My true geek is coming to the fore”
Jan 5th 2012By Total Film

In the current issue of Total Film magazine, we delve into James McAvoy’s dark side, with the Brit actor telling us about his upcoming slate, including gritty turns in Welcome To The Punch and Filth.

You can read the feature in the current issue of Total Film magazine, available for only £1.99 on the iPad, but here’s a snippet of what McAvoy told us when we asked if there was anything else that he was itching to do after his recent spate of diverse projects.

“I’d like to play Gandalf,” he told us, laughing.

‘Gandalf: Origins’, we offer? “It’s called The Silmarillion! It’s a collection of poems and songs that chart the ancient history of Middle-earth. My true geek is coming to the fore, but they’re really, really beautiful stories.

“In part of that is the genesis of Gandalf, or Mithrandir, or Stormcrow, or any of his many, many names. Anyway, maybe that’s the one!”


READ MORE: http://www.totalfilm.com/news/james-mcavoy-says-he-wants-to-play-gandalf-in-the-silmarillion

Richard Armitage Talks 'Hobbit' And Thorin Oakenshield, Takes A Phone Call From Sauron (MOVIELINE)

BY: SHAWN ADLER || DECEMBER 12, 2012 06:00 PM ES

Standing well over 6' tall, with an athletic frame and impeccably coiffed hair, Richard Armitage the silhouette screams matinee idol, which makes it all the more impressive that Richard Armitage the person screams "Dwarf!"

But, then, this isn't your older brother's axe wielding, pipe smoking, occasionally tossed comic relief.
As Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of a band of not so merry dwarves looking to reclaim their ancestral homeland from the ravages of the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Armitage takes his first bold, steely-eyed, heroic steps into the world of Middle Earth, embodying with method exactness the badass anti-hero of J.R.R. Tolkien's original.

Before that, though… a little bit of fun. Armitage recently sat down with Movieline in New York City where he revealed the physicality of being a dwarf, his facility for speaking in tongues, his hard fought battle scars, and the number one reason you should always answer an interrupting telephone.

Movieline: Here's what we can do. We can do the entire interview in Khuzdul [the fictional language created by J.R.R. Tolkien for the dwarves of Middle Earth].
Khuzdul!
Do you speak dwarvish?
I speak some dwarvish.
Do you speak it fluently?
There isn't really that much [in The Hobbit].
Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!
No. You can't fool me. That's from Lord of the Rings.*
Do you know dwarf sign language?
[Huge laughter from Armitage as he crosses one forearm perpendicularly over the other, giving an especially vigorous non-dwarf signal.]


READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE: http://movieline.com/2012/12/12/richard-armitage-talks-hobbit-thorin-oakenshield-sauron-hobbit-3/

Stephen Colbert Announces 'Hobbit Week,' Featuring Film's Stars 7:40 AM PST 11/30/2012 by Jordan Zakarin (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

The "Colbert Report" host and avid Tolkien fan will have on his show the film's stars Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis and Ian McKellan, as well as Peter Jackson.

Stephen Colbert is bringing Middle Earth to Midtown Manhattan.

A devoted fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series, the Colbert Report host will celebrate the release of the first chapter of the big-screen adaptation of The Hobbit with an entire week dedicated to the film on his Comedy Central series. He will welcome as guests Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf, on Monday, Dec. 3; Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins) on Tuesday; director Peter Jackson on Wednesday; and Andy Serkis (Gollum) on Friday.

READ MORE:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stephen-colbert-announces-hobbit-week-395852

Benedict Cumberbatch takes the plunge over Paradise, New Zealand - aka Middle Earth.

Benedict Cumberbatch takes the plunge over Paradise, New Zealand - aka Middle Earth.

from Scoop It

http://www.scoop.it/t/benedict-cumberbatch