Thomas McLean is an AwardsLine contributor.
Nearly 10 years after The Lord Of The Rings trilogy wrapped its record-breaking run with a best picture Oscar and more than $3 billion in worldwide ticket sales, director Peter Jackson has done the last thing he expected: He got the band back together for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. 'I came away from Lord Of The Rings with 266 days of shooting three movies and thought
I'd never do that again in my life,' says Jackson. 'Then we sat down at the first production meeting on The Hobbit, and I flipped to the last page of the schedule, and it was 266 days! It was exactly the same length of time! And I just said, 'I cannot believe I find myself back at this place again.' ' Do you want to read light novel?
The first in a new trilogy adapting the first book in J.R.R. Tolkien's classic Middle Earth mythology, Jackson and his crew's steady hand on The Hobbit offers reassuring creative continuity while pushing the technical envelope by adding stereoscopic 3D and, most controversially, shooting at 48 frames per second.
Related: OSCARS: The Directors
But much like Bilbo Baggins' own journey, the 10-year road to making The Hobbit followed a wandering path on its way to the screen. Originally pitched to Miramax in 1995 as a standalone film that could lead into The Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit rights were split between the Saul Zaentz Company and MGM, and a fix was not possible at the time, Jackson says.
Those issues remained even after the Rings trilogy was completed in 2003, though Warner Bros. tapped Jackson and cowriters and producers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens a few years later to develop the film anyway in the hopes that a deal would be reached.
Related: Golden Globes Film: Tightest Awards Race In Years
'We would have worked on it for probably two years without a green light, which was a bit soul-destroying really because if you're committing to something you want to know it's happening,' says Jackson.
On the creative end, adapting The Hobbit proved a very different animal, says Boyens. Often thought of as a children's book, The Hobbit also is very episodic, features a lot of characters, and has a tone that darkens considerably as it progresses.
Thinking a different sensibility would freshen up things, Jackson ceded the director's chair to Guillermo del Toro. 'We thought it would be interesting to have another director come onboard with a different sensibility, for the same reasons as they use different directors on Bond movies,' he says.
Related: OSCARS: Handicapping The Screenwriters
But with MGM in bankruptcy and no rights deal in sight, del Toro exited in 2010, prompting Jackson to take back the reins. 'We felt a responsibility as producers and also, having developed the project with Guillermo, we had come to realize that his could be a really cool movie,' Jackson says.
Boyens says they started over on the script to tailor it both for Jackson and the cast, which includes returning members Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, and Hugo Weaving alongside newcomers like Martin Freeman as Bilbo. Of del Toro's version, Boyens says the biggest change is the portrayal of Bilbo.
Related: OSCARS: Handicapping Lead Actor Race
'It shifted and changed into someone who, rather than being slightly younger and more innocent in the world, once had a sense of longing for adventure and has lost it and become fussy and fusty,' she says.
That led Jackson to Freeman. 'We needed a dramatic actor because it is ultimately a dramatic role, but Bilbo Baggins is a much funnier character than Frodo was,' says Jackson. 'There's very few dramatic actors who can do comedy very well, but Martin seemed to possess the perfect qualities.'
Reuniting almost all of the crew from Rings gave Jackson, Boyens, and Walsh freedom to focus on the creative side, with first assistant director Carolynne Cunningham and unit production manager Zane Weiner stepping up to add producer duties and handle logistics.
'Peter's got so much to worry about with directing that he relies on other people to sort out some of the other problems for him,' says Cunningham.
Drawing on material published in the appendix of The Return Of The King, in addition to the dense text of The Hobbit itself, the project expanded from the original two-film adaptation to a trilogy. Boyens says this was entirely a creative decision and came from structuring the story to work onscreen. 'It was really about what we would not be able to tell, what we'd have to leave out of the story,' she says.
Shooting at a high frame rate is something Jackson says has intrigued him for a long time, and he liked the look of the footage he made at 60 frames per second for Universal Studios' King Kong theme-park ride. Early reaction has been split, however, earning accolades for its remarkable clarity and criticisms for the video-like quality of motion.
Related: OSCARS: Distinguishing The Best Visual Effects
'It's certainly different, and people are accustomed, obviously, to 24 frames being the look of film,' says Jackson. 'But at the same time, do you also say that we achieved technical perfection in 1927? I mean, with all the technology that exists today, with all the ability we have to shoot 4K images and to project at high frame rates with these huge screens, the sound systems, do we settle for the 1927 standards, or do we say, 'How can we use this technology to enhance the cinemagoing experience?' '
The frame rate had little effect on the 2,176 visual effects shots, says visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri. 'There's more work to be done, but a lot of what we do is independent of the frame rate,' he says.
