Ouch. Nothing good's going to come from this. Watch the working conditions plummet.

That's my feeling on it too.

Mark

Yes it does look dodgy but then every government has some dodgy scheme or another to encourage companies to operate there. They think that the subsidy of this film will encourage tourism or other films to the area whereby they can skim some extra tax revenue from taxes reduced unemployment benefits as people are working on the film.

Did you miss the bit where the government are paying a big bag of cash to Warners then?
They're not staying out of the goodness of their heart and because they care about the workers, they're there because it's financially prudent to do so. The government are gambling that it'll pay off in the long run - maybe it will, maybe it won't. As for other productions going there - it's an awfully long way, and scenery and Weta aside - what unique talent base does it offer?

THE HOBBIT cast!





More details and pics here:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/47150

Apart from Martin Freeman, you have to wonder who the other cast members are! The only one I recognised was Graham McTavish who played the leader of the mercenaries in Rambo 4. The rumoured £500 million budget certainly isn't going on a big-name cast!

Nope, definitely not so far by the look of it...

Actually a big name cast can be a hindrance. I do think that a large chunk will go on the 3D production costs. I expect to see a lot of Brits in the films. They are cheap!

Jimmy Nesbitt has just been added to the cast.

Mark

Wooooof. I'm out. I've still not forgiven him for that submarine thing.

Talk about confused... I read your post and a mental image popped into my head. A picture of...

He was dreadful in that.....and he had serious competition.

Never liked him somehow. Stupid thing is, it might be the accent

Martin Freeman has admitted he feels daunted as he prepares to don Bilbo Baggins' furry feet for The Hobbit.

The actor, best known for his British TV work, was cast in Peter Jackson's two-part Tolkein epic several months ago, after almost missing the opportunity due to Sherlock commitments.

Freeman said he was nervous about about journeying to New Zealand when he spoke to Modcast's Eddie Piller: "It's very daunting - the daunting part is leaving home…"

"I'm a real homebody, even before we had children, I was a homebody, so with children it's like aww... I'm very excited though."

He also spoke about almost missing out on the chance to play Bilbo: "I had to turn it down because of being contractually obliged to do the second series of Sherlock for the BBC, which we are doing in the middle of this year."

"I turned it down with a very heavy heart because things like this don't come your way very often. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as far as scale is concerned."

"It's a huge, huge deal. But I was contracted to do Sherlock. I wanted to do both."

Freeman added: "When I found out I couldn't do both it was very sad. And then it was very flattering when Peter Jackson rearranged the filming around my availability."

In other good Hobbit news, Peter Jackson is reported to have left hospital after undergoing surgery for a perforated ulcer.

The Hobbit is due to start shooting next month, with Part 1 still scheduled for release in December 2012.

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/martin-fr ... obbit-role