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JRR Tolkien
The UK 1st edition of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien fetched £137,000 ($206,000) at Sotheby’s in London.
The 1937 book, a gift from JRR Tolkien to one of his first students, has an inscription in Elvish written by the author.
The sale smashes the previous record for a sale of The Hobbit, set in 2008 when a first edition sold for £60,000 ($90,000).
JRR Tolkien gave the book to Katherine “Kitty” Kilbride, one of his students at Leeds University in the 1920s.
The Elvish verse is an extract from JRR Tolkien’s The Lost Road, part of his 12-volume History of Middle-earth.
The Hobbit introduced the character of Bilbo Baggins and the “one ring” that would feature again in his Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Sotheby’s had expected the first edition to fetch up to £70,000 ($105,000) at Thursday’s auction of children’s books and illustrated works.
JRR Tolkien’s translation of the Old English poem Beowulf is to be published for the first time, nearly nine decades after it was completed.
JRR Tolkien’s estate has signed a deal with HarperCollins to release it as a book in May.
JRR Tolkien’s translation of the Old English poem Beowulf is to be published for the first time, nearly nine decades after it was completed
The new work Beowulf: A Translation And Commentary has been edited by his son Christopher Tolkien.
It is the latest posthumous publication for the author, following his poem The Fall Of Arthur last year.
Beowulf is the longest epic poem in Old English, the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest.
It tells the story of a struggle between the hero, Beowulf, and a bloodthirsty monster called Grendel.
JRR Tolkien completed his translation in 1926 – and the new publication will be accompanied by further thoughts on the text, which Tolkien prepared for a series of lectures given at Oxford during his academic career.
The author died in 1973, having seen The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings achieve literary success, but leaving behind many unpublished works.
Christopher Tolkien said: “The translation of Beowulf by JRR Tolkien was an early work, very distinctive in its mode, completed in 1926.
“He returned to it later to make hasty corrections, but seems never to have considered its publication.
“This edition is twofold, for there exists an illuminating commentary on the text of the poem by the translator himself, in the written form of a series of lectures given at Oxford in the 1930s, and from these lectures a substantial selection has been made, to form also a commentary on the translation in this book.”
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With The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey just released you can decide for yourself comparing that film to these hysterical images of celebrities turned into Gollums albiet with the magic of computer graphics as opposed to a corrupting magic ring.
Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Rihanna may be sex symbols but the look of a feral hobbit doesn’t suit them.
Hollywood.com created the images of celebrities with Gollum Eye in celebration of The Hobbit’s release.
Director Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning series of epic films based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien were huge critical and financial successes.
The new film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, is already a smash having broken two US records at the box office to become the highest grossing Christmas movie of all time.
Peter Jackson’s adaption of JRR Tolkien’s classic novel kicked off with takings of $37.5 million – the biggest December Friday opener in domestic history.
The film then took $28.1 million on Saturday to claim the record of the largest December weekend at the American ticket office, even without Sunday’s takings being calculated. Warner Brothers are predicting the movie could earn over $85 million in the U.S. for the whole weekend.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has broken two records at the US box office to become the highest grossing Christmas movie of all time.
Peter Jackson’s adaption of JRR Tolkien’s classic novel kicked off with takings of $37.5 million – the biggest December Friday opener in domestic history.
The film then took $28.1 million on Saturday to claim the record of the largest December weekend at the American ticket office, even without Sunday’s takings being calculated. Warner Brothers are predicting the movie could earn over $85 million in the U.S. for the whole weekend.
As reported by Deadline.com, the movie version of the 1937 book is playing in 4,045 North American theaters, also a record number for December.
Friday’s huge opening haul included $13 million from midnight showings on Thursday night, which included $1.6 million on IMAX screens.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was digitally remastered for IMAX 3D and filmed using new technology.
The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey has broken two records at the US box office to become the highest grossing Christmas movie of all time
A select number of theaters are presenting the picture at double the standard frame rate, showing the movie at 48 frames per second rather than the standard 24 frames per second.
This technology claims to show the film in a way that is closer to how the human eye actually sees images.
Despite mixed reviews from critics, the movie is also doing incredibly well internationally.
An Unexpected Journey is also the number one film overseas and already taken $57 million from 56 international markets (in 18,200 screens).
Deadline.com reports that the film may end the weekend with takings of around $200 million worldwide.
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The Hobbit movies producers are suing low-budget company The Asylum for trademark infringement, over its new film Age of the Hobbits.
Warner Bros, New Line Cinema, MGM and The Hobbit producer Saul Zaentz want to stop them using the word Hobbit in the title of the “knockoff film”.
