ASK PETER JACKSON
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on 1 April. In conjunction with the event, Warner Bros. will be holding a worldwide live broadcast with Peter Jackson at www.thehobbit.com/sneak. This will take place on 24 March, 3pm Eastern time (25 March, 3am Singapore time). During this 30-60 min event, Peter Jackson will present the first look at the preview of The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug and answer questions from fans submitted via a link on the website. Feel free to Ask Peter Jackson about The Hobbit.
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THE HOBBIT: AN EXPECTED $1 Billion JOURNEY
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY has surpassed the billion dollar milestone at the worldwide box office. The joint announcement was made today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema; Gary Barber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios; Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures; and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
To date, the blockbuster has earned $301.4 million domestically. With its recent release in China, where it has grossed $37.3 million in 10 days, the film has earned a staggering estimated $700 million internationally, for a global total of $1 billion to date. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” becomes only the 15th film in history to exceed one billion dollars worldwide.
In making the announcement, Fellman stated, “We could not be more proud to have reached this amazing benchmark. Together with our partners at MGM and New Line, everyone at Warner Bros. congratulates Peter Jackson and his entire cast and crew on the extraordinary success of this film.”
Kwan Vandenberg said, “From Berlin to Beijing, it is so gratifying to see how the release of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ has been such an event with audiences around the world. It’s an exciting bellwether as we move toward the release of the second film in the Trilogy.”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Pictures, is the acclaimed first film in Oscar®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s epic “The Hobbit” Trilogy, based on the timeless novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. The film recently earned three Oscar® nominations, for Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Visual Effects.
The second installment – THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG will be released in Singapore on 12 December 2013.
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Warner Bros Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures jointly announced today that the final film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy adaptation of the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, now titled “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” will be released in Singapore on July 17, 2014. All three films in the trilogy are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.
The Studios also announced the title of the second installment in the franchise, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” which will be released in Singapore on December 12, 2013. The first film in the trilogy, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” opens this holiday season, on December 13, 2012 locally. Shot in 3D 48 frames-per-second, the trilogy of films will be released in 3D formats, IMAX and 2D.
Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures, stated, “We wanted to have a shorter gap between the second and third films of ‘The Hobbit’ Trilogy. Opening in July affords us not only the perfect summer tentpole, but fans will have less time to wait for the finale of this epic adventure.”
Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures, added, “‘The Hobbit: There and Back Again’ will be an action spectacle and an emotional conclusion for this already much-anticipated trilogy. Opening in the summer will maximize playability for what promises to be an event film for fans the world over.”
From Academy Award®-winning director Peter Jackson, the trilogy of films is set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”
The screenplay for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first film in the trilogy, is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro. Jackson is also producing the films, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.
Under Jackson’s direction, all three movies are being shot in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Additional filming, as with principal photography, is taking place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and the two remaining films in the trilogy are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television licensing, being handled by MGM.
