The New York Times has added one little detail to the brief report on Peter Jackson’s ulcer operation that has been circulating on the internet: “Production on “The Hobbit” was to begin next month, but Ms. Booth said there would likely be a “slight delay” as Mr. Jackson recuperates. Asked how long that delay could be, Ms. Booth replied, ‘How long is a piece of string?'”

Added later the same day: A news story on Channel 3 ends with an estimate that the filming will be delayed by a few days.

I note that cultural snob Oliver Lyttelton over on indieWIRE has taken a pot-shot at The Hobbit and its fans, while at the same time insulting Peter while he’s recovering from surgery: “It’s hard not to think that the movie gods feel that Jackson should be spending his time on something more rewarding than a bloated, fan-pandering adaptation of a dull book with barely enough drama for one film, let alone two.” This from a man who thinks Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a “world-class” film.

Stuff.co.nz reports that Peter Jackson

was admitted to Wellington Hospital last night with acute stomach pains.

A statement said he had undergone surgery for a perforated ulcer.

“Sir Peter is currently resting comfortably and his doctors expect him to make a full recovery.”

Sir Peter’s surgery is not expected to impact on his directing commitment to The Hobbit beyond a slight delay to the start of filming, the statement said.

“Last night” would be Wednesday night New Zealand time. (I’m posting this late Wednesday evening in the U.S., and it’s later afternoon Thursday in Wellington.)

I would imagine that most readers of this blog already have heard this news, but just in case …

Today TheOneRing.net announced that they’re instituting a weekly five-minute video summing up the latest Hobbit-related news. The first one is up already. You can also subscribe to the series on YouTube.

TVNZ.co.nz has posted a brief story on local businesses in Wellington gearing up for the influx of customers during the shooting of The Hobbit. Most of the facilities built up by Peter Jackson’s team in the Miramar Peninsula area of the capital. A local business leader estimated a 25 to 30% rise in patronage. All very true, no doubt, but at one point the story says, “And there are predictions Jackson’s two Hobbit films will pump $2 billion into the national economy.” At the current exchange rate, where the NZ$ is worth around seventy-five cents, that’s about $1.5 billion US$.

Given that the announced budget of The Hobbit is $500 million, I’m curious about the basis on which those optimistic predictions. Of course, every dollar spent gets spent again and again, so there’s a multiplier effect. It’s almost impossible to gauge, though, and the story seems to be more about an influx of American dollars into the country. Maybe the government is assuming a certain rise in tourism, other producers deciding to shoot films in New Zealand as a result of The Hobbit, or whatever. Still, it seems a high figure to be dangling in front of small local businesses. And Miramar is a charming suburb with many friendly small businesses. I hope they, Wellington, and the country benefit as much from the film as Kiwis are hoping–but I’d still like to know how they came up with that figure.

Stuff.co has posted a brief story about the fact that Peter Jackson and his team are scouting Hobbit locations on the South Island of New Zealand. The South Island is larger, less densely populated, more mountainous and generally more gorgeous than the North Island (which is plenty gorgeous itself). Given that the Remarkables and other mountain ranges in the Queenstown area played the Misty Mountains in the LOTR film, they are likely to do so again. There are also a lot of lakes on the South Island that could play the Long Lake.

The story includes a picture of Peter’s private jet. That brought back memories. In November, 2004, I was in Queenstown to do my second round of interviews with the tour operators there, investigating how LOTR had affected their businesses. A plane that I was told was Peter’s was parked on the tarmac. That was the first jet he bought after LOTR’s success, but he subsequently upgraded to a similar but slightly larger one (seven windows instead of six). I was also told that Peter owns land in the Queenstown area and that he had flown Adrian Brody (then acting in King Kong) down to show him the sights. I have never had any confirmation of either claim, but they came from a knowledgeable person.

Today the Digital Bits website posted this rumor:

What’s more, our sources are NOW telling us that WHV (and their now in-house New Line label) is ALSO planning to release Peter Jackson’s long-awaited The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Extended Editions on Blu-ray sometime this year. No kidding. We suspect that, now that The Hobbit films are finally about to begin filming, the studio is eager to get more product on store shelves to keep the franchise fresh in the minds of fans. The Extended Rings films on BD are the obvious choice for this year. Farther down the line, of course, there will be the obvious Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D version of The Hobbit films, and sooner or later an “ultimate” box set of all the films with all new extras custom created by Jackson. Anyway, our sources tell us to expect some kind of official news on all this (re: Rings Extended and Kubrick) from the studio in the next several weeks.

