In this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, the fall movie preview offers a page devoted to The Hobbit. I don’t have a scanner here right now so I can’t scan it in, but I can hit the high points for you. While there are no quotes from Richard (yes, the first thing I looked for, I confess) it’s an interesting read and focuses on the fact everything (outside of Bilbo and the dwarves, of course) connected with these films is HUGE.
The shooting schedule, the technology and the expectations of the movie fans anticipating seeing them (and, of course, the budget) are all on a scale “that’s hard to comprehend.”
Martin is quoted as saying that some days filming TH felt less like a film set and more like NASA. Jackson admitted to feeling a bit daunted at times even before the two films were set to become a trilogy.
“We know we’re making a series of films that people really want to see,” said Sir Ian in the article. “But it’s a big responsibility because you don’t want to let them down.”
Philippa Boyens, however, doesn’t seem worried, saying, “There is no one way to tell these stories—there are multiple ways. People have said, ‘Aren’t you worried about what the fans are going to think?’ And I go, ‘Well, we ARE fans!”
And that fact is one that I personally find reassuring—that Philippa, Fran and Sir Peter are all huge Tolkien fans who are going to do their best to give us three excellent films.
Here are some fun factoids on The Hobbit by the numbers:
450 miles of yak hair used for wigs and beards on the first two films alone (I suspect there are some chilly yaks roaming around the Himilayas)
100 lbs. is the weight of the coat worn by Graham MacTavish as Dwalin (wonder how much Thorin’s coat weighs!)
44 individual hobbit holes created in Hobbiton
More than 2,000 prosthetic pieces—ears, noses, foreheads, hands, etc.—created for the 13 dwarves
6 sets of prosthetic hands created for each dwarf
7’1” is the height of Sir Ian’s scale double for Gandalf, Paul “Tall Paul” Randall (Wow, RA would look short compared to him. Which I guess is the point.;) )
the armitage effect 
Thanks for this, Angie, interesting factoids and a great pic of Thorin.. Those poor yaks…:) Philippa does seem like a very cheerful, positive personality. I’m still trying to convince myself that splitting the movies into 3 parts is a good idea!! All 3 films WILL be good, good, good…. It’s going to be good!!! Have to have faith and trust these great people who are in charge of TH…
It’s getting more difficult everyday to wait patiently for these movies. 😉