The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Sneak Peek Online

Last Sunday Peter Jackson hosted an hour long event to that ended with a brief sneak peak at The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug that is coming out on December 13th. An edited version of the event is now up at official The Hobbit website but it still requires you have an ultraviolet code from one of the Blu-ray sets. Also keep in mind the code can only be used three times. The content is dated to last until 5/24/2013/. So if you have your ultra violet code, click here and if you don't you will have to just go with the summary.

Everything Wrong with The Hobbit Video

Below is an amusing critique of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that counts all the problems with the movie. Some of the points are filming errors, many are silly and some are spot on. The result is an amusing piece that is part of CinemaSins occasional series that makes fun of Hollywood hits.

Desolation of Smaug Live Event Summary

Sunday at 3pm EST (or 8AM New Zealand) time, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug live event was held with Director Peter Jackson and Jed Brophy (Nori). It was available to those that bought the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Over all it wasn't bad. It started with the pair showing off the post-production studios and discussing a little of the film making process in general. It then went to their main editing room where Peter showed how they take multiple takes with various camera angles and put it together for a scene. After that was a Q&A that was about 95% videos from current and past Middle-Earth actors. The main bit of "new" info really is a good look at Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Luke Evans (Bard), and Laketown. Overall if a fan of the film making process it was interesting but was light on spoilers. Below are the movie specific highlights via Bleeding Cool and TORn. Peter did promise more production videos and a edited version of the live event is supposed to be posted at some point but no time frame has been specified.

Highlights

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Out Now on Blu-ray and DVD

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is now officially out on Blu-ray and DVD. The movie comes in three main sku's of 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack (BR 3D + BR + DVD + Digital Copy), Blu-ray Combo Pack (BR + DVD + Digital Copy), and DVD (DVD + Digital Copy). Some stores have exclusive extra content. Below are the prices on top five stores but feel free to add more in the comments. From what I can tell the exclusive content is limited to the Blu-ray Combo Pack.

Amazon
3D Blu-ray Combo Pack - $27.99
Blu-ray Combo Pack - $25.99
DVD - $14.99

Freeman Interview For The Hobbit Home Video Release

Today The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is out on Blu-ray and DVD.  As part of that Collider has released a video interview (below) with star Martin Freeman as he discussed the movie.  The 10 minute interview is pretty entertaining, if only to try and figure out the very dry British humor that sometimes makes it difficult to tell when he is being literal or not.

Highlights:
- Seen movie 6 times, five times in 48fps but not in IMAX
- Thought first day was "exciting".  Has rehearsed the Riddles in the Dark (Bilbo meets Gollum) before filming it on that first day.
- Felt he was the guy for Bilbo (and most LOTR fans had agreed as name came up long before The Hobbit has even started pre-production)

Ask Peter Jackson Site Now Live

On March 24, 2013 Peter Jackson will present a live first look at The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug as part of the promotion for the March 19th release of The Hobbit: An Expected Journey on DVD and Blu-ray. As prep for that, they are giving fans a chance to submit questions to the director for him to answer which you can do here. As for the release, it comes in three skus of 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack (BR 3D + BR + DVD + Digital Copy), Blu-ray Combo Pack (BR + DVD + Digital Copy) and DVD (DVD + Digital Copy).

Warner Bros Counter Suing Tolkien Estate

The lawsuits continue to fly around The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as Warner Bros has counter-sued the Tolkien Estate for lost licensing revenue from the sale of online games and casino slot machines bearing images and concepts from the two trilogies. In November the Tolkien Estate sued Warner Bros and Saul Zaentz Company for breach of contract for trying to licensing the movies for those purposes. The Tolkien Estate claims the licensing contract doesn't cover those areas, the other two believe it does.

