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Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit director Peter Jackson has just made a new thrilling production video available to all of us Middle-earth fans. This time, we're being plunged into the world of 3-D, and we get to see those dwarves and hobbits in action. The fourth production video blog Jackson recently made available on his Facebook page mainly concentrates on the intricacies of filming in HD 3-D with about four dozen RED Epic cameras, which, as you'll see for yourselves, Jackson has all named—yes, named—after family members, pets and even the Beatles. Peter Jackson says shooting The Hobbit in 3-D is ''a dream come true,'' and we learn that the Oscar-winning director would have filmed LOTR in 3-D if the same technology had been available back when he set out to film his masterpiece more than 12 years ago. The very interesting (if fairly technical) production blog also features some nifty behind-the-scenes footage (while filming was taking place on a

Johnny Depp is in Europe right now, but really wanted to make The Lone Ranger. According to one insider, "Let's see how it all shakes out on Monday. There's always a chance that it could go. You never know until you know." The deeper story behind this production stoppage is about how movies are costing too much, studios are giving major pushback, and today's backdrop of a crazy economy. Everyone involved is still intent on the project and still in discussions to see what can be done. But the studio's concern is spending over $200M on a Western, even with Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp and a comedic slant. So clearly Disney took drastic action. Now the studio and filmmakers are trying to figure out the next step, either to shop it elsewhere or put it back together at a later date at a lower budget. In a stunning development, Disney has shut down production on The Lone Ranger , the Gore Verbinski-directed period Western that was to star Johnny Depp as Tonto

We have seen Fili & Kili , Well the TheOneRing.net has got their hands on the  first look image of Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield from THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. As a young Dwarf prince, Thorin witnessed the destruction and terror wrought when a great fire-breathing Dragon attacked the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. After slaughtering many of Thorin’s kin, the great serpent, Smaug, entered The Lonely Mountain and took possession of its vast store of gold and jewels. No-one came to the aid of the surviving Dwarves, and thus, a once proud and noble race was forced into exile. Through long years of hardship, Thorin grew to be a strong and fearless fighter and revered leader. In his heart a fierce desire grew; a desire to reclaim his homeland and destroy the beast that had brought such misery upon his people. So when fate offers him an unusual ally, he seizes the chance for revenge. Cate Blanchett (LOTR Films) returns as Galadriel, the Lady of Lothlorien Ian McKellen (

We have seen Fili and Kili and today IGN has our first look at James Nesbitt as Bofur and William Kircher as Bifur from THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY . While most of the Company of Thorin Oakensheild is related to the royal and noble line of Durin, Bofur, his brother Bombur and their cousin Bifur most definitely are … not. Born and bred in the West, descendants of coal miners and iron workers, they have joined the Quest for the Lonely Mountain partly to seek their fortune and partly because they were told the beer was free See the entire picture after the Jump... Cate Blanchett (LOTR Films) returns as Galadriel, the Lady of Lothlorien Ian McKellen (LOTR Films) returns as Gandalf Christopher Lee (LOTR Films) returns as Saruman Elijah Wood (LOTR Films) returns as Frodo Andy Serkis (LOTR Films) as Gollum Ken Stott (Charlie Wilson‘s War) as Dwarf Lord Balin Sylvester McCoy (TV’s Doctor Who) as wizard Radagast the Brown Mikael Persbrandt as shape-shifter Beorn Jed Bro

We have seen the The Hobbit's dwarves and now we get a look at Dean O’Gorman as Fili and Aidan Turner as Kili in THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY . Two of the youngest Dwarves, Fili and Kili have been born into the royal line of Durin and raised under the stern guardianship of their uncle, Thorin Oakensheild. Neither has ever travelled far, nor ever seen the fabled Dwarf City of Erebor. For both, the journey to the Lonely Mountain represents adventure and excitement. Skilled fighters, both brothers set off on their adventure armed with the invincible courage of youth, neither being able to imagine the fate which lies before them. See the entire picture after the Jump... Cate Blanchett (LOTR Films) returns as Galadriel, the Lady of Lothlorien Ian McKellen (LOTR Films) returns as Gandalf Christopher Lee (LOTR Films) returns as Saruman Elijah Wood (LOTR Films) returns as Frodo Andy Serkis (LOTR Films) as Gollum Ken Stott (Charlie Wilson‘s War) as Dwarf Lord Balin Sylv

Aaron Sorkin may have ditched Facebook but Peter Jackson definitely hasn't. The most recent status update from Middle-earth brings us our first glimpse of The Hobbit's dwarves - well, three of them at any rate - all kitted out for their unexpected journey. While we wait for Peter Jackson's next hobbi-blogisode from the movie's Wellington set and the production's official bow at Comic-Con next month, this exciting taster of the dwarfish costume design should keep us tided over nicely. See the entire picture after the Jump... From left to right, the trio are Nori (ex-Orc Jed Brophy), Ori (Adam Brown) and Dori (Mark Hadlow). With Richard Armitage promising a deep delve into the world of the dwarves, expect a whole lot more from the 13 mini-men. Check out the current issue of Empire for the first on-set Hobbit coverage in the meantime. Please Leave A Comment- Source- Facebook Via Empire

