‘The Hobbit’ Passes Two ‘LOTR’ Pics At Worldwide Box Office By THE DEADLINE TEAM

Warner Bros and Peter Jackson have taken heat (including from Deadline) for turning JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit into three movies, but if the first film’s box office performance is any indication they might not much care. This weekend The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey eclipsed both Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring and Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers in worldwide box office.

READ MORE: http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/hobbit-box-office-worldwide-passes-lord-of-the-rings-movies/

James McAvoy: 'I want to play Gandalf in Tolkien prequels' Published Sunday, Jan 6 2013, 2:34am EST | By Paul Martinovic (DIGITAL SPY)

James McAvoy has said that he would love to play legendary wizard Gandalf.

The character, who features heavily in JRR Tolkien's most famous works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, has been made famous by Sir Ian McKellen in Peter Jackson's screen adaptations.

Total Film reports that the X-Men: First Class star revealed that he would like the role should there be any prequels to the recent films.

Revealing an in-depth knowledge of Tolkien's work, he specifically referenced the possibility of appearing in something adapted from Tolkien anthology The Silmarillion.

He told the magazine: "It's a collection of poems and songs that chart the ancient history of Middle-earth. My true geek is coming to the fore, but they're really, really beautiful stories.

READ MORE: http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a448815/james-mcavoy-i-want-to-play-gandalf-in-tolkien-prequels.html

Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman - MAX 60 seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eLIK-DREmJA

The Hobbit: An Unexpected box office smash with $200 million global opening weekend (INDEPENDENT)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has set a box office record with the biggest December opening ever in the US, beating the three previous Lord Of The Rings films with a haul of $84.8 million (£52.4 million).

Peter Jackson's Middle Earth epic surpassed Will Smith's I Am Legend, which opened with $77.2 million (£47.7 million) in 2007, and Avatar, which opened with $77 million (£47.6 million).

Internationally, The Hobbit also added $138.2 million (£85.4 million) for an impressive debut well north of $200 million.

Despite weak reviews, The Warner Bros adaptation of JRR Tolkien's first novel in the fantasy series was an even bigger draw than the last Lord Of The Rings movie, The Return Of The King. That film opened with $72.6 million (£44.9 million).

READ MORE: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-box-office-smash-with-200-million-global-opening-weekend-8421955.html

FINAL ‘THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY’ VIDEO BLOG IS ONLINE by Jacob Hall Yesterday

After years of anticipation, ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ is finally in theaters and outside of money and transportation, there’s nothing stopping you from going to see it right now. However, if money or transportation are a problem for you right now, you can always watch the concluding chapter of Peter Jackson‘s wonderful video blog about the making of the film. The focus this time? Finishing the film and getting it to the premiere!

View the final blog here