If I understand it right, basically Warner Bros is suing the Tolkiens for suing them and causing various licensing plans to be halted. To my knowledge you can't sue for being sued so chances are this lawsuit will get thrown out but not before lawyers get to add to their billable hours. The only thing I can think of is Warner Bros is laying the legal groundwork to help their cause when negotiating a settlement for the breach of contract lawsuit. If the previous lawsuits are any indication, this will be settled. While the Tolkien Estate loathes the movies because not a 100% faithful re-creation of the novels), they love the financial windfall. The previous lawsuits between the Estate and WB have all been settled once a dollar figure has been worked out and chances are that will be the case here. Keep in mind that lawsuits are not about right and wrong. Its really about the means to keep paying the lawyers and the will to fight (or really its a game of chicken on the will to fight since jury trials are very unpredictable so lawyers prefer to avoid them).

Sandcastle Minas Tirith

There have been different artist created versions of The Lord of the capital of Gondor, Minas Tirith. I believe this is the first highly detailed on that I have seen created entirely from sand and water. Yep its a sandcastle of Minas Tirith. I have no idea how artist Joseph Alvernaz created this 10" x 12" replica but worth clicking here to view more pictures. (via i09)

Freeman: Filming Restarts in May

Since the decision was made to turn The Hobbit into a trilogy was made after initial principle photography has been completed, there is now more to film. According to Martin Freeman it seems the cast will assemble in New Zealand starting in May. No specifics provided on exactly what is being filmed but safe to assume that it will probably involve at least a few scenes for The Desolation of Smaug and lion share probably for There and Back Again. From Hollywood.com:

"I am going back at the end of May for all of June and July. I suppose the thing is, this is not finished. We literally have to go and finish it. It's not a new adventure like on a television show. It's the same story. It's the same gig I started in January 2011. I think it'll be really fun because the crew is quite close and the cast are close and we like working on it. I'm anticipating it."

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Home Video Spots

It looks like Warner Bros is getting ready to start their promotional campaign for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Blu-ray and DVD release with a bunch of new videos. All current eight are below with the first half emphasizing the Peter Jackson teaser for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug that will occur on March 24th. That means you have a short window to get the video which comes out on March 19th. The release comes in three skus of 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack (BR 3D + BR + DVD + Digital Copy), Blu-ray Combo Pack (BR + DVD + Digital Copy) and DVD (DVD + Digital Copy). The details on store exclusives are here.

The Hobbit: AUJ Exclusive Details

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is hitting shelves in two weeks on March 19th for Blu-ray and DVD. The discs are coming in three basic forms of the 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack (BR 3D + BR + DVD + Digital Copy), Blu-ray Combo Pack (BR + DVD + Digital Copy) and DVD (DVD + Digital Copy). The only real differences seems to be the number of discs as all the packs have the same special features, mostly the 10 production videos that had been released online over the last year. Despite that there are a few exclusive extras depending on which retailer you choose to buy one of the Blu-ray Combo packs from. Below are the details, prices are really unknown since current listed prices are probably higher then what the sale week price will be.

Best Buy
- "A Hobbit's Tale Part 1: The Journey Begins" - No details on what this is but assume a bit of a documentary on the filming of the first movie.
- Flip lenticular package cover of Bilbo and Gollum

Target
- Lego Bilbo mini-fig
- Behind the scenes Lego featurette - On the upcoming Lego video game, not the movie itself

Wal-Mart
- 64 page "The World of Hobbits" book
- 4 Vudu bonus featurettes
- The Journey Back to Middle-Earth
- Bilbo and The Riddle Game
- Gandalf and the White Council
- Thorin and the Song of the Lonely Mountain

WBShop.com
- Panoramic Poster Set: 8" x 40" poster of the cast walking up the mountain

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Crosses $1B Box Office

This weekend The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is now the 15th film to cross the $1 billion worldwide box office in ticket sales. The threshold was reached thanks to strong international sales of $700 million versus $300 million in the States. For the previous trilogy only The Return of the King was able to cross that point. The successful Christmas release was probably the main reason that Warner Bros felt comfortable with moving There and Back again to a Christmas schedule as the odds are high that the other two films in The Hobbit trilogy will pass a $1 billion also.