CAMERON REJECTS HOLLYWOOD; AVATAR 2 TO FILM IN NEW ZEALAND

While James Cameron shot much of his Oscar-winning Avatar in U.S. locations, such as Kauai and the Big Island in Hawaii and the converted aircraft assembly plant in Playa Vista, CA where Howard Hughes built the Spruce Goose, many scenes were also shot at Stone Street Studios in Wellington, New Zealand, and virtually all of [...]

HOBBIT CASTING CALL CANCELED OVER SAFETY FEARS

An open casting call for women under five feet tall and men under five feet four inches to appear as extras in the Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit, had to be abruptly canceled in New Zealand today (Tuesday) when more than 3,000 people turned up. According to NZ Newswire, the producers had expected [...]

DOJ, FBI GO TO WAR AGAINST PIRATES

Acting on a federal grand jury indictment alleging copyright infringement and other related crimes, the U.S. government on Thursday shut down the popular “cyberlocker” MegaUpload, arrested at least four people, confiscated servers, and conducted search warrants in the U.S. and eight other countries. The indictment claimed that MegaUpload’s operators, four of whom were arrested in [...]

CYBER VIGILANTES GO TO WAR AGAINST DOJ, FBI

Within minutes after the Department of Justice shut down the cyberlocker MegaUpload on Thursday, the “hacktivist” collective Anonymous managed to shut down the Department of Justice’s and the FBI’s own websites, as well as those of the MPAA and the recording industry’s publishing group BMI and Universal Music, using what is called a distributed denial [...]

THE HOBBIT: WHAT YOU HEARD MONTHS AGO IS TRUE

On a slow holiday news day, MGM, New Line and Warner Bros. confirmed what had already been bandied about for months: that the first of the Lord of the Rings prequels will be titled The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the second will be titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again. They will be released [...]

WIKILEAKS: ANOTHER BUSH ADMINISTRATION WHACK AT MICHAEL MOORE

The U.S. deputy chief of mission in New Zealand, David Burnett, attempted to block a planned screening of Michael Moore’s anti-Iraq-war documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, when he heard that it was being hosted by a New Zealand cabinet minister, according to documents contained in the WikiLeaks papers and reported today (Wednesday) in Britain’s Guardian newspaper. In [...]

JACKSON FIRES HOBBIT CASTING MANAGER

A casting manager looking for extras to play Hobbits in the forthcoming Lord of the Rings prequel(s) The Hobbit has been fired after video footage caught him telling those who showed up for an open audition, “We are looking for light-skinned people. I’m not trying to be — whatever. It’s just the brief. You’ve got [...]

WERE N.Z. ACTORS HOBBLED BY HOBBIT DEAL?

Union leaders in New Zealand were up in arms Friday (New Zealand time) over the deal struck between Warner Bros. executives and Prime Minister John Key that requires changes in the country’s labor laws to define film workers as independent contractors rather than employees. “That a foreign corporation can come into this country and demand [...]

NEW ZEALAND TO REMAIN STAND-IN FOR MIDDLE EARTH

In an announcement that no doubt touched off sighs of relief throughout his country, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said today (Thursday in New Zealand) that he had reached an agreement with Warner Bros. executives “that will enable the two Hobbit movies to be directed by Sir Peter Jackson to be made in New [...]

HOBBIT STILL HOMELESS

After meeting with ten Warner Bros. executives who had flown to New Zealand to participate in crisis talks over the filming of The Hobbit in that country, Prime Minister John Key told reporters that, while the talks were “constructive,” chances of the production remaining in New Zealand were no greater than 50-50. Although Key had [...]

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