The switch to 3D meant effects previously done with miniatures had to be done digitally, and advancements in technology meant nothing could be reused from earlier films. The main beneficiary was Gollum, who was completely rebuilt using new techniques to create anatomically correct musculature and more detail without changing the character's look.
'The amount of detail in Gollum's eye is more than what we had in his entire body on the first film,' says Letteri.
Technology also made it easier for Andy Serkis to reprise the role. Where he had to perform scenes multiple times for the original both on set and in controlled motion-capture environments, new motion-capture techniques allowed him just to play the character on set with Freeman.
'We played that scene out in its entirety every time we shot it, and it's a 13-minute scene,' says Serkis. 'It's like a theater piece really, and we just explored it and mined it for everything that it was worth, and Peter shot it from lots of different angles.'
While Gollum has only one scene in the trilogy, Serkis took on additional responsibility as second-unit director. 'Pete wanted me to be there because I've been through the experience of working on The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and understand the rhythm and pace and stamina involved in keeping performance up during those films,' he says.
With all three films shot back to back, Jackson and crew are finishing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug for next December, and the concluding The Hobbit: There And Back Again for July 2014.
Jackson says he thinks making the trilogies in reverse order will make for a better, more cohesive six-film series in the end. 'I think we got a much better unity shooting The Hobbit after The Lord Of The Rings, ironically.'
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Nearly 10 years after The Lord Of The Rings trilogy wrapped its record-breaking run with a best picture Oscar and more than $3 billion in worldwide ticket sales, director Peter Jackson has done the last thing he expected: He got the band back together for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. 'I came away from Lord Of The Rings with 266 days of shooting three movies and thought
I'd never do that again in my life,' says Jackson. 'Then we sat down at the first production meeting on The Hobbit, and I flipped to the last page of the schedule, and it was 266 days! It was exactly the same length of time! And I just said, 'I cannot believe I find myself back at this place again.' ' Do you want to read light novel?
The first in a new trilogy adapting the first book in J.R.R. Tolkien's classic Middle Earth mythology, Jackson and his crew's steady hand on The Hobbit offers reassuring creative continuity while pushing the technical envelope by adding stereoscopic 3D and, most controversially, shooting at 48 frames per second.
Related: OSCARS: The Directors
But much like Bilbo Baggins' own journey, the 10-year road to making The Hobbit followed a wandering path on its way to the screen. Originally pitched to Miramax in 1995 as a standalone film that could lead into The Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit rights were split between the Saul Zaentz Company and MGM, and a fix was not possible at the time, Jackson says.
Those issues remained even after the Rings trilogy was completed in 2003, though Warner Bros. tapped Jackson and cowriters and producers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens a few years later to develop the film anyway in the hopes that a deal would be reached.
Related: Golden Globes Film: Tightest Awards Race In Years
'We would have worked on it for probably two years without a green light, which was a bit soul-destroying really because if you're committing to something you want to know it's happening,' says Jackson.
On the creative end, adapting The Hobbit proved a very different animal, says Boyens. Often thought of as a children's book, The Hobbit also is very episodic, features a lot of characters, and has a tone that darkens considerably as it progresses.
Thinking a different sensibility would freshen up things, Jackson ceded the director's chair to Guillermo del Toro. 'We thought it would be interesting to have another director come onboard with a different sensibility, for the same reasons as they use different directors on Bond movies,' he says.
Related: OSCARS: Handicapping The Screenwriters
But with MGM in bankruptcy and no rights deal in sight, del Toro exited in 2010, prompting Jackson to take back the reins. 'We felt a responsibility as producers and also, having developed the project with Guillermo, we had come to realize that his could be a really cool movie,' Jackson says.
Boyens says they started over on the script to tailor it both for Jackson and the cast, which includes returning members Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, and Hugo Weaving alongside newcomers like Martin Freeman as Bilbo. Of del Toro's version, Boyens says the biggest change is the portrayal of Bilbo.
Related: OSCARS: Handicapping Lead Actor Race
'It shifted and changed into someone who, rather than being slightly younger and more innocent in the world, once had a sense of longing for adventure and has lost it and become fussy and fusty,' she says.
That led Jackson to Freeman. 'We needed a dramatic actor because it is ultimately a dramatic role, but Bilbo Baggins is a much funnier character than Frodo was,' says Jackson. 'There's very few dramatic actors who can do comedy very well, but Martin seemed to possess the perfect qualities.'
Reuniting almost all of the crew from Rings gave Jackson, Boyens, and Walsh freedom to focus on the creative side, with first assistant director Carolynne Cunningham and unit production manager Zane Weiner stepping up to add producer duties and handle logistics.
'Peter's got so much to worry about with directing that he relies on other people to sort out some of the other problems for him,' says Cunningham.
