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Now add fire to the latest list of woes which have beset Peter Jackson’s pre-production on those back-to-back The Hobbit films. Flames yesterday engulfed his New Zealand workshop set which would have been used for the Tolkien movies. It took 50 firefighters three hours to quell the blaze in Wellington. All that’s left now is a burned-out warehouse at Jackson’s Portsmouth Miniatures Studio which had been used in the past as a 
specialist miniatures shooting facility, one of the few in the world, to create special effects for his The Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. Meanwhile, there’s still a standoff between New Zealand and Aussie actors unions, joined by SAG and AFTRA and others, and Jackson, New Line, Warner Bros, and MGM. (SAG & AFTRA Nix Non-Union ‘The Hobbit’ and Peter Jackson Slaps Kiwi/Oz Unions and ‘Hobbit’ Producers Defend Peter Jackson Against Actor Union Allegations)
This is after MGM went bust, and after director Guillermo Del Toro quit the project only to be replaced by Jackson, who was previously just producing and co-writing. Little wonder that overseas news media are blaming The Curse Of The Hobbit for all the bad breaks. Meanwhile, Hollywood insiders confirm to the Los Angeles Times that the films could start shooting by mid-January even with the new rash of setbacks. There’s no doubt they’ll be expensive: estimates are $43 million reportedly has been spent on the films already in just pre-production and that to finish both pics could bust a $500M budget. There’s still more financing to secure, and more underlying rights to setle. But the hope is to have the first Hobbit released by the end of 2012 and the second pic a year later.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Sounds suspiciously like sabotage. It was more likely arson, rather than a curse. Peter please be careful. We all know that a lot of unions are run by gangsters / organized crime that has gotten a foot hold on organized labor unions, under the pretense of being there for the workers. While some unions truly are there for the workers, others are only there to fatten their bank accounts and will do anything to do so. By the way, did anyone ever find Jimmy Hoffa?
Well The Hobbit is having a heck of a time! I really want to see these movies come into play and I’m glad Jackson isn’t letting anything hold him back. And no, it’s not really a curse, it’s just life happening in the production of “The Hobbit”.
$500 million!? The Lord of the Rings was only $270M! I’ve read the Hobbit, there is no way this movie needs that much money.
It sounds like arson to me too!
With so much time having passed since LOTR I can’t help but think that IF\WHEN the Hobbit series finally gets shown it will tank.
$500m doesn’t guarantee success even with the hardcore fan base of LOTR as it is very easy to pi** off a loyal group of followers (I’m sure they aren’t too chuffed about the delays and aren’t impressed by MGM\Jacksons handling of things so far) and very easy to pi** away a boat load of cash on a movie (remember Water Wold?).
I hope they get things going if nothing else but to put the Aussie unions in there place – Fire starting b***tards (allegedly).
You make some very good points; best to strike while the (fanbase) iron’s hot.
I’m not a big LOTR fan (did see the trilogy in the theater, though) and even I know the fans are already pissed off about the mediocre, non-extended-cut, Blu-ray release of the trilogy. In fact, in light of the lengthy delay, it would probably be a good idea to remaster the whole thing and expedite release of extended-cut versions with stellar audio/video – as a fundraiser, if nothing else.
By the time Hobbit appears, if it does, the fanbase may be all grown up and not care anymore.
It’s too close to the recent Union threats to be coincidental. Suspicious, very very suspicious.
If it had anything to do with the union issue it would be flabbergasting. They’ve barely started negotiating yet, they haven’t even started hiring 95% of the people that will be needed for the production. Do you have any idea of the kinds of flammable and toxic chemicals, compounds and other stuff lying around to make miniatures other old school effects WETA specializes in? And in a country with a nascent film industry that’s probably nowhere near as sophisticated in fire prevention and regulation as Hollywood. Do you think the building is just sitting empty with no production going on inside that might have something to do with the fire. Don’t be ridiculous.
You think New Zealand doesn’t know how to do fire prevention being a nascent film industry? How American of you to assume that. So explain the Rhode Island nightclub fire. By your logic, I should assume the US, not being a “nascent music industry”, should know better and never have a fire. Sometimes stuff just happens, whether in New Zealand or the US. I would wait for the report before assuming arson/accident/curse.