(The reference to Kubrick is to another rumor that Lolita and Barry Lyndon will also soon be released on Blu-ray.)

Originally the Blu-ray editions were supposed to come out just before the first part of The Hobbit at its original release date, i.e., December, 2011. Of course, the first part is now scheduled for December, 2012, but if the team responsible for the Blu-ray set leaped into motion with a 2011 deadline in mind, maybe the set will be ready this year. The notion of keeping attention on the franchise during 2011 makes sense. Peter had suggested that the pre-Hobbit release would be the ultimate LOTR DVD set, including things like deleted scenes (not cut into a more extended version of the film, but as extras). Will there be anything left for a Hobbit/LOTR combined ultimate set? I should note that the idea of a vast Hobbit/LOTR box set to come out after the second Hobbit part has not previously been mentioned, as far as I know, at least from sources within the production.

But again, this has strictly the status of rumor at this point.

(Thanks to Lee Tsiantis for the heads-up on that posting!)

[Added later the same day: MrCere over on TheOneRing.net thinks this information is accurate. He weighs the possibilities that the Blu-ray extended editions released this year will not have new supplements and that any substantial new material will have to wait until the five parts of the two films can be packaged together years down the road.]

Doug Adams has issued an alert on his “The Music of the Lord of the Rings Film” blog. Concerts purporting to be of music by Howard Shore are taking place in Germany, using re-written versions. These do not have Shore’s consent. One would think that these violate both copyright and trademark restrictions, but in the comments section Doug says that the legal situation is complicated (and, of course, confidential).

The comments also point out that these concerts are not to be confused with ones which have been put on with Shore himself conducting or others by the Tolkien Ensemble, who have performed at times with Christopher Lee. These have been authorized. Those who are contemplating buying tickets to any concert should make sure that what they plan to attend is authorized.

(Thanks for Timdalf for the heads up on this!)

The Otago Daily Times has posted a story about a casting call for possible hobbit extras. It’s taking place this coming Sunday in Dunedin, which is a charming city on the east cost of the South Island. (Otago contains the area, not far from Dunedin, where those impressive dark stone outcroppings that feature in the Rohan scenes are located.

As with the recent casting call on the North Island, the scouts are looking for extra tall or extra short people to play hobbits and scale doubles.

If you live in the Otago area, don’t get too excited until you read this part of the story:

They would go on a long-list of people who might be used “in the event we visit a location during filming … or so we know who to go to if we are short”.

The call did not mean The Hobbit would be filmed in coastal Otago.

In other words, if you made it onto this list, you still might never be called upon to be in the film. Having spent some time in Dunedin and environs, I have to say that I can’t think of any landscapes that particularly remind me of the places in The Hobbit.

As always, if you live outside New Zealand and are seriously contemplating going there to try and get a job as an extra, please read this older post about the formidable obstacles that would face you.

TheOneRing.net has pointed us to Sir Christopher Lee’s website, where there’s an announcement dated today that Sir Christopher will return for The Hobbit, adding that his participation looks certain: “providing that he is in good health, that he will be appearing in the movie.” There has been much speculation as to whether Sir Christopher, would take part in the new film, since he had announced his unwillingness to make the lengthy journey to Wellington. (London happens to be almost directly opposite New Zealand on the globe.) Presumably some cast will join him in London for filming, or the greenscreen technique could be used to make images of him to add to other shots later through digital technology.

More good news. Sir Christopher may have auditioned for Gandalf, but at this point it would be hard to imagine anyone but him as Saruman.

In 1995, Turner Classic Movies started airing an annual series called “31 Days of Oscar.” That was back when the awards ceremony took place in March. The Oscars have moved to February, but TCM keeps up its tradition by showing their series of Oscar-winning and nominated films from February 1 to March 3. This year The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will be shown. It’s scheduled for 10 pm eastern standard time on February 19. Given the 201-minute running time listed, it is clearly the theatrical edition. Fair enough, that’s the version that won eleven Oscars on that memorable February 29 evening back in 2004.

I’m sure anyone reading this has seen the trilogy many times and probably won’t actually be watching the Turner showing. Still, back in 2004 it was hailed as a triumph that a fantasy film had finally won Best Picture. Here’s the third part, playing in this distinguished context. Maybe a few people who have been inclined to dismiss Peter Jackson’s film will find that impressive.

I note with some amusement that the printed schedule (which just arrived by mail) lists the cast as Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, and Ian McKellan [sic], while the online schedule lists Alan Howard, Noel Appleby, Alexandra Astin, and Sean Astin.