EW has the first 3 official pictures from the set of The Hobbit. In the pictures we get to see Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen as Gandalf. Who's Excited for these images? See all the images after the Jump... IAN MCKELLEN (GANDALF) ”He’s in fantastic form,” Peter Jackson says of McKellen. ”In a way, his role in The Hobbit has more technical difficulties than Lord of the Rings did, because he has scenes with 14 smaller characters — obviously the dwarves and the hobbit are shorter… I remember saying to him [laughs], ”Look, this isn’t Waiting for Godot or King Lear. This is The Hobbit. This is the real thing.” PETER JACKSON WITH MARTIN FREEMAN ”There’s no way you can pace yourself for shoots like these,” Jackson says. ”When we were going through the schedule for The Hobbit, I felt a terrible drop in my stomach when I saw that we’d be shooting for 254 days. We’re only 12 days short of The Lord of the Rings even though we’re only doing two movies. When I saw

Peter Jackson took to Facebook to announce two new additions to the cast of his upcoming film The Hobbit . We've finished our first block of shooting and moved straight into location scouting. More on that soon... But today, I'm thrilled to announce two new cast members who will be joining us for our second block of shooting. Evangeline Lilly will be playing a new character—the Woodland Elf, Tauriel . Her name means 'daughter of Mirkwood' and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.) What is not a secret is how talented and compelling an actress Evangeline is; we are thrilled and excited she will be the one to bring our first true Sylvan Elf to life. I'm also highly excited that Barry Humphries will be portraying the Goblin King , in much the way Andy Serkis created Gollum. Barry is perhaps best known for his business and social connections as the long-time manager of Dame Edna Everage. He has also been an

Disney will release Lone Ranger on December 21, 2012, giving the studio a big holiday entry in a crowding field. The film, directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Armie Hammer as the title character and Johnny Depp as Tonto , takes place in 1869. A Texas Ranger, left for dead, is saved by the Comanche Tonto, who gives his new partner the masked identity of Lone Ranger. Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio wrote the script and Jerry Bruckheimer is producing. The film begins production later this year. The holiday corridor of 2012 is getting more competitive. Warner Bros recently set a December 14, 2012 release date for the Peter Jackson-directed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , and on December 21, the Ang Lee-directed Life of Pi opens against Universal's untitled Judd Apatow film as well as Relativity Media's Hunter-Killer. Of course, date shifting is allowed. Coming off the success of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, this is the second major film

Now that the two movies are shooting, it was about time that Peter Jackson, MGM and New Line got around to naming them. Well, it’s official: the Hobbit films are going to be called The Hobbit: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire and The Hobbit 2: Electric Bilboloo. Calm down… The actual titles are as follows: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , which will arrive in cinemas on December 14, 2012 followed by The Hobbit: There and Back Again on December 13, 2013. And just in case you’ve forgotten, the cast includes (deep mental breath) Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Richard Armitage, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O'Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner . Meanwhile, keeping up h

Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom has joined the cast of Peter Jackson's upcoming Hobbit movies -- even though his character, the elf Legolas , doesn’t appear in J. R. R. Tolkien’s original novel. Jackson announced the casting in a Facebook post Friday. “Ten years ago, Orlando Bloom created an iconic character with his portrayal of Legolas," he wrote. "I’m excited to announce today that we’ll be revisiting Middle Earth with him once more. I’m thrilled to be working with Orlando again.” Jackson is currently directing the two-movie adaptation in New Zealand. He helped catapult Bloom to stardom by giving him his first major film roles as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Looking back, Jackson wrote on his Facebook page,  "I look older — and he doesn’t! I guess that’s why he makes such a wonderful elf." The Hobbit movies, which have been in the works for 14 years, has faced a series of setbacks. In 2005, Jackson filed suit against New Line

Ian Holm will be returning to reprise his role as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit . For all you Hobbit fans I am sure you have seen the first video blog that Peter Jackson has released if you haven't you will hear Holm voice at the end. Read the comment after the Jump... One comment that came up from the recent video blog was the Bilbo voice at the end—many of you assumed it was Sir Ian Holm. Whilst Ian will be returning as the older Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, that recording was actually Martin Freeman’s voice, taken from a script read through we recorded when the cast first arrived. I have to admit, I wasn’t sure who it was when I first heard it, either. Cheers, Peter J Please Leave A Comment- Source- Facebook

Director Peter Jackson , via his facebook page , takes you, on the first of many behind the scene videos he plans to deliver the fans during the production of the upcoming film " The Hobbit ." In the video we get a chance to take a look at the pre production of the film, amazing film sets, wardrobe and the cast. Watch the video after the Jump... The Hobbit, to be made as two 3D films, follows the journey of Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of 13 dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers and ultimately Baggins' meeting with Gollum, where he gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring --

Time for an update. Actually, we've been intending to kick off with a video, which is almost done, so look out for that in the next day or two. In the meantime, I thought I'd address the news that has been reported about us shooting THE HOBBIT at 48 frames per second , and explain to you what my thoughts are about this. We are indeed shooting at the higher frame rate. The key thing to understand is that this process requires both shooting and projecting at 48 fps, rather than the usual 24 fps (films have been shot at 24 frames per second since the late 1920's). So the result looks like normal speed, but the image has hugely enhanced clarity and smoothness. Looking at 24 frames every second may seem ok--and we've all seen thousands of films like this over the last 90 years--but there is often quite a lot of blur in each frame, during fast movements, and if the camera is moving around quickly, the image can judder or "strobe." Shooting and projecting at 48

Andy Serkis , who played the iconic Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings , is taking on a new role in The Hobbit 1 and 2 . In addition to reprising his role as the tragic creature, Serkis also has been tapped by Jackson to serve as second unit director on the two films , which are now in production in New Zealand. “I think I understand Peter’s sensibility and we have a common history of understanding Middle Earth,” Serkis told The Hollywood Reporter . “A lot of the crew from The Lord of the Rings was returning to work on The Hobbit. There is really a sense of Peter wanting people around him who totally understand the material and the work ethic." Serkis has already done some directing, including performance capture on a couple video games including Heavenly Sword. But, he said, “When Peter asked me. There was this email out of the blue. It was a fantastic surprise.” When he completes The Hobbit movies, Serkis aims to direct his first live-action feature. In addit

Filming on Peter Jackson's long-awaited adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit gets under way Monday in Wellington, New Zealand, with everyone involved "raring to go," Jackson's assistant Matt Dravitski told New Zealand media. The start of filming on the two $500 million Hobbit films -- prequels to The Lord of the Rings -- comes after setbacks that have included disputes over distribution rights to the films; financial difficulties of studios MGM and New Line; the departure of Guillermo Del Toro as director; industrial action brought about by N.Z. Actros Equity, which threatened to move the shoot from New Zealand; and Jackson's hospitalization in February for a perforated stomach ulcer. Martin Freeman , who stars in the title role as Bilbo Baggins, joked about the so-called "curse of The Hobbit" last month: "There are some bits of bad luck associated with it [but] we're ready to go -- just as soon as 2015 comes around." The

Actress Dame Judi Dench has revealed she will return to play head of MI6, M , in the new James Bond film, which will see Daniel Craig play the role of the British spy for a third time. Dame Judi also advised Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, Oscar-nominated for their roles in The King's Speech, that the best way to get through the six-hour ceremony was to "keep nudging people". After severe delays amid uncertainty over film studio MGM's future, the 23rd Bond film, directed by Sam Mendes, is set to be released in November 2012. Please Leave A Comment- Source- BBC

MTV got a chance to talk to Elijah Wood and asked him about his upcoming role in " The Hobbit ." Wood has long maintained that he'd never suit back up as Frodo Baggins — the role he pioneered in the Oscar-winning " Lord of the Rings " trilogy" — in an adaptation of "The Hobbit" unless the appearance avoided gimmickry and fit within the larger context of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendary creation. Well, now Wood is officially returning to Middle-earth, and in what might be his first public comments about the upcoming project, the 29-year-old actor told MTV News that, although Frodo was never in Tolkien's "Hobbit," the character's appearance in the movies makes sense for Jackson's adaptation. "It's a very small piece, and I think that's the most appropriate," Wood said when we caught up with him at the Sundance Film Festival, where he was promoting " Fight for Your Right Revisited ," a short fil

Frodo To Return Warner Bros fully financing and distributing The Hobbit worldwide, Elijah Wood was in talks to bring his Frodo character back to Middle Earth. His reps announced it tonight. Here's the official Wood is confirmed to star in Peter Jackson’s “ THE HOBBIT ” to be shot in New Zealand. In addition, he has signed on to play “Ben Gunn” in Stewart Harcourt’s adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s TREASURE ISLAND along side Eddie Izzard. The 2 part/ 4 hour miniseries will be airing on SKY TV in the UK. Alan Moloney is producing with Steve Barron directing. Wood will next be seen this summer in FX’s new series “ Wilfred ”, as well as lending his voice to Warner Bros. “ Happy Feet 2 ” set for release November 18th as well as Disney XD’s “ Tron: Uprising ” (2012), In addition, he is starring in the Sundance short “Fight for your Right Revisited” directed by Adam Yauch and starring John C. Reilly and Seth Rogen. Please Leave A Comment- Source- Deadline

Wolverines! With MGM’s restructuring plan complete after a $500 million line of credit from JPMorgan, there has been much news made about the studio’s move to get both The Hobbit and James Bond 23 into production quickly. What about the films MGM shelved during its bankruptcy? Movies like Red Dawn, The Cabin in the Woods and others. Not much has been said about those languishing projects, but word is spreading that MGM may put the Red Dawn remake out this year. The film was directed by Dan Bradley, who tried to have the studio sell the project to Fox so they could release it last year, but that never happened. The completed film has been sitting on a shelf unseen ever since. The story revolves around a ragtag team of high school students who fight to save their town against a Chinese invasion. The film is now gearing up for a potential 2011 release date, and it will now be going head-to-head with the similarly themed Tomorrow, When the War Began . Already a hit in Australia and