They claim The Asylum is “free-riding” on the worldwide promotional campaign for Peter Jackson’s forthcoming films.
The company is behind a string of “mockbusters” inspired by hit movies.
Producers of The Hobbit called it an “intentional and willful attempt to trade on the popularity and goodwill” of both The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, and the JRR Tolkien novels they are based on.
Court papers obtained by The Hollywood Reporter have called Age of the Hobbits a “confusingly similar and misleading title”.
Producers want all infringing ad materials and packaging for The Asylum’s film to be destroyed, adding that it could “divert customers and potential customers away from the Hobbit films”.
The Asylum had already been threatened with legal action by the Hobbit studios and The Zaentz Co which controls trademark rights to the Tolkien book.
The protected phrase has been associated with Bilbo Baggins and his fellow Middle Earth creatures since the book was first published in 1937.
The Hobbit movies producers are suing low-budget company The Asylum for trademark infringement, over its new film Age of the Hobbits
Age of the Hobbits is due for DVD and online release on 11 December, three days before the US opening of the official Hobbit film.
The Asylum claims its movie is legally sound because its hobbits are not based on the Tolkien creations.
Before legal papers were officially filed the company said in a statement: “Age of the Hobbits is about the real-life human subspecies, Homo Floresiensis, discovered in 2003 in Indonesia, which have been uniformly referred to as <<Hobbits>> in the scientific community.”
It added that the term is therefore “protected under the legal doctrines of nominal and traditional fair use”.
The Asylum also suggests that a Google search of hobbits and archaeology would return dozens of articles containing the term.
Some of their previous “mockbusters” include Transmorphers, based on Michael Bay’s big budget movie Transformers, and The Da Vinci Treasure, which took its name from The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks.
Based on the story of a big blockbuster they are made at a fraction of the cost and are usually released straight-to-DVD.
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Filmmaker Peter Jackson says he is unsurprised by the mixed reaction to footage from his long-anticipated film The Hobbit presented at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas earlier this week.
“It wasn’t particularly surprising because it is something new,” Peter Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter.
He added: “Ultimately, it is different in a positive way, especially for 3D, especially for epic films.”
The 3D film has been shot at a rate of 48 frames per second, compared with the industry standard of 24 frames.
Peter Jackson says he is unsurprised by the mixed reaction to footage from his long-anticipated film The Hobbit presented at the CinemaCon
The 10 minutes of unfinished footage was criticized as uncinematic – with some detractors claiming it “looked like a made-for-TV movie”.
“It does take you a while to get used to,” admitted Peter Jackson.
“Ten minutes is sort of marginal, it probably needed a little bit more.
“Another thing that I think is a factor is it’s different to look at a bunch of clips – and some were fast-cutting, montage-style clips. This is a different experience than watching a character and story unfold.”
Peter Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter that he had no plans to shoot a trailer for the film using the same 48-frame-per-second technique.
“The 48 frames is something you should experience with the entire film. A two-and-a-half minute trailer isn’t enough time to adjust to the immersive quality.”
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first chapter in Peter Jackson’s two-part adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s fantasy classic.
The two films were shot back-to-back in 3D, with the second part, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, due in cinemas in December 2013.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson believes the new filming format will take time for viewers to adjust to.
But added: “As another creative tool, I think it’s is a really important thing.
“Advocating that we have to stick with what we know, I think is a slightly narrow-minded way of looking at things when as an industry we are facing declining audiences.
“We have to find ways to make it more vibrant, more immersive – something that will encourage people to come back to the theatres for that experience.”
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Poet Michael Tolkien, the eldest grandson of JRR Tolkien, and Gerald Dickens, the great-great grandson of Charles Dickens, are to collaborate on two new fantasy books for children.
Michael Tolkien will write two novels based on stories his grandfather read to him as a child.
Gerald Dickens will narrate the audiobook versions.
Both works are due to be released later this year.
Publisher Thames River Press said the first book, Wish, was inspired by Florence Bone’s 1923 story, The Rose-Coloured Wish.
It tells the story of two children who set out to use an evil enchanter’s wishing chain of stones to save their alpine valley, only to fall into trouble.
JRR Tolkien and Charles Dickens descendants are to collaborate on two new fantasy books for children
Michael Tolkien was introduced to the tales in the 1940s and 1950s as a child, and he later read them to his own children.
He said he decided to pay tribute to the now-neglected tale and to “recreate the spirit of the original in new dress”.
The second book, Rainbow, is based on Bone’s 1910 novel, The Other Side of the Rainbow.
Gerald Dickens said: “Wish is a timeless story which children will enjoy for years to come. Michael Tolkien has brought it to life in narrative verse.”
