The secret behind Hobbit’s success

MANILA, Philippines - When J.R.R. Tolkien set out to regale readers with fantastical tales of the lives and struggles of the inhabitants of Middle-earth more than 60 years ago, he surely did not envision the multi-generational following his books would command from people all over the world. Today, decades after his death, people are still excitedly talking about his sprawling masterpiece and are still enthralled by the magical world he created. Inarguably, this resurgence in the popularity of Tolkien’s work can only be attributed to one person — and the author himself would probably be the first to acknowledge that — Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson.

It was Peter who singlehandedly brought Middle-earth to the 21st century when he successfully adapted the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy into one of the most successful film series ever. When people talk of Gandalf, Frodo, Legolas or Bilbo now, it’s because Peter made those characters alive to moviegoers for many years now and that by the time the final chapter of The Hobbit hits cinemas in 2015, Peter will have spent 20 years of his life working on this ambitious but very successful endeavor.

“It’s not Tolkien,” Peter told the select group of international journalists last week during the press conference held inside the giant pop-up book of New Zealand in Los Angeles after he was asked what it feels like having spent a good chunk of his life bringing Tolkien’s work to the screen. “I grew up loving the escapism and the magic of film. I grew up with King Kong, Jason and the Argonauts — I just love the escapism”

“For me, that was always the attraction of films and they were always the sort of films that I wanted to make. If it is 20 years on Tolkien, it would be 20 years of doing what I dreamt of doing when I was nine or 10 years old. How lucky is that? Not many people get to do that and I am very, very fortunate.”

Peter made two breakthroughs with his ambitious undertaking: First, he revolutionized the art of performance-capture filmmaking and, second, he successfully bridged old-form literature to the modern and advancing art of moviemaking — and he found an audience willing enough to join him in his dream.

The director is the first to admit that the fans, especially those avid fans that have been with him since the first LOTR movie came out in 2000, are the very reason why the series has been very successful. And he even revealed that when he makes his films, he approaches it from the perspective of his loyal audience.

“At the end of the day, all that matters is what the people are seeing and feeling when they see the movie. Nothing else actually matters,” he said. “Usually, I don’t command with a set of directions. That’s the actors’ job to actually internalize and understand their own characters and I just speak almost in behalf of the audience, I think. I am responsible for the story ultimately. I am almost the representative of the audience — what the audience would be thinking as interesting.”

In Peter’s new movie, Warner Bros.’ The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, he brings his audience to the second chapter of his new trilogy as Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit in the title, continues his journey with the Wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves on their epic quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and retake the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the clutches of the dragon Smaug. This writer saw the movie the night before the press conference and it thrilled me no end. When Bilbo and Smaug finally get to meet face-to-face, you would never want to blink or make a quick dash to the bathroom or you risk missing some of the most exhilarating sequences and impressive special effects seen in any movie this year.

At the press conference, some members of the cast of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, joined Peter in the panel and they had their share of stories from the set which Tolkien himself would probably be amused once he hears some of the tales that the actors shared with us.

First, a backgrounder: Fans of The Hobbit know that the only reason why Bilbo was drafted to join the expedition was because of his perceived great talent — his apparent ease at stealing things, and, apparently, some of the actors took lessons from Bilbo and did their share of petty on-set larceny.

First to confess was Evangeline Lilly. Evangeline is a new addition to the cast. She plays the part of Tauriel, the valiant Elf warrior who was the object of affection of Legolas (Orlando Bloom.) And what did she steal? The dark inscribed stone that Kili (the handsome Dwarf played by Aidan Turner) showed Tauriel during one pivotal scene in the movie.

“I am gonna confess in front of all of you,” Evangeline started while trying to control her embarrassed laughter. “Aidan will remember and Peter might remember. One day, when we were shooting on the banks of Lake Pukaki — and we were shooting this beautiful scene that involved that gorgeous moon rune that you saw in the second film that Aidan Turner’s character Kili was carrying around with him… we were shooting in an area where there were a lot of stones on the ground so if I dropped it, it was really hard to find again and there was one take where the prop department came to retrieve the stone and I said, ‘I thought it was in my pocket but I must have dropped it.’”

“So we were searching through all the stones and it was impossible to find and when I got back to my trailer, I pulled it out of my pocket and took it home. And it really was the prettiest one. It had the most beautiful blue sheen!” she continued to the delight of everyone.

“That scene is in film three, I think we might have to just cut that scene now,” Peter remarked.

“We were given weapons at the end of the first movie which was pretty cool — we didn’t need to steal a lot because Peter was very kind to give us gifts,” added  Richard Armitage, who returns as Thorin Oakenshield, the Dwarf Prince although he later admitted to having kept all the costume socks that he wore in the movie which prompted a funny retort from Peter.

“That’s the most boring thing in the world to steal!” Peter exclaimed.

Another newcomer to the cast, British actor Luke Evans, who plays Bard, the human who helped the Dwarves escape from the Orcs declined to confess but did tell us what he got in his call sheet one day. “I do remember there was a note on one call sheet one day which said, ‘Would cast and crew members please kindly stop taking the Dwarvish coins.’ I have no idea who they were but somebody’s pockets were full,” he said.

Benedict Cumberbatch, who provided the voice for Smaug, lamented that he didn’t get to steal anything. “But I did inherit a very sore throat… I didn’t even see any of the gold coins that I apparently had a very venal taste for.”

Peter quickly soothed Benedict’s disappointment saying, “Because they were all stolen by the time you came on!” to another round of hearty laughter from the cast and the journalists present.

The press conference lasted for nearly 40 minutes and most of it involved the cast revealing their admiration for Peter, which only managed to embarrass the great filmmaker.

“We should just keep talking nice things about me all day,” Peter responded to the compliments before adding, “I can take another cup of tea,” referring to an inside joke he shares with his cast.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is now showing in theaters nationwide.