![Aussie Cate Blanchett Online [ACBO] - G'day and welcome...enjoy your visit.](lotr/headingcate8a.jpg)
Background | Credit Cate Blanchett | Image Gallery | The Cate Blanchett Library |
News | Cate Blanchett Interactive | Email Us | Links | Back to Main
|
||
|
News Update November 8, 1999
In a story by way of Dark Horizons and
Ringbearer.org, George Lucas has seemingly thrown down
the gauntlet to Peter Jackson, albeit in a pleasant
way.
Talking with an Icelandic newspaper, Lucas said he was
curious how Peter Jackson was going to pull off the
technical aspects of bringing the trilogy to the big
screen, and doubted that the literary work could even
be effectively translated to cinema.
Then, in an almost 'challenge-inducing' remark, he
commented that his FX company, Industrial Light &
Magic, were "possibly the only company proficient to
make the computer graphics required for a movie of
this scale".
Nothing like a little bulletin board material as
creative inspiration for Peter Jackson's SFX crew!
News Update October 30, 1999
RINGS COMPOSER CHOSEN?
The big news related to the Rings production this week is word
that Peter Jackson has decided to go with Wojciech Kilar to compose the
all important music for the film trilogy.
The Polish press this week stated that Kilar fit the bill to conceive
and produce the symphonic European score Jackson has envisioned.
Kilar, a native Pole who studied under Nadia Boulanger in Paris, is
probably best known for his musical scores for Francis Ford Coppola's
Dracula, Jane Campion's The Portrait of A Lady and Roman
Polanski's Death and the Maiden. He is also believed to have
composed a score for this year's A Midsummer Night's Dream which
was rejected. Perhaps it wasn't quite lighthearted enough.
If this pans out, Kilar could join fellow Hall of Fame Polish film
composers Krzysztof Komeda, known for his unforgettable collaborations
with Roman Polanski, and Zbigniew Preisner, beloved for his haunting
contributions to the films of Krzysztof Kieslowski, and create scores
that live beyond the ages.
Every week, the potential of this entire odyssey becomes more and more
tantalizing.
News Update October 22, 1999
The Auckland Sunday Star Times:
The cast and crew of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film project are
reeling after one of the stars was sensationally sacked after two days
of filming.
Irish actor Stuart Townsend, who had been cast to play the key role of
Aragorn, was dumped on Wednesday and left New Zealand the same day,
insiders on the set told the Sunday Star-Times. The shock dismissal was
reportedly ordered by Jackson over what a senior studio executive
described as "director-actor creative chemistry".
It is understood no formal announcement was made and the dumping
filtered through to bemused cast and crew on Thursday. Sources said the
trilogy's producers were already negotiating with Viggo Mortensen (A
Perfect Murder, GI Jane, Crimson Tide) to fill the vacated role.
Townsend's dismissal had thrown the first week of filming in Wellington
into disarray, forcing at least 1 1/2 days of scheduled scenes to be
postponed.
Just one week into a marathon 18 month shoot, the project is already
believed to be behind schedule.
Jackson's production company confirmed Townsend had been dismissed but
refused to comment further. Rumours on the set suggested Townsend (26),
the star of the British comedy Shooting Fish either looked too young for
the part or that Jackson was under pressure from studio bosses to
replace the actor with a more recognisable star. New Line Productions
president Michael De Luca has reportedly said: "It's not over any other
names, just director-actor creative chemistry."
A spokeswoman for Townsend's London agent confirmed the dismissal
yesterday but referred all other comment to the film's publicist.
Sources said Townsend's dismissal forced scenes scheduled for Thursday
and Friday to be postponed. Several local actors hired as extras, some
of whom have grown beards for the part, were told by their casting
agents their scenes had been postponed. No reason was given for the
delay.
Hollywood entertainment newspaper Variety reported yesterday
Mortensen was negotiating with the film's backers to replace Townsend.
Mortensen (41) is a stranger to New Zealand but not to some of the
country's leading film talents. He had a role in Jane Campion's Portrait
of a Lady and in his latest film, A Walk on the Moon, he stars with Anna
Paquin.