Drawing on material published in the appendix of The Return Of The King, in addition to the dense text of The Hobbit itself, the project expanded from the original two-film adaptation to a trilogy. Boyens says this was entirely a creative decision and came from structuring the story to work onscreen. 'It was really about what we would not be able to tell, what we'd have to leave out of the story,' she says.
Shooting at a high frame rate is something Jackson says has intrigued him for a long time, and he liked the look of the footage he made at 60 frames per second for Universal Studios' King Kong theme-park ride. Early reaction has been split, however, earning accolades for its remarkable clarity and criticisms for the video-like quality of motion.
Related: OSCARS: Distinguishing The Best Visual Effects
'It's certainly different, and people are accustomed, obviously, to 24 frames being the look of film,' says Jackson. 'But at the same time, do you also say that we achieved technical perfection in 1927? I mean, with all the technology that exists today, with all the ability we have to shoot 4K images and to project at high frame rates with these huge screens, the sound systems, do we settle for the 1927 standards, or do we say, 'How can we use this technology to enhance the cinemagoing experience?' '
The frame rate had little effect on the 2,176 visual effects shots, says visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri. 'There's more work to be done, but a lot of what we do is independent of the frame rate,' he says.
The switch to 3D meant effects previously done with miniatures had to be done digitally, and advancements in technology meant nothing could be reused from earlier films. The main beneficiary was Gollum, who was completely rebuilt using new techniques to create anatomically correct musculature and more detail without changing the character's look.
'The amount of detail in Gollum's eye is more than what we had in his entire body on the first film,' says Letteri.
Technology also made it easier for Andy Serkis to reprise the role. Where he had to perform scenes multiple times for the original both on set and in controlled motion-capture environments, new motion-capture techniques allowed him just to play the character on set with Freeman.
'We played that scene out in its entirety every time we shot it, and it's a 13-minute scene,' says Serkis. 'It's like a theater piece really, and we just explored it and mined it for everything that it was worth, and Peter shot it from lots of different angles.'
While Gollum has only one scene in the trilogy, Serkis took on additional responsibility as second-unit director. 'Pete wanted me to be there because I've been through the experience of working on The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and understand the rhythm and pace and stamina involved in keeping performance up during those films,' he says.
With all three films shot back to back, Jackson and crew are finishing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug for next December, and the concluding The Hobbit: There And Back Again for July 2014.
Jackson says he thinks making the trilogies in reverse order will make for a better, more cohesive six-film series in the end. 'I think we got a much better unity shooting The Hobbit after The Lord Of The Rings, ironically.'
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The show's creator Simon Cowell has granted permission for a London stage version of the TV singing competiton. Cowell and Sony Music's joint venture Syco Entertainment are partnering with Stage Entertainment UK (Oliver!, Hairspray, Singin In The Rain) to launch the musical next year, Reuters reports. What they're calling an affectionate poke at Cowell's TV show, X Factor ' It's Time To Face The Musical! will hit London's West End in early 2014. British comedian Harry Hill is writing with Steve Brown handling music and Sean Foley is directing. Story centers on fictional character Chenice who finds herself and her talking dog in line waiting for an audition that will change her life.
German TV and publishing group Bertelsmann, Europe's biggest media company, plans to reduce its stake in RTL Group to 75% from 92.3% to raise money for an overhaul of its business. That means Bertelsmann could sell as much as 17.3% of RTL which would have a market value of more than 
'1.5 billion ($2 billion). Luxembourg-based RTL owns TV and radio stations in 10 contries across Europe. Bertelsmann will sell the shares by means of a so-called re-IPO process, which is similar to an initial public offering except that RTL is already a pubicly traded company. RTL's rarely traded free-floated shares amount to about 7% of the total, so Bertelsmann needs to educate potential investors in order to get the best price. Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup and Credit Suisse are running the sale, according to Reuters. Bertelsmann aims to expand into digital content and into emerging markets to complement its sagging publishing business, where it is planning a merger with Pearson Penguin.
Celebration of MipTV's 50th anniversary will highlight 50 shows that have shaped the history of television worldwide over the past half-century. Content tracking company The Wit has selected 50 emblematic shows, one for each year starting from 1963. From the '60s shows include the Japanese anime Astro Boy, quiz show Jeopardy and cult series Star Trek. From the 1970s, the shows selected are ITV's Coronation Street, game show The Price is Right, soap opera The Young & The Restless and German police series Derrick. Additional series highlights from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and more recent hits will be unveiled soon. In parallel to its anniversary, MipTV is renewing the MipCube event themed the Future of TV. New talent will be showcased in the Content 360 Pitch Competition for transmedia producers and creative agencies. MipTV takes place April 8-11 in Cannes.
