Tag: Peter Jackson

“This is Ian McKellen, who was a member of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ cast, feeling back home in Middle Earth …” That’s one of the opening lines of a new but brief interview with McKellen, the two-time Oscar nominee. The intriguing tidbit, though, is that the British actor was speaking at Weta, the esteemed New Zealand visual effects outfit that was cofounded by Peter Jackson and became a mighty cinematic brand name with its work on the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The Weta folks who conducted the interview were plainly thrilled to have McKellen in the building, and he sounded especially pleased to be there. “Gandalf sends his love …” he purred into the microphone at one point. McKellen’s presence at the Wellington facility will stir the soul of “Rings” faithful who are growing ever more fearful about the fate of “The Hobbit,” ...

Los Angles Times television editor Martin Miller drops by the Hero Complex to review the new monkey business at Universal Studios Hollywood. This is about the 800-pound gorilla in the room or, in this case, the one shaking the tram. (Man, those things can take a beating; dinosaurs, earthquakes and Whoopi Goldberg.) It’s great that King Kong — this time in 360 3-D and with some special toothy guests, no less — is back on the list of star attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood. I, for one, missed the big, snorting palooka. But, you know, what about the little people? On opening weekend, we decided to conduct our own mini focus group, which consisted of my two sons — an 11-year-old eager to prove nothing scares him (except girls) and an 8-year-old who continues to derive great pleasure from exceeding ...

FIVE QUESTIONS: MATT AITKEN OF WETA On Tuesday, King Kong 360 3-D, which is billed as “the world’s largest 3-D experience,” makes its grand opening at Universal Studios Hollywood and, if the attraction lives up to the advance buzz, the park’s venerable tram tour will never be the same. The attraction’s creative team included Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, who brought the world’s most famous ape back to theater screens in 2005, and the visual effects wizards at Weta, but the jungle spectacle is far more than moving pictures on a screen. To understand this new monkey business, I caught up with Matt Aitken, the visual effects supervisor at Weta Digital Ltd., for the latest installment of Five Questions. — Geoff Boucher GB: This is unexpected territory for Weta, wouldn’t you say? MA: It’s different than anything we’ve done before. The thing that we thought ...

Like everyone else, my jaw dropped when I read the news Sunday that Guillermo del Toro had walked away from Middle Earth. I had heard chatter in recent weeks that implied that the filmmaker was growing increasingly frustrated with delays in New Zealand — forget the finish line, the filming of “The Hobbit” hadn’t even made it to the starting line yet — but I didn’t see this coming, not after Del Toro put in two years of pre-production work. I sent Del Toro an e-mail last night with one question: What’s next for you? The short reply came back just a few hours ago: “TBD very soon! –G” The 45-year-old writer-director-producer is notorious in Hollywood for piling his career plate high. Any time you sit down with him, he talks about more than a dozen different projects as if each was at the very top of ...

As we reflect on the glory (or the tedium) of the 82nd Academy Awards, here’s an imaginary visit to a Hollywood where movie posters live up to the high standards of truth in advertising: These are part of great collection cooked up by the jokers at College Humor, you should check out the entire gallery right here… And this one may be my favorite of the fanboy-leaning films in the mocking collection…    – Geoff Boucher  Images: CollegeHumor.com MORE RANDOM SILLINESS Top 10 vintage Batman toys … including a somewhat lewd watergun  VIDEO: Iron Man versus Bruce Lee Captain America and Spider-Man meet … Abe Lincoln? VIDEO: “SNL” flashback: Superhero party circa 1979 George Lucas at 3 a.m.? Think Jar Jar Binks rubberwear VIDEO: “Watchmen,” now Saturday morning safe

NEILL BLOMKAMP INTERVIEW: PART 2 Neill Blomkamp established himself as a filmmaker to watch in 2009 with ”District 9,” a film that wrapped satire, social commentary and gripping action within a sci-fi tale that looked far more expensive than its $30-million budget. I sat down with Blomkamp in downtown Los Angeles recently to talk about his future, both short-term and long-term. It was clear that science fiction is his focus, but he also spoke like a restless director who is also intrigued by films of combat and even comedy. (This is Part 2 of the interview, you can read Part 1 right here. Check back for Part 3 tomorrow.) GB: What’s next for you? NB: I know what I’m doing now. QED paid for “District 9” and Bill Block the producer put it together. And now MRC is another finance group and they’re putting together the cash for my next film based ...

This engaging story from the AP out of London… There’s an especially starry knight in Britain’s latest round of royal honors. Patrick Stewart — “Star Trek: The Next Generation’s” Capt. Jean-Luc Picard — becomes Sir Patrick in Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year honors list, which also includes a knighthood for theater and film director Nicholas Hytner. “This is an honor that embraces those actors, directors and creative teams who have in these recent years helped fill my life with inspiration, companionship and sheer fun,” said 69-year-old Stewart, who recently returned to the British stage following a long career in Hollywood that included playing Professor Charles Xavier in three “X-Men” films. A separate honors list in New Zealand bestowed a knighthood on the king of Middle-earth — “Lord of the Rings” filmmaker Peter Jackson. Jackson, 53, was knighted in New Zealand, ...

FOUR FRANCHISES AT A CROSSROADS   Talk about heroic: Four film franchises, one decade, more than $10 billion worth of theater tickets sold. And more than that, in their very best moments, each of these franchises shown above delivered sparkling adventure and escapism for moviegoers. Now, though, with the decade winding down and all four franchises sitting a nice tidy trilogy, the question must be asked: Isn’t three the magic number? Do we really need a fourth movie from any of these aging popcorn enterprises? Clearly, all of them will be written up in the Hollywood history books but right now the indelicate must be asked: “How can we miss you if you won’t leave?” Last week we gave you an in-depth report on this quartet of mega-franchises and their quests for a fourth visit to theaters. We told you how “The Hobbit“ must escape the the towering shadow of “The Lord of the ...

FOUR FRANCHISES AT A CROSSROADS: PART ONE This week we’re taking a look at four major trilogies from this decade that are looking to add a fourth film despite substantial challenges — not least among those challenges the skepticism of moviegoers who may wonder if some of these Hollywood vehicles are running on empty. You can find the other three installments of the series right here.   “LORD OF THE RINGS/THE HOBBIT” The story so far: Director Peter Jackson’s majestic and magical interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic is arguably the gold standard now for fantasy-film franchises. The “Rings” film trilogy piled up a staggering $2.92 billion in worldwide box office (plus more than $3 billion in DVD and others ancillary sales) and also pulled off a magic trick that has eluded the “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter” franchises — it cast a spell over  voters in the marquee Oscar categories of best ...

They are four of the biggest franchises in Hollywood history and each is at a major crossroads. This week the Hero Complex will look at “The Lord of the Rings,” “Spider-Man,” “X-Men” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” and size up their future as they attempt to move past their original trilogies and into a new decade. Tuesday ”Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit“: How can Guillermo del Toro possibly match up to Peter Jackson’s magical conquests ($2.92 billion in global box office and 17 Oscars including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay)? At least he has Jackson on his side … Wednesday “Spider-Man“: Director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are back for more and that’s no surprise considering “Spider-Man 3“ had the highest-grossing opening weekend of the wall-crawling films — and went on to make $891 million worldwide. Still, the last film got ...