Peter Jackson

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg

CAST: Jamie Bell; Andy Serkis; Simon Pegg; Daniel Craig; Nick Frost

SYNOPSIS: Tintin and his friends discover directions to a sunken ship commanded by Capt. Haddock's ancestor and go off on a treasure hunt.

Alan Horn, the President of WB Studios, crushed dreams the other day by announcing in a Variety article that Part 1 of The Hobbit most likely won't be released until late 2012, a full year later than expected:

Once the script for the second film is in -- Jackson and his longtime collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are working on it with Del Toro -- New Line will work up a budget for both films and start casting. New Line exec Michael Disco, who was once Emmerich's assistant, will oversee for the studio.

Horn won't predict when the first of the two "Hobbit" films will be out, but says the most probable scenario would be a release in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In my mind, the most important thing to take from the above quotes is that a man named Michael DISCO is overseeing for the studio. I refuse to accept that as a surname unless you're a C-list porn star. Either this is going to be the grooooviest adaptation of a J.R.R. Tolkien novel ever, or Bilbo's going to pull of a money shot that will make Peter North blush.

^{"Thank you for this grand honour."}

Patrick Stewart no longer has to pretend to be a knight to pick up chicks. Queen Elizabeth II has bestowed knighthood upon the Star Trek / X-Men actor for his Excellence in Being British (or something like that) on her New Year honors list. Also knighted, but on a seperate New Zealand list, was LOTR and King Kong director Peter Jackson.

I sincerely hope that Stewart and Jackson do not take this honor lightly. You never know when the Queen may call you to fight. If you had paid attention during Reign of Fire, you'd know that dragon attacks can happen at any time. (NBC)

I love Stanley Tucci, in a completely plutonic way. Would I gently rub his bald head? Of course, but just so I could write the headline "Screen Junkies Rubbed Stanley Tucci's Head!" not because I would gain any sexual pleasure from the act. His performance as Mr. Harvey absolutely MAKES The Lovely Bones worth seeing. I was not a fan of the film overall, as it lacked in story depth and fleshed out character arcs, but I would recommend seeing it solely based on Tucci's chilling performance as Susie Salmon's murderer and griller. He puts a little lemon juice on her, some cracked pepper, she's delicious. Because she's salmon. Get it. Yo, whateva.

Check out the featurette after the jump of Tucci discussing the difficulty of emboding the role of a monster such as Mr. Harvey. Oddly enough, he didn't like to think like a child murderer/rapist, but boy oh boy does it come through those blue eye contacts of his.

Peter Jackson and his brother-from-another-mother Guillermo del Toro begin casting The Hobbit this week and they're not bowing to any big name pressure. “We’re auditioning for every role,” Jackson said in an interview. “Apart from Ian McKellen, who we obviously want to return as Gandalf, we are not really offering any roles to anybody until we’ve done a casting sweep..." That's good news if you're short or fat or talented at gazing longingly into another man's eyes. If you fit any of those criteria, you'd better get to Los Angeles or London this week. "What we’ve done over the years is discover a lot of interesting actors, like Orlando Bloom (in Rings), Kate Winslet (in Heavenly Creatures), Saoirse Ronan (in The Lovely Bones). So if you start looking and auditioning seriously, it’s amazing what incredible talent you’ll find out there.”

"We want to find the right people. Casting someone to portray a hobbit is not as easy as you might imagine," Jackson added before slipping shoes onto his hairy feet and inhaling from a long-stemmed wooden pipe. (THR)

Sorry literate moviegoers. Peter Jackson recently broke the news that Steven Spielberg's Tintin has completed filming, but still needs to undergo two years of computer-animation to pull off the creepy, dead-in-the-eyes look that Robert Zemeckis has been all about lately. I guess it sucks to have to wait but the alternative was casting Conan O'Brien and where would we be then?

I don't have a lot of interest in this film because I'm not familiar with the books. Though I am pretty bummed that I'll have to wait for the impending porno-spoof Tittit. (BBC) 

To Whoever Shut Down The Halo Film:

I had my sneaking suspicions before, but now I can safely say that you are all complete idiots.  Let me make one thing clear: I have yet to actually read why you shut down the Peter Jackson-produced and Neill Blomkamp-directed adaptation of the popular video game franchise Halo.  I believe I read at one point that it was something related to money.  I find this funny, because it seems like if you had just made the movie, it would have made tons of money.  More money than you could ever imagine...

DISTRICT 9 Official Trailer - Watch more Funny Videos

In an interview with Marketsaw - a blog devoted entirely to 3D filmmaking - Steve Schklair, the CEO of 3ality Digital Systems claims that Lord of the Rings helmer Peter Jackson will be shooting all of his directorial efforts using 3ality's technologies.  You can read the whole article at Marketsaw. 

Sites like ScreenRant suggest that Jackson's devotion to 3D from now on will help shift exhibitors over to the 3Dark Side, which they have been reluctant to do because of retrofitting costs and the lack of 3D movies.  Personally, I'm a fan of 3D technology, from the the way UP used it organically in the story to the stuff that's used shamelessly by films like My Bloody Valentine 3D.  Part of me wishes Drag Me to Hell had been in 3D.  Some of the film's shock moments are perfect for the third dimension.

Here's hoping that Jackson considers going into his back catalogue and 3D-ifies flicks like Meet the Feebles and Dead Alive.  I can't think of a more visceral theatrical experience than an AIDs-ridden rabbit vomiting forth upon the audience in the movie theater and the audience in the film.  That's, like, sooooooo metaaaaaaaaa...

Meet the Feebles Vomit - Watch more Funny Videos