Flame war from the union, perhaps? Or an amazing coincidence.
If they find a pinky ring in the rubble then we’ll know.
you people can’t be this naive, of course it was arson. now we know why Jackson was so vehemently against directing in the first place. what a mess…
Wow. A fire happens in a building filled with flammable materials and people thousands of miles away instantly know it was arson. Who needs that examination and evidence stuff when their are people who can read Nikki’s two paragraph report and know all that there needs to be known.
And, of course, they all deduced that the unions did it. Because they’re run by gangsters (no doubt with broken noses and wearing double-breasted pin-stripe suits). That’s why there are so few non-union productions in the U.S. Because the gangsters show up and rub out the producers who dare to not go union.
I`m extremly worried about casting. It seems that every franchise out there has snagged the best talent around yet The Hobbit is begging people like Martin Freeman and Sylvester McCoy. No offense but these two can`t hold the candle to X Men:The Class`s Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy (ironically, once touted to play Bilbo), Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones, Kevin Bacon or Spiderman`s Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone or MI4 additions jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Josh Holloway or POTC4 additions Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz, just to name a few movie serials that invests in top talent with staying power.
Anyone familiar w/ Jean-Pierre Melville’s studio being burned down back in the 1960s when he was working on Le Samourai w/ Alain Delon. Couldn’t help but think back to that and note the symmetry is the situations that led up to the fire… the fights w/ unions and even a couple other studios which were located in France. History, my friends.
I’ve been following the progress of this film and every single ridiculous obstacle that can possibly be thrown at it for ages, but you know? This is getting beyond ridiculous. The worst thing about it as that unions attacking Jackson and his production makes it so blatantly obvious how stupid the people in charge are. Jackson may well be the most powerful NZ filmmaker, but even he does not have the ability to do what they want, as he pointed out himself, it’s against the fucking law. They’re hurting the entire NZ industry, and it will be the productions Jackson is not even a part of that suffer the worst. And that delivers a massive blow to the country’s entire economy. People who work in film in NZ love what they do. Where does this idiot organization get its info? I have never heard of anyone being shortchanged on a Jackson production, at least not from Jackson’s end of it. Talk to Bob Shaye if you’ve been stiffed in the past, if it wasn’t clear enough by the way Jackson exposed that SOB for exactly what he was, he and the other twenty or so people who had to sue the crap out of him, and the fact that he doesn’t have a leg to stand on any longer for it.
Having watched one disaster after another on this thing over the last several years, sometimes I really wish I didn’t pay so much attention, or even care so much about it. It’s just a movie. But considering what Jackson has done for me, even on a peripheral level, I do care, a lot. And I’m tired of all the red tape and bastards who think they’re obligated to a slice. What ugly, self-entitled greed you have.
Arson.
Dear Peter, Reap what you sow. Read the story of Gort Gehko(spelling check). Note, losing all that weight and getting lasex alters nothing. You still appear to be a greedy pig. The financial analogy? The industry’s Afghanistan. Karma.
It’s not just Peter. MGM/WB are breathing down his neck to cut costs wherever possible, so of course the talent is going to be short-changed (where lawful, as in NZ).
I wonder which costs the conglomerates more; trying to squeeze another dollar out of working families mouths for sport, or rebuilding a $50mil facility?
Greedy conglom bastards.
I’ll admit that the dramatic side of me leapt to arson, but you have to realize that set makers use incredibly flammable materials and acetylene torches for shaping, and let’s not forget hot lights for filming… it only takes a wayward spark and a second to set a whole stage ablaze, happens more often than most people realize. This is why the studios that still have backlots have on-lot fire departments… even a crew stationed a few blocks away can’t arrive fast enough to put out a stage fire.
Next thing you know, Peter will be waking up with a Hobbit’s head in his bed. Or in the middle of the New Zealand outback, asking, “What’s in the box?! What’s in the BOX?!!!”
after all the trouble peter has had to get the hobbit finaly filmed now this. plus the fact the fire happens after a dust up with some unions want to be. not only is the hobbit proving to be cursed but the fire sounds like a little shaddy like some force does not want the hobbit to see the light of day at all.
It’s George Lucas.
Wow. Lots more jobs continuing to go out of Hollywood. No wonder there is no work for folks here.
