Briefs: October 6th

• Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring is coming to Radio City Music Hall this Friday and Saturday (9th and 10th) as the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, The Collegiate Chorale and Brooklyn Youth Chorus will perform Howard Shore’s score live with the film. As a fan of not only the movies, but soundtracks in general this is great news. If you’re interested tickets are still available. This is similar to what Star Wars has done with the music of John Williams.
  Billy Boyd who played Pippin will also be in attendance.

Ian McKellen Speaks On ‘The Hobbit’

Appearing at Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival where he was being honored, the folks over at Rotten Tomatoes talked to legendary actor Ian McKellen about his role in the upcoming The Hobbit. As a film geek, Tolkein-ite and fan of McKellen’s in general, I’m understandably excited, and judging by the billion-dollar box office take and 17 Oscars Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy reeled in, I’m not the only one.

WTF: Meet Julius

I wasn’t planning to post about this but it has been a slow news day, so what the hell.

Norwegian site VG Nett (you’ll need a translator) has reported that Andreas Jankov has legally changed his name. He is not a celebrity nor is he even a person of interest in an ongoing investigation. So why is this interesting, and, more so, why is it being talked about on a movie blog. I’ll tell you why. This is his new name:

Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacka Highlander Elessar-Jankov

A little Star Wars, a little Lord of the Rings and a lot of crazy.

“The Hobbit” Rumors… In 3D

According to the folks over at Martketsaw there are all sorts of big rumors coming from The Hobbit set to be directed by Guillermo del Toro and produced by Peter Jackson fresh off the success of District 9.

Harry Potter Extended Editions On The Way

Get ready for even more Harry Potter on your DVD. Despite it’s widespread popularity, the Harry Potter franchise like any film adaptation, has been criticized for its choices of which scenes it takes out. Warner Bros. is looking to remedy some of those concerns by releasing extended editions cuts of every film in the Potter Franchise.

Peter Jackson Talks ‘The Hobbit’

While promoting Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 which he is producing, (and looks very promising) Peter Jackson talked to Sci-Fi Wire and answered a few questions about The Hobbit (prequel to the Lord of the Rings) on which he will also serve as producer.