(Late reports confirm that Viggo Mortensen has, indeed, been hired to
replace Townsend).
From Scifi.ign.com:
LORD OF THE RINGS ARMY DESERTS!
Thousands of new extras must be found in New Zealand as
replacements.
Unfortunately though for Peter Jackson and his Lord of the Rings team,
now filming in New Zealand, thousands of new extras must be found, since
the New Zealand Army, which was originally going to help the film out,
can no longer be a part of the production.
According to The OneRing.net, the New Zealand army has made a commitment
to the UN peacekeeping efforts in East Timor. This is definitely
understandable, and we wish the best for the New Zealanders, but as a
result, thousands of army troops who would have made up the armies of
Rohan, Gondor, Isengard, and Mordor are now no longer available, and a
call has gone out for more extras.
LORD OF THE RINGS ADVENTURE BEGINS
Production has at long last begun on Peter Jackson's $180 million
project to film J R R Tolkien's fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings.
The trilogy's New Zealand director, Peter Jackson, has cast Sir Ian
McKellen as Gandalf the wizard, Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins, Elijah Wood
as Frodo Baggins and Sean Astin as Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins's faithful
servant. The exquisite Cate Blanchett is Galadriel, the elf queen, and
Liv Tyler will be Arwen, an elf warrior and princess.
Sean Connery was offered the lead role of Gandalf, the wizard, but
insiders said he rejected the part as he was unwilling to commit himself
to the three-film project. Other contenders for the role included Sir
Anthony Hopkins and Tom Baker, the former Dr Who.
All three films are being made back to back in New Zealand, beginning
with the first instalment, Part One: The Fellowship of the Rings.
Filming is expected to take at least 18 months and the first film is
expected in the cinemas by Christmas 2001.
"The Lord of the Rings is among the greatest adventures ever written and
making this film is proving to be a wonderful adventure in its own
right," said Michael DeLuca, president of New Line Productions, which is
putting up the money. "Like Frodo, the hero of this saga, we're on a
film quest." The independent film company stepped in after Miramax left
the project because Jackson insisted on three films.
Mr Jackson, who directed Kate Winslet in Heavenly Creatures, believes he
is up to the task. He has adapted the book into a 300 page shooting
script. "My team and I have poured our hearts into the project for the
past three years so it's a great thrill to begin actual photography," he
said.
"Filming three films at once has never been done before, in addition to
which the project features thrilling special effects, so it was
essential to plan everything down to the last detail. We owe Prof
Tolkien and his fans our best efforts to make these films with the
integrity they deserve."
With sweeping battle scenes populated by thousands of computer-generated
extras, Mr Jackson added: "It's veering towards Braveheart, rather than
a whimsical fairy tale."
The most promounced controversy so far resonated with the casting of
Astin and Wood. According to Chris Crawshaw, the chairman of the Tolkien
Society, Tolkien would have been deeply apprehensive about a film and
would not have been too taken by the idea of American accents. Miss
Crawshaw said recently: "To me personally, Hobbits in particular are
Midlands country folk."
Jackson has also said that he would prefer to hear English accents in
the film. He said: "The Lord of the Rings is a classic English story.
However, I think that New Line is concerned that having no American
accents will alienate a US audience, so that debate has to be
resolved."
And so the adventure has begun, with filming taking place in New
Zealand. Director Jackson says New Zealand offers a perfect backdrop in
which to recreate the world of the hobbits, "People think of Middle
Earth as being a completely mythical place but it's not. It is our Earth
in a period before the Egyptian empire and the Greeks. Lord of the Rings
stretches across England and the rest of Europe in a time of pre
-history. Tolkien envisaged it taking place 7000 years ago. We want real
landscapes but we want them heightened. New Zealand is perfect because
it's a slightly skewed version of Europe."
This wondrous project is bound to be an amazing adventure, and we're
tickled pink that our Cate is going to be part of it. Stay tuned as we
follow all the news on the making of "Lord of the Rings".
|
Heading design and layout by Lin. 800x600 screen size recommended. A proud Australian Site.  |