continuing what has been an abysmal beginning of the year. Despite Warner Bros' Best Picture Oscar win for Ben Affleck's Argo, the studio's woes began with Gangster Squad in January and continued with Bullet To The Head and Beautiful Creatures through February, and festered with the $200 million flop Jack The Giant Slayer on March 1st. Now the studio is counting on May to deliver big grosses again with The Great Gatsby, The Hangover Part III, and the much anticipated Man Of Steel. Any hope for an upside because of the casting of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey (who's in the Witness Protection Program in the trailers) 
is gone even with a modest $32M production budget. Those stars should have delivered at least a $20M if not $30M opening. Instead their pic only maxed $10.3M for its first weekend after grossing only $3.7M Friday and $4.1M Saturday. And, remember, that includes 1,800 Thursday late shows, too. Even worse, pic scored a 'C+' CinemaScore which will hurt word of mouth along with a dismal 25% positive reviews from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. What's interesting to me is how many famous names are on the movie. Carell and Steve Buscemi play a washed-up Las Vegas magician duo, with Carrey in a small but flashy role as a rival street performer. It also starred Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin and James Gandolfini. It was directed by veteran TV helmer Don Scardino while Tyler Mitchell is credited with the story, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley credited with rewrites, and no less than Jason Reitman credited with the polish. There's a long list of credited producers, including Chris Bender and JC Spink of the management firm Benderspink, and Carell's banner Carousel Productions which he runs with Vance DeGeneres who is Ellen's older brother. Burt Wonderstone was picked to open the SXSW film festival even though anyone could see that this movie was going nowhere. Everyone I talked to thought it would be weak from the get-go because magic just doesn't sell at the box office. The marketing campaign fell on Carell's shoulders with Carrey just a hired hand and not plugging the pic.
Friday box office and $6.8M Saturday for a $17.1M first weekend. Even though the low-budget kidnap thriller is playing in 653 fewer locations. 'Huge credit to Halle and all her hard work,' a Sony exec gushes. Grosses are coming in higher than expected by Sony which acquired U.S., Canada and a few other territories like South Africa and Scandinavia. The film was produced for mere mid-teens. That said, its plot was a lot like 2004's Cellular starring Kim Basinger and Chris Evans only with the roles reversed. This time, kidnap victim Abigail Breslin is young and Veteran 911 operator Berry is tracking her down. Naturally Sony's media campaign targeted females as well as the African American audience. TV ads ran on crime/thriller shows but also The Bachelor and Army Wives while Berry pulled out all the talk show stops. The campaign began early with a teaser trailer on Yahoo in January. There also was an online game called 'You Make the Call' which put users in the 911 operator's chair. Brad Anderson (The Machinist) directed the screenplay written by Richard D'Ovidio.
juggernaut at the box office had a strong midweek performance now that about 18% of kids are out of school for spring break. And there's still little else in the way of family fare in the marketplace at this time. Now expect a 10-day domestic total of around $145M with $11.4M Friday and $18.2M Saturday for $42.2M for this second weekend ' down only -46.6%. This Wizard Of Oz prequel crossed the $100M domestic mark in only 6 days and North American cume now stands at $145M. 'We benefited by the fact that that we were the first big event film which had the halo effect of people talking about it over the weekend and wanting to go see it if they didn't have the chance,' a Disney exec analyzes. Oz crossed $100M international on Friday with 80% of the marketplace open and big countries like France & China left to go. Currently in release in 55 territories representing about 85% of all foreign, overseas gross is $136.8M and worldwide cume is $281.8M and counting. I'm told international drop off is about -43% with a slightly larger expected drop in Russia (-68%). (If you take Russia out, the drop was only 35%.) Pic was still #1 in UK, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Germany, and Spain.
Dressed as a Boy Scout, Madonna presented the previously announced Vito Russo Award to CNN's Anderson Cooper. Russo, who died in 1990, was a film historian who voiced concerns about how gays and lesbians are portrayed in the media. Movie director Brett Ratner received GLAAD's inaugural Ally Award. The award for Ratner represented a turnaround from a little over a year ago when he dropped out as producer of last year's Academy Awards after joking at an early press conference that 'rehearsing is for fags'. Ratner since worked with the group to produce a public service campaign, GLAAD Coming Out For Equality.
Gov. Susana Martinez opposed the so-called 'Breaking Bad bill' that would have raised the state's film tax credit to 30% from 25% for TV series shooting at least six episodes in New Mexico, AP reported. Martinez told the Legislature she supports the film industry but objected to a subsidy just for Hollywood rather than making it part of an overall package of economic incentives she's backing. With New Mexico-filmed Breaking Bad in its final season and In Plain Sight already wrapped, backers of the incentive are worried about attracting new productions. The bill's sponsor House Majority Whip Antonio 'Moe' Maestas, D-Bernalillo, said he still hoped to pass some form of the incentive before lawmakers adjourn Saturday.