Sherlockology

Enter the Dragon, Tolkien-Style

A nice new article has just gone live on the Wall Street Journal, with Benedict Cumberbatch talking about his performance as Smaug in the upcoming second film in The Hobbit trilogy.

Mention Smaug, the classic storybook dragon of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” and a ray of delight flickers across Benedict Cumberbatch’s pale eyes.

Smaug, “a most specially greedy, strong and wicked worm” of Tolkien lore, is for many children their first encounter with fire-breathing, scaly dragons. “First one for me,” Cumberbatch is quick to add. “My dad read the book to me and it was a bedtime treat if I had done well. If I had been a good boy, I’d get two chapters as opposed to maybe one or none if I had been really bad.”

Martin Freeman’s hobbit got more than 1.6 million votes on social media to take home the coveted Golden Popcorn at Sunday’s show.

The battle for Best Hero has raged on on Twitter and Instagram for over a week between the fans of one beloved Hobbit and a storybook princess-turned-warrior.

What began as a race among six nominees — Bilbo Baggins, Snow White, Iron Man, Batman, Catwoman and Hulk — became an all-out Internet war among fans of Martin Freeman and “Snow White and the Huntsman” leading lady Kristen Stewart. Fans of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” can take a victory lap around The Shire after rallying 1,637,179 votes for their hero.

Read more on the MTV Website.

We all know Martin Freeman was the Best Hero in cinemas in 2012. Make sure to #VoteBilbo at the MTV Movie Awards NOW - there are only two days left!

Either Tweet #VoteBilbo or post the hashtag with an image on your Instagram account to register a vote.

Voting is unlimited, so every single tweet and instagram post counts!

Read more on the MTV Movie Awards website. Voting closes April 14 2013.

Concerning Hobbits (and Sherlock)

“Martin essentially is a hobbit, and by that I mean he’s a wonderful British character who was reluctant to leave the Shire and uproot his idyllic home life. (He doesn’t, to the best of my knowledge, have hairy feet.) He was also reluctant to let down his Sherlock co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch, and the BBC, by deserting their second series, which clashed with our dates. He’s an honourable man and a wonderful actor. Once he’d read, the filmmakers knew they’d found their Bilbo. When the date clash occurred, we went into overdrive to tape alternatives to present to Peter [Jackson] but the realisation grew that Peter, Fran [Walsh] and Philippa [Boyens] would never settle on anyone else in that role and so the plan was hatched to accommodate his Sherlock dates, by filming other cast members and editing the movies during his absences.”

- Amy Hubbard, UK Casting Director, taken from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Chronicles Volume II: Creatures and Characters.

The second in an ongoing series of superb hardcovers detailing the production of the movie trilogy, the extensively illustrated and detailed book covers the creation of all the myriad beings of Middle Earth as seen in the first film, from Stone Giants to Sebastian the Hedgehog!

The book is published on April 8 2013 in the UK and April 9 2013 in the USA.

Martin Freeman on BBC Radio 2 today, started midday - not sure what time Martin will appear.

Listen live now.

@TheHobbitMovie have a live twitter web chat with Martin Freeman today at 17:30PST (01:30GMT).

You can send your questions now using hashtag #AskBilbo

The Hobbit: There And Back Again to now release December 17 2014

The third film in The Hobbit Trilogy starring Martin Freeman has had it’s release delayed 5 months from the originally planned original summer slot in 2014. The film will now be released on December 17 2014, occupying the same weekend slot as the other two films in the trilogy, and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy a decade ago.

Read the full press release on WETA’s website.

Martin Freeman honoured at the Shorts Awards 2013

From Entertainment Weekly:

‘Martin Freeman starred in one of the lengthiest movies of 2012, but Friday night he was honored for his work in films with much shorter runtimes and much smaller budgets than the 169-minute-long Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. At the third annual ShortsHD Shorts Awards, Freeman picked up the Visionary Actor Award.

The English actor has continued to make short films, even after performing in high-profile projects like BBC’s Sherlock and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

“I love doing [short films] for the same reason that everyone in this room really likes them – because very often it’s the time that you get to really express an idea or ideas without someone breathing down your neck or without someone arguing about how big your trailer is,” Freeman told the audience gathered at the Paley Center for Media last night. “No one’s getting rich or famous out of it, but people are actually trying to express something – and it doesn’t take 18 months like The Hobbit does.”’