The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Aidan Turner: ‘You take a top off, and then it’s madness’

That topless scene in Poldark turned him into a national heart-throb, but Aidan Turner doesn’t know what all the fuss is about. He talks about lies, laziness, and why his hair has its own Twitter account

Sophie Heawood

20, Aug, 2016 @7:00 AM

Why are so many children's fantasy books adapted as films?

Fantasy is a genre that has dominated children’s literature over the years, with JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling and Suzanne Collins spearheading the way in the crossover realm of book to film adaptation. So why is cinema recreating their fantastical lands? And what does the future hold?

Katy Thompson

27, Feb, 2016 @7:00 PM

Andy Serkis and the marvel of ‘performance capture’

As Gollum and King Kong, Andy Serkis showed what could be done with film’s cutting-edge technology. But, as he tells Robert McCrum, we haven’t seen anything yet

Robert McCrum

06, Dec, 2015 @10:00 AM

Hobbit extended editions set for big screen

Peter Jackson’s movies are to return to US multiplexes with extra footage, despite complaints that the original cuts already contained enough padding

Ben Child

26, Aug, 2015 @11:16 AM

Peter Jackson turns home into replica of Bilbo's Hobbit house

A set artist reveals that the Lord of the Rings director has turned the basement of his New Zealand mansion into the home of Tolkien’s protagonist

Benjamin Lee

29, Jun, 2015 @9:04 AM

When directors shoot movies back-to-back, who wins?

James Cameron’s plan to film three Avatar sequels one after the other represents the peak of Hollywood’s obsession with stockpile film-making

Luke Holland

30, Apr, 2015 @3:59 PM

Andrew Lesnie: 'master of light' finely tuned into both nature and people

With the cinematographer’s painterly eye and MacGyver-like skill for problem solving, no wonder Peter Jackson never let go of Lesnie once he found him, writes Luke Buckmaster

Luke Buckmaster

29, Apr, 2015 @1:25 AM

Will The Hobbit spark social revolution?

Letters: The appeal of The Lord of the Rings films lay in the courage that people saw in the small characters who made a difference despite their size

Letters

07, Apr, 2015 @7:56 PM

From gardening week to pie day: the strangest movie tie-ins

Could Superman persuade you to join the army? Or Kate Winslet have you reaching for the secateurs? The movie marketeers would like to think so …

Benjamin Lee

06, Apr, 2015 @5:30 PM

Cutting The Hobbit down to size: no dwarf-elf flirting, no albino orcs

One anonymous editor has whittled down Peter Jackson’s nine-hour, three-part unexpurgated journey down to a single four-hour chunk – with the odd casualty

Ben Child

21, Jan, 2015 @4:23 PM