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Friday, August 31 2007 8:38 AM

PJ To Add Young NZ Talent to the Bones Lineup
- Submitted by Reno

According to the stuff.co.nz Peter Jackson has recently selected two New Zealand actors to to play two of the principle characters in his upcoming movie Lovely Bones. The part of murdered character Susie's big sister Lindsey goes to Rose McIver from TV series Rude Awakenings and Maddigan's Quest. Aucklander Carolyn Dando will be making her debut as Susie's classmate Ruth.

Both stars will be flying over to shoot the $65m USD film on location in Pennsylvania in October.

Monday, August 13 2007 15:15 PM

Shaye eats a fat slice of Humble Pie
- Submitted by Lewman

As in the wise words of a diembowled Captain Rhodes from Day of the Dead "Choke on 'em! Choke on 'em!

It certainly is looking like PJ might very well have to put on 300lb and have a poke between the eyes. Thats right The Hobbit is becoming more and more of a reality. This is what the New Zealand Herald had to say:

Peter Jackson could still make Tolkien's The Hobbit, despite falling out with the studio which commissioned him to film The Lord of The Rings trilogy.

Bob Shaye, head of New Line Cinema, has told The Los Angeles Times his studio - which Jackson had sued for profits from The Lords of The Rings - was in talks with Jackson's representatives in a bid to mend fences and get him to direct The Hobbit.

"Notwithstanding our personal quarrels, I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit," he said.

He had previously labelled Jackson as "arrogant", while Jackson and partner Fran Walsh took the unusual step of issuing a long statement on the internet last year declaring that because of clashes with New Line they had "no choice but to let the idea of a film of The Hobbit go".

A spokesman for Jackson told The Dominion Post last night: "Peter and Fran have always wanted to do The Hobbit but whether that happens is yet to be decided."

Monday, August 6 2007 9:25 AM

Soprano's Star Joins Bones Cast
- Submitted by Reno

Michael Imperioli, Emmy award winner and current nominee is set to join the cast of Peter Jackson's upcoming adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones. Imperioli, who was made famous as Chris Soprano on the set of HBO's hit series The Sopranos, will be playing the role of Len Fenerman, the detective who investigates the murder of Susie Salmon.

Saturday, July 28 2007 10:58 AM

Sarandon to Join Cast of Lovely Bones
- Submitted by Reno

The latest addition to the cast of PJ's forthcoming film Lovely Bones. Five time Oscar nominee Susan Sarandon has been cast as Grandma Lynn, Susie Salmon's 'growing old disgracefully' grandmother who moves in with the family after Susie's death. Sarandon, who has a rich filmography including works such as Thelma and Louise, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the upcoming film Speed Racer is a great choice for the role.

Wednesday, July 25 2007 10:46 AM

Belated Lovely Bones News
- Submitted by Reno

Okay, firstly we're sorry for the lack of recent news posts. There's quite a bit of Lovely Bones news to catch up on.

Firstly the bidding war for the rights to make the adaptation with Jackson ended with Dreamworks coming out on top. No fiscal details about the deal have been disclosed, but the production is budgeted at around $70 million US dollars.

The team have been diligently casting for the blockbuster, and many of the principle characters have been revealed.

The principle role of Susie Salmon has been accepted by Saoirse Ronan from Ireland, who is known for her role as Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter in I Could Never Be Your Woman.

Canadian actor Ryan Gosling will be playing Susie's father, and Rachel Weisz has been casted as the mother. Gosling earned an Oscar nomination for his role in independent drama Half Nelson, and Weisz is famed for a series of films including The Mummy and The Constant Gardener

Jackson is all set to start filming on location in Pennsylvania in October.

You may well be familiar Peter Jackson's other intended book adaptation of Naomi Novik's series of Temeraire novels. Jackson has optioned the rights to adapt the series, and Harper Collins have just reissued all of the first three books with some fantastic new covers. They've also revealed the cover for the newest book in the series, The Empire of Ivory which will be launched in November. Check the link below to see the new covers in all their glory:

Thursday, May 3 2007 14:42 PM

Bidding Begins on Lovely Bones
- Submitted by Reno

After a much deserved two years break after the success of hit remake King Kong, Peter Jackson is taking the next step towards direction once more with his forthcoming project based on Alice Sebold's novel Lovely Bones.

