The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition Clip

Earlier today the details on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition were revealed. Below is a clip for a scene that has been added back into the movie between Bilbo and Elrond. You can pre-order from Amazon now: 3D Blu-ray Set | Blu-ray Set | DVD Set

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition Details Announced

Warner Bros and MGM have revealed the release date and details for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition which will be released on November 5th in 5-disc Blu-ray 3D set, 3-disc Blu-ray set and 5-disc DVD set. This is along the same lines at The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions with new completed scenes and a detailed behind the scenes look at making the film (only without the cool covers the LOTR editions had). For The Hobbit: AUJ, it will have 13 additional minutes of footage, (new?) commentary from Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens, and The Appendices. Really the highlight of the extended editions, The Appendices are a comprehensive behind the scenes look at the making of The Hobbit trilogy. The LOTR one remains one of the best ever created for films.

The Extended Editions are basically how the other studios should be doing their releases as Peter Jackson's goal is clearly to inform the fan instead of sales pitch to the fan. After all these years it still do not understand why studios continue to turn their extra features into sales pitches for the movie when those features are only available on the discs the person just bought. It literally like trying to sell you on a dessert after you have eaten it. A completely pointless exercise and a waste of everyone's time. So basically I am looking forward to see a real extra feature instead of the series of sales pitches been watching since...well the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions. The full press release is below. You can pre-order from Amazon now: 3D Blu-ray Set | Blu-ray Set | DVD Set

The Hobbit Completes Principle Photography (Again)

For the second and final time, The Hobbit trilogy has wrapped principle photography. Peter Jackson, who occasionally posted updates throughout the day on his Facebook profile, marked the occasion with a picture and below messages.

The last shot.

Big monitors, main unit. Small screens bottom right, splinter.

We're neck and neck ... Shooting our final shots at the same time.

10.32 pm. 4 or 5 takes so far.

No, wait ... Done! While I was typing this, we shot more takes and finished! Richard was fantastic. Splinter almost done. Minutes away.

Smiles and happiness... And sadness. Yikes, very sad.

1.08 am. A 20 hour day ... 15 years of Tolkien ... 771 days of shooting ...

Congrats to the cast and crew of The Hobbit.

Peter Jackson Live Blogging Final Day Shooting The Hobbit

Peter Jackson has started to live blog the final day of filming for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: There and Back Again. The live blog started at about 3:00PM EST (-500 UTC) or 7:00 New Zealand (+1200 UTC). Below his first post indicating his intentions. To follow the rest, click here.

Our last day of shooting.

Ever since starting these blogs, there's been something I thought I'd like to try one day (as well as answering the other 19 questions I owe you!) - blogging throughout a shoot day in real time. Try to give you all a feeling for what we deal with on an average day.

Freeman, Evans Wrap on The Hobbit

Two more cast members are forever done filming scenes for The Hobbit trilogy. Martin Freeman (Bilbo) and Luke Evans (Bard the Bowman) have completed their work on the films. Evans final day was July 10th as noted by his tweet "Final day in Middle Earth." Peter Jackson marked Freeman's final day with a post and image. He also added a pic of Benedict Cumberbatch (voice and motion capture for Smaug).

Tonight Martin Freeman finished his last shot as Bilbo Baggins. The end of an incredible two and a half years. I cannot imagine anyone else in this role - a character that Martin has nurtured and crafted with love and great skill.

We have said goodbye to our elves, humans, wizards and now the hobbit. We now enter our final 2 weeks of pick-ups, and it's wall to wall dwarves. These pick-ups have been gruelling and intense, but I'm so happy with what we've been shooting. These next two movies are going to be pretty great!

Warner Bros Lawsuit Against Tolkien Estate Gets Green Light

Despite the fame and love many fans have for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and now The Hobbit trilogy, that love does not carry over to the business side. The Tolkien Estate has frequently sued the rights holder of the movies (New Line many times, Warner Bros now) over what it considers disagreeable business practices. In the latest lawsuit, the Estate sued Warner Bros. for $80 million for breach of contract by extending Middle-Earth to the realm of gambling with online games and casino gambling machines. As a result of that, WB then countersued the Estate saying their lawsuit caused them licensing revenue from those gambling deals by suing them. The assumption was that WB wouldn't be able to sue for being sued but it turns out a California federal judge disagrees.

"Simply stated," [U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins] writes, "these claims arise out of the parties' divergent understanding of the Warner Parties' and Zaentz's rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. They are routine contract-based claims and counterclaims."

To not get bogged down in legal jargon, essentially the Tolkien Estate says it is owed money for WB's attempt to enter into licensing agreements for gambling while WB says the Tolkien Estate owes them because those agreements could not move forward. End result is I expect a few lawyers to get hefty bonuses as they play a game of chicken until a settlement is reached that will probably be something to the effect that WB can make gambling games as long as the Estate gets a cut of the earnings.

The Hobbit Production Video #11

Peter Jackson has posted his next production diary from the set of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. To start Jackson reveals that he will not be doing anything for San Diego Comic-Con, something he traditionally does try to participate in to promote his movies. From there its welcome to the world of green screen with quick cuts of scenes being filmed, sets and the like being rebuilt with most of it coming from storage when the the films wrapped the first time. The Hobbit actors begin their training for new fight scenes including The Battle of Five Armies (but no scenes) as that will be the finale of trilogy. He also shows an interesting example of a pick-up where a riverside scene was filmed for real the first time and later "picked-up" on a lot set that re-creates that river side rock structures. There is also a look at "new" cast members Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), and Luke Evans (Bard)
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