And this couldn’t POSSIBLY be courtesy of union thugs could it? Hmm? Typical thug tactics. Pay us for protection or we’ll burn your business down. Oldest trick in the book. And they wonder why people hate unions and why unions are soon to be a thing of the past. Nobody likes a thug. Not even the whores who “date” them.
Hey Ridiculous,
More jobs are going out of Hollywood because of the sheer GREED of unions. The more they get the more they WANT and the more they push for more. Eventually those with the money that make the movies and really take all the financial risk of making the movies, get tired and decide to shoot elsewhere and use non-union talent or talent from less stringent or controlling unions. I for one am happy anytime I can get a job and be able to pay my bills and live a little better than most people in impoverished countries do. But because of my union flexing it’s muscle a few years ago and saying even work BY UNION ACTORS, in foreign countries will fall under it’s jurisdiction, the number of union jobs dropped to 25% or less of what they were.
I worked a job as a stuntman in 1996 where I was taken to Big Bear, in southern California, and was put up in a hotel for a whole week while waiting to actually shoot. I was paid $250 per day per diem, plus a daily rate instead of a weekly rate. Plus ate my ass off every day. I went fishing almost everyday or to a movie or a gym to workout, just waiting to be called to work. In the end, I earned over $11,000.00 for two actual days of work out of nine days on location. Man do I miss those days! I’d be happy to make that kind of money again but the odds of that aren’t very likely since that little memo from my union.
I eventually had to file for financial core because I had to get any kind of film work, even if it was non-union, just to pay the bills and not become homeless which I have been 3 times in Hollywood. Anyway, the union wasn’t doing anything to help me get work, but they had no problem charging me membership dues.
Then some years later in 2003 or 2004, ( I don’t remember which ) I was offered a nice part in a Wim Wenders film, and my union refused to station 12 me. Meaning they refused to clear me for work because I owed $163.00 in back dues which I couldn’t pay because I couldn’t get any work. But promised that I would pay them once I worked. My union dicked me around so long that some one else got the job.
It’s a known fact that the majority of the acting work in the business goes to the top tier 10 to 20% actors. At any given time, 80% of actors aren’t working as actors because the same people get hired over and over again. Our dues really go to protecting their rights more than our own. Anyway, that’s just my opinion. I’m certain there will be those who disagree with me but this is only my personal observation.
And I think we all know what union I’m talking about. I haven’t been able to get hired on a union film since then.
Unions are strangling Hollywood to death. Producers and members alike. That’s why lots more jobs are going out of Hollywood.
I sympathize with your situation and you do have valid points, however this is not one of them:
“Our dues really go to protecting their rights more than our own.”
Why would the top 10% of actors need SAG protection? Studios deal with their agents and their demands, and SAG is pushed to background as a “base salary” foundation.
Your dues go to help enforce YOUR rights, not Tom Cruise’s. Sorry you haven’t figured out how to properly network yourself in Hollywood to get towards the front of the line. It’s not easy, but don’t blame the unions for it.
Arson? Oh for crying out loud! Stop being so bloody dramatic! I’ve lost count of the number of times the Cubby Broccoli stage has burnt down at Pinewood.
If you get enough people agitated theres always a couple of nut in the crowd.
Hi everybody. I just checked the local news outlets here in New Zealand. The building that burned was only partially damaged, and was not owned by Weta. Nor was the business in it. They expect to be up and running again soon. Aussie unions may be full of crooks but it looks like it was a regular fire. Interesting side note: the building that burned backs on to the local fire station. Even wierder, the area is called Kilburnie.
I hate unions as much as anyone, but wouldn’t burning this facility push even more of the production overseas? Let’s face it, with the kind of budget (and presumably insurance) involved, he could build an effects studio anywhere unions aren’t mandated.
International Sabotage. It wouldn’t suprise me since Hollywood kicked up a storm of jealousy when The Lord Of The Rings got the go ahead to be filmed here. I would find it hard to believe that someone local would have done this, since all Kiwi’s take alot of pride in having movies made here.
If it was a local arsonist, he/she/they will be in a whole lot of shit. From everyone not just the law.
This is no coinsidence. Not with other countries desperately trying to get the hobbit made in their countries. There’s so much jealousy towards NZ since we kick ass for a small country.