For those unfamiliar with the text, Lovely Bones is a novel written from the perspective of Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered and narrates the events surrounding her friends and family from her perspective heaven. I'm excited to see PJ return to the hard-hitting story telling which made Heavenly Creatures such a phenomenon.

Mr Jackson has presented the script, adapted with his wife Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens, to all of the major studios (excluding New Line Cinema with whom there is still an unsettled debate regarding accounting practices surrounding Fellowship of the Ring).

Sony was apparently first to bid on Monday. According to the NZ Herald both Disney and 20th Century Fox dropped out of the running this morning due to concerns over cost.

The project proposal requires a budget of $65 million USD with a further $10 million set aside for budget overruns. It also calls for a $40 million marketing budget, and a $10-$15 million oscar campaign. PJ also requires complete creative control, which with his proven track record shouldn't be too much to ask.

Saturday, December 16 2006 12:51 PM

Bid on a Genuine Richard Taylor Doddle Drawing
- Submitted by Lewman



Just been emailed this. Worth a look if you want to own a genuine drawing from Richard Taylor! :)

Our Rowing squad is fundraising for a trip, and one fundraiser we are doing is running a celebrity doodle art auction on the new zealand online auction site Trademe (similar to ebay). Anyway one of the items up for auction is a genuine signed sketch of a hobbit home drawn by Richard Taylor, multiple Oscar winner from Weta Workshops, the force behind the LOTR special effects and costuming etc. The auction finishes Sunday evening our time, so in about 20 hours from now. View the Auction

Tuesday, November 21 2006 18:06 PM

The Fanclubs Statement on 'The Hobbit'
- Submitted by Lewman

We fully back Wingnut's stance on not entering into discussions with New Line Cinema until the resolution of their court case, to us that seems like a sensible choice and one which protects their artistic and professional integrity.

Although their decision to give the job to another party comes as a surprise to us, and will be unpopular with many fans of Jackson's trilogy, the decision does not worry us greatly. Of course we do believe Peter would be the ideal man for the project; however we feel that after 11 years engulfed in the Tolkien universe, it is now time that Peter explored new ideas. A new outlook on the book by an enthusiastic director (just like Peter was when he was offered Lord of the Rings) could bring something fresh and original to the project. This is something that a project like The Hobbit greatly needs. We feel that just because Peter isn’t holding the reins this time round does not mean that the original creative team, such as WETA Workshop/Digital and the beautiful NZ landscape could not be there shaping the Middle Earth again.

-Lewis Davies & Peter Gunter

Webmasters of Peter Jackson’s OFFICIAL Fanclub

Monday, November 20 2006 9:11 AM

PJ reveals the truth about 'The Hobbit'
- Submitted by Lewman

Well heres your answer. PJ and company have released a statement about The Hobbir production. I think theres going to be quite a few upset ringers out there!

Dear One Ringers,

As you know, there's been a lot of speculation about The Hobbit. We are often asked about when or if this film will ever be made. We have always responded that we would be very interested in making the film - if it were offered to us to make.

You may also be aware that Wingnut Films has bought a lawsuit against New Line, which resulted from an audit we undertook on part of the income of The Fellowship of the Ring. Our attitude with the lawsuit has always been that since it's largely based on differences of opinion about certain accounting practices, we would like an independent body - whether it be a judge, a jury, or a mediator, to look at the issues and make an unbiased ruling. We are happy to accept whatever that ruling is. In our minds, it's not much more complex than that and that's exactly why film contracts include right-to-audit clauses.

However, we have always said that we do not want to discuss The Hobbit with New Line until the lawsuit over New Line's accounting practices is resolved. This is simple common sense - you cannot be in a relationship with a film studio, making a complex, expensive movie and dealing with all the pressures and responsibilities that come with the job, while an unresolved lawsuit exists.

We have also said that we do not want to tie settlement of the lawsuit to making a film of The Hobbit. In other words, we would have to agree to make The Hobbit as a condition of New Line settling our lawsuit. In our minds this is not the right reason to make a film and if a film of The Hobbit went ahead on this basis, it would be doomed. Deciding to make a movie should come from the heart - it's not a matter of business convenience. When you agree to make a film, you're taking on a massive commitment and you need to be driven by an absolute passion to want to get the story on screen. It's that passion, and passion alone, that gives the movie its imagination and heart. To us it is not a cold-blooded business decision.

A couple of months ago there was a flurry of Hobbit news in the media. MGM, who own a portion of the film rights in The Hobbit, publicly stated they wanted to make the film with us. It was a little weird at the time because nobody from New Line had ever spoken to us about making a film of The Hobbit and the media had some fun with that. Within a week or two of those stories, our Manager Ken Kamins got a call from the co-president of New Line Cinema, Michael Lynne, who in essence told Ken that the way to settle the lawsuit was to get a commitment from us to make the Hobbit, because "that's how these things are done". Michael Lynne said we would stand to make much more money if we tied the lawsuit and the movie deal together and this may well be true, but it's still the worst reason in the world to agree to make a film.

Several years ago, Mark Ordesky told us that New Line have rights to make not just The Hobbit but a second "LOTR prequel", covering the events leading up to those depicted in LOTR. Since then, we've always assumed that we would be asked to make The Hobbit and possibly this second film, back to back, as we did the original movies. We assumed that our lawsuit with the studio would come to a natural conclusion and we would then be free to discuss our ideas with the studio, get excited and jump on board. We've assumed that we would possibly get started on development and design next year, whilst filming The Lovely Bones. We even had a meeting planned with MGM executives to talk through our schedule.

However last week, Mark Ordesky called Ken and told him that New Line would no longer be requiring our services on the Hobbit and the LOTR 'prequel'. This was a courtesy call to let us know that the studio was now actively looking to hire another filmmaker for both projects.

Ordesky said that New Line has a limited time option on the film rights they have obtained from Saul Zaentz (this has never been conveyed to us before), and because we won't discuss making the movies until the lawsuit is resolved, the studio is going to have to hire another director.

Given that New Line are committed to this course of action, we felt at the very least, we owed you, the fans, a straightforward account of events as they have unfolded for us.

We have always had the greatest support from The Ringers and we are very sorry our involvement with The Hobbit has been ended in this way. Our journey into Tolkien's world started with a phone call from Ken Kamins to Harvey Weinstein in Nov 1995 and ended with a phone call from Mark Ordesky to Ken in Nov 2006. It has been a great 11 years.

This outcome is not what we anticipated or wanted, but neither do we see any positive value in bitterness and rancor. We now have no choice but to let the idea of a film of The Hobbit go and move forward with other projects.

We send our very best wishes to whomever has the privilege of making The Hobbit and look forward to seeing the film on the big screen.

Warmest regards to you all, and thanks for your incredible support over the years.

We got to go there - but not back again ...

Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh

Friday, November 10 2006 14:42 PM

Brian Sibley's Official Peter Jackson Biography released + Win a copy of the book in the TBHL Competition!
- Submitted by Lewman

It's finally here! After a long wait, Brian Sibley's excellent biography on Peter Jackson has at last been released. Brian was granted a unique opportunity to work alongside Peter and detail the making of his films and his life as one of the worlds most famous directors.

What’s great about the book is that we for the first time get to read about abandoned film ideas, see exclusive photos from his past and discover what its like to be the most famous NZ export since Anchor Butter! This is the first and only OFFICIAL book on Peter and is definitely a must read! Many thanks to Harper Collins for forwarding us this press release:

PETER JACKSON: A Film-maker’s Journey

Author Brian Sibley

Pub date 6/11/2006

The only authorised and fully illustrated insight into the life and career of the award-winning director, from his childhood film projects up to King Kong, together with Jackson's revealing personal account of his six-year quest to film The Lord of the Rings.

Once, Peter Jackson was a name unknown to all but a small band of loyal fans and fellow film-makers. Now he is the newest member of Hollywood's elite fellowship, with his name on the most successful movie trilogy of all time.

Written with Jackson's full participation, this extensive biography, illustrated with never-before-seen photos from Jackson's personal collection, tells the inside story of how a New Zealander became Hollywood's hottest property – from the early cult classics, through Academy Award™-winning success with Kate Winslet's Heavenly Creatures, the abandoned King Kong remake, and the filming of The Lord of the Rings, a project which was abandoned two years into pre-production, rejected by most of the other studios and then picked up by New Line Cinema in the biggest gamble in film history.

Drawing upon interviews with fifty of Peter Jackson's colleagues and contemporaries, author Brian Sibley paints a portrait of a true auteur, a man gifted with single-minded determination and an artist's vision. Jackson himself is both revealing and insightful about his entire film-making life, from his first childhood steps filming in Super 8 to the grand realisation of his life’s dream: King Kong.

Together, these joint narratives provide a truly unique and compellinginsight into one of the finest cinematic minds at work today.

• The only authorised biography of Peter Jackson

• Covers his entire life and career up to and including King Kong

• Lifts the lid on the making of The Lord of the Rings, with surprising revelations

• Fully illustrated with never-before-seen photos from Jackson’s own collection

Go on be a bastard! Order a copy today by clicking the banner at the top of the page :)

To celebrate the release of the book we have managed to secure 5 copies of the books for a TBHL competition! That’s right you bastards can get your hands on one without having to do the long tedious walk to the book shop! Of course you will have to answer some questions to get in with a chance of winning, so best of luck to all of you! Competition ends 24th November 2006

ENTER THE COMPETITION BY CLICKING HERE

Tuesday, October 31 2006 7:23 AM

Uuuhhh...that sucks...HALO is cancelled...kinda...
- Submitted by Gab

Well, I will make it short. The folks over at AICN.com put an official press release from WingNut Films online that says that the HALO movie is "cancelled"...well...the press release says that WingNut and Microsoft have to find new financiers and that could take while...a long while...very long...

That´s the official statement:

"As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp's vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait."


Well...I dunno what to say...it just sucks. ANYWAYS...always look on the bright side. Now PJ has enough space and time to make a BAD TASTE sequel...;)...

Saturday, October 28 2006 2:07 AM

Peter's dream - back to Bad Taste
- Submitted by Gab

From Stuff.co.nz:

After making King Kong last year, the most expensive film in history, Peter Jackson wants to return to his roots by making a sequel to his first – the low-budget comic horror movie Bad Taste.

The first official biography on Jackson, to be released in two weeks, reveals that in 1993, after Jackson's third film, Braindead, he approached the New Zealand Film Commission with plans to make Bad Taste 2 and 3 back-to-back for $7 million. Bad Taste in 1987 cost about $230,000.

In Bad Taste 2 the heroes of the first film would travel to an alien planet to save zombie hunter Derek – played by Jackson. In Bad Taste 3 the aliens enact revenge on Wellington with "a spectacular aerial battle over the city with dozens of flying houses, buzzy bees and Santa Claus".

But Jackson put plans on hold to make Heavenly Creatures, for which he was nominated for a best- screenplay Oscar.

Jackson told The Dominion Post he would love to return to the world of Bad Taste, which he filmed at weekends with workmates while a photolithographer at The Evening Post. "I'd only want to do it under very similar circumstances to how we did the first one," he said. "I would love to go out with a camera with the guys again at the weekend and shoot Bad Taste 2 or something along those lines. I'd just do my normal stuff Monday to Friday," he said.

"If we set it up like a normal, professional film it wouldn't have the same kind of spirit. I have always been fascinated by how I would pull that off – how I'd make an amateur home movie again. I don't think it's impossible."

The biography, Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey by British writer Brian Sibley, also revealed that Jackson had not ruled out making a film about Gallipoli. Jackson's visual effects studio Weta Digital has restored a film of Anzacs taken in 1915 for the Australian War Memorial, and Jackson's grandfather William Jackson fought at Gallipoli.AdvertisementAdvertisement

"I have always wanted to do a Gallipoli movie and it's an incredible story. (Australian director) Peter Weir's Gallipoli was a terrific film, but it only centred on one particular day over an eight-month campaign. The Anzac story is a very interesting one. It's always been at the back of my mind as a film that would be worth making – a big movie to make."

Though Jackson did not know when the film could be made, that 2015 would mark the 100th anniversary of the campaign "has been in the back of mind".

The book also outlined for the first time that Jackson considered making a film of Roald Dahl's children's story The BFG, the James Bond movie The World is Not Enough, Twenty-One about a World War I American flying ace, a Thunderbirds movie and, with partner Fran Walsh, wrote a script for Disney about a superhero made of concrete. The book also gives new information about other films he considered directing, including a new Planet of the Apes movie.

Tuesday, October 17 2006 15:28 PM

BoB Entry Extravaganza
- Submitted by Reno

Okay, we've had a spate of really great quality BoB entries over the last month or so, and thought I'd give you guys the run-down. In chronological order:

LOTR_Poems.rtf by ~§arah Thomp§on~
A great selection of Lord of the Rings inspired poetry by a talented poet.

Kong2.pdf by Liam and David Allen
A colourfull picture book depicting the a sequel to PJ's Kong. Some very promising writing and illustrations can be found here!

TrailerTOTR_w2.wmv by Elena Dorokhina
Now this is freaking hilarious! A group of Russian fans of PJs LoTR grouped together to create a trilogy of parody films, closely based on the movie trilogy, but with a modern twist. (The Nazgul, on pushbikes! Classic!)

fC.hammerman.tbhl.avi by Ulrik Bruchholz
Some of you may Headburster, a BoB entry from Ulrik back in 2003. Well this is another movie from the same people with some tremendous special effects. You simply have to download this!

Anyway, if you're not there already, why not?! In case you can't follow the links on the left had side, follow this link to BoB, and get downloading! Or even better follow the instructions there and start submitting some of your own work.

Wednesday, September 27 2006 19:23 PM

Peter Jackson Forms His Own Game Studio + Halo 4 To Be Penned By Him?!?!
- Submitted by Lewman

Cheers to Sam Kennedy at 1up for this story. You can read the original article HERE

At its X06 event in Barcelona today, Microsoft announced a partnership with Peter Jackson to form a new studio called Wingnut Interactive to develop "world-class interactive entertainment."

But perhaps more importantly, Microsoft revealed that Peter Jackson will co-write, co-design and co-produce a completely new and original chapter in the Halo universe in collaboration with Bungie Studios. He will also work future title based on an original property from Microsoft.

"Microsoft has built an amazing living canvas with Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, which allows the storytellers of our time to express themselves in a new medium. They have fundamentally changed how people think about games," Jackson said. "My vision, together with Microsoft Game Studios, is to push the boundaries of game development and the future of interactive entertainment. From a movie-maker's point of view, it is clear to me that the Xbox 360 platform is the stage where storytellers can work their craft in the same way they do today with movies and books but taking it further with interactivity."

Look for further details on Wingnut Interactive and these projects as X06 continues.

Tuesday, September 26 2006 9:23 AM

Weta FX Selected to Create Silver Surfer
- Submitted by Reno

Peter Jackson's special effects company, Weta FX, are to create the special effects for Marvel sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Most notibly they will be using the advanced motion capture techniques used to bring Gollum alive in Lord of the Rings to visualise the title character the Silver Surfer.

Doug Jones will be the motion capture talent bringing the super hero alive. Jones is no stranger to comic book adaptations, having played Abe Sapien in Hellboy. Expect the movie to hit theatres in